I’m Having a Fundraiser. I Can’t.

I was part of a team sponsoring a fundraiser for Senator John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards was the main speaker for the event. I drove to a gift shop in town to buy a hostess/thank you gift, which was about three minutes from my house. On the way my vision started to blur, I thought it was dry eyes. In the store, the blurring got worse, and by the time I got to my car, I had visions of the letter “C” in my eyes that were made of black, orange, and mirror triangles. I panicked and called my doctor, and he said to go to the ER immediately.

I drove home and got my husband, and on the way to the ER, the vision disappeared. The doctor in the ER said I needed an MRI immediately, and I said I couldn’t. I’m sponsoring an event. I promised to have it done the next day. My balance was now off, and I felt a bit like I was spinning. There was a neurologist at the party, and he made me promise to have the MRI, and he would be in touch with me. Within one week following the MRI, I was in a neurosurgeon and oncology radiologist’s office. I had Gamma knife surgery, which caused innumerable side effects. I spent almost two years in bed, unable to function, with constant vertigo and nausea, and then I lost my hearing in the left ear. Eventually, I got services to help with all the side effects and got better.

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