The wife of rugby league legend Wally Lewis has spoken publicly about the relief of seeing her husband smile after a delicate operation in Melbourne to control his epilepsy.

Jacqui Lewis said that her husband was looking good despite complaining of having a headache.

"He looks good, really good," she said.

"He does have a headache, but that's to be expected after brain surgery."

Lewis, 47, underwent brain surgery on Wednesday at The Austin Hospital, in Melbourne, after discovering he had epilepsy last year.

Mrs Lewis said she knew that everything was okay when she first saw her husband in the recovery room shortly after the three-and-a-half hour operation.

"The first moment I saw him, I could see the relief on his face as he smiled at me through the oxygen mask and squeezed my hand."

"Everything now is so positive.

"Everything we went through with the testing was right and Wally has made a good choice to go through with the surgery.

"It's been successful from the surgery side of it, now we wait."

The couple's sons Mitchell and Lincoln are also in Melbourne and have visited their father in hospital.

"Dad doesn't get scared often, and seeing him worried before the surgery was different," Mitchell said.

"Now it's just a big relief for him and all of us."

Lewis' daughter Jamie-Lee, who is home in Queensland, has had her own experience in hospitals after having cochlear implant surgery, and wanted to know if her father had more stitches than her.

"I asked the surgeon and had to tell Jamie-Lee that dad's the winner with the number of stitches," Mrs Lewis said.

The Lewis family said that they wanted to thank the surgeons and the staff at The Austin Hospital for the care they had shown to her husband.

"Everyone's been amazing and we've just felt great confidence since we got here," she said.

The family also wanted to thank the public for their kind wishes.

"Thank you everyone. It means a lot to all of us and it will make Wally feel really good when he hears about it," Mrs Lewis said.

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