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READ MOREPublished on August 12, 2014 in Share Your Story
I was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was 28 years old. I am a soldier. I am a police officer. I have always tried to do right and take care of myself. Prior to diagnosis, I felt that I was slowing down. I felt it for years. Once I could run like the wind and I slowly felt it slowing and fading. I did nothing…because, well let’s face it, Im a guy and we don’t go to the doctor. But, I did manage to go to the doctor in September 2008 for a sinus infection. My doctor ( my savior), just happened to ask me how I felt other than the sinus issue. For some reason, I said I felt like crap. I told her how I felt as if I was slowing to a stop, that I had enjoyed playing semi-pro football in my spare time for charity and how it seemed so meaningless. I told her I was tired all the time and how relationships had suffered. I had pushed everyone away and did’t know why. I suggested it was just stress. A cop’s life can get that way. She decided to run a few tests. Blood work at first. She called me back a few days later and said that, based on results, my pituitary did not seem to be working. She initially decided to put me on hormone treatments. She called me the following day and told me something didn’t sit right with her and she wanted to go with an MRI as well. I agreed. The next week I went to the MRI and within hours my doctor called with the bad news. A tumor, her words “very large” had grown over the years and had wrapped around my pituitary, completely shutting my endocrine system down. Also, I was approximately six months from losing my eye sight. What a kick in the stomach, such a feeling of helplessness. How could this happen to me? I was in the military also, a cop and thought I was doing all the right things. I was 28 for goodness sake, this doesn’t happen to 28 year olds. Boy, I was wrong. Within two weeks I was in surgery having that beast removed. We wasted no time. For the short time following the surgery, I could feel such a difference in my life. The weight from inactivity and imbalances went away. I felt well again. I got to continue with my life. I am one of the lucky ones. Not a day goes by that it doesn’t come into my mind how I lucky I am. Straight luck got me.
Opinions expressed within this story belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of the National Brain Tumor Society.