21 Years and Still Going

21 Years and Still Going

Jackie

My life-long brain tumor was diagnosed 21 years ago when I was 30. My neurosurgeon labored 23 hours straight to resect the 4x5x6.5 cm Central Neurocytoma in the right lateral ventricle. I was in ICU for 10 days and went through a full month rehabilitation in the hospital (PT, OT, ST) I had three shots of Gamma-knife radiosurgery to curb the growth of the three tumors grown out of the residue tumor cells in 2001. Currently my doctors are monitoring one of the three tumors that’s been causing discomfort/pressure on my right temple/nasal area. The tumor that’s been causing problems is embedded near the thalamus and another radiosurgery has been considered. I continued to work for 18 years after my initial craniotomy. After my ‘cognitive’ ability declined sharply due to two bouts of breast cancer and two full doses of chemotherapy to treat the cancer, I finally went to a neuropsychologist and the result explained why I had been changing/losing jobs so often in my life.

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