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What happened!!???

Published on January 24, 2018 in Share Your Story

In Jan 95, I had just turned 29, my son was 13months old, and my wife and I had been married a little over 2 years. I was on a business trip, when I complained of not feeling well. Towards the end of the meeting, I had a Grand Mal seizure. The company EMTs were called, but they could not stop me from seizing. A medevac helicopter was called to transport me to the local medical center. On the flight, I had to be resuscitated several times. The Doctors discovered I had a lime-size mass in my right temporal lobe.I had no indication that it was there. No headaches, no slurred speech, no balance problems, nothing!

After a relatively straightforward 8 hour surgery the neurosurgeon removed the tumor along with 90% of my right temporal lobe. The tumor was a benign Grade I-II Astrocytoma. I struggle with memory problems, and path finding difficulties.

Fortunately, I was able to return to work with the Air Force as an engineer. 3 years later it grew back. It was surgically removed and found to be more aggressive, so I followed up with 6 weeks of radiation and 10 months of chemo. As a result of the radiation, I have tinnitus in my right ear and am practically deaf. I also suffer from double vision which was recently corrected by 2 eye surgeries. I still have many neurological deficits and continual ringing in my ear, but I am happy that I have survived 23years. I want to be an advocate for continued research into the causes and treatment of primary brain tumors.


Opinions expressed within this story belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of the National Brain Tumor Society.

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