"I'm so lucky to be alive!"
Those are the joyous words of "Petticoat Junction" star Meredith MacRae, who survived life-threatening surgery to remove a brain tumor.
In her first interview since the operation she told The ENQUIRER: "My doctors tell me that if they hadn't caught it just then it would have put too much pressure on my brain and killed me.
"I want everybody to know I'm doing just fine. Believe me, I'm counting my blessings and enjoying my life."
The 53-year-old MacRae, who also starred in "My Three Sons" and guested on countless other television shows, says her health nightmare came with little warning.
"About two or three weeks ago I began to get a little disoriented," she said. "Then I started to get some headaches - horrible headaches. They became really, really bad. I finally decided what I really needed was a good massage to loosen up and get rid of the pounding in my head.
In fact, I was in the middle of getting a massage when I just blacked out from the pain."
Meredith, the daughter of entertainer Sheila MacRae, doesn't even remember being rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles and later being transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
The next day she underwent surgery to remove the brain tumor doctors found.
"Doctors tell me it was a very small tumor and that they got the whole thing," she said.
"They didn't have to shave my head to get it. In fact the only thing I have to show for the surgery is a black eye and a small incision in the upper right side of my head. And believe me, that's a very small price to pay.
"My mother, brother, daughter, and husband were with me all the time. I remember waking up in the intensive care unit, surrounded by my family.
"We all sang show tunes together right there in ICU. I only wanted to sing 'I Could Have Danced All Night.'"
She was released from the hospital February 4, a week after she collapsed. The happy day also marked her fourth wedding anniversary with husband Phil Neal.
Meredith's 24-year-old film student daughter, Allison, said: "They're going to put her on radiation to make sure they knock out anything that's left.
"The prognosis is good. Mom's speaking well.
"She's been singing to keep her spirits up - and praying a lot.
"We're all very proud of her. She's a very gutsy lady!"
After blacking out while getting a massage at a spa on Jan. 27, actress Meredith MacRae, 54, who played Billie Jo on TV's Petticoat Junction (1966-'70), had surgery the following day in L.A. to remove a tumor on the right side of her brain. MacRae left the hospital on Feb. 4 and "is in great spirits," said her publicist.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - ``Petticoat Junction'' co-star Meredith MacRae is out of the hospital recuperating at home after brain surgery. ``She's in great spirits and glad to be home,'' her publicist, Sandy Pollock, said Friday.MacRae, 53, had a tumor removed from the right side of her brain Jan. 28 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was released late Thursday. ``She is doing fine and the prognosis is excellent,'' Pollock said.
MacRae played Billie Jo Bradley from 1966 to 1970 on ``Petticoat Junction.'' She also played Sally, girlfriend to Tim Considine's character on ``My Three Sons,'' from 1963 to 1965.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Meredith MacRae, one of three Hooterville girls at the Shady Rest Hotel in the old "Petticoat Junction" TV series, had a brain tumor removed, and her publicist said her prognosis is excellent.Miss MacRae collapsed Jan. 27 while receiving a massage at a spa and she was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where surgery was performed the following day.
``She's in great shape, a very healthy lady,'' publicist Sandy Pollock said Thursday. ``The tumor was on the right side of her brain and I know that they got it all.''
Miss MacRae, 53, played Billie Jo Bradley from 1966 to 1970 on ``Petticoat Junction,'' a comedy starring Bea Benaderet as the widowed owner of the Shady Rest and mother of three daughters who helped run the place.
She also played Sally, girlfriend to Tim Considine's character on ``My Three Sons,'' from 1963 to 1965.
Husband Phil Neal, mother Sheila, sister Heather, and other family members have been cheering her up at the hospital by singing Broadway show tunes, Ms. Pollock said. (Miss MacRae is the daughter of the late actor-singer, Gordon MacRae, who played the lovesick cowboy Curly in ``Oklahoma!'')
AP-NY-02-04-99 1848EST
Army Archerd, Daily Variety
Meredith MacRae is recuperating after brain tumor surgery at Cedars-Sinai. She collapsed last Thursday while receiving a massage at a spa. The operation at C-S was performed by noted neuro-surgeon Dr. Keith Black. MacRae's mother, Sheila, sister Heather and brother Bruce winged out from N.Y., and all other members of her family have been at her bedside cheering her--by singing B'way tunes. The prognosis is excellent for the recovery of the multi-talented, always-active Meredith.
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