Not behaving normal

Not Behaving Normal

Julie

I have been dealing with headaches ever since I can remember. They were always explained away as being a symptom of my seasonal allergies. About 5 years ago I became very active and took up running. I ran 5ks and was working towards a 10k. During this time I started experiencing pain in my lower back that traveled down my right leg making it difficult to run. So now I am dealing with not only headaches but back aches too. I was taking Advil regularly.

On a particular day (from my sketchy memories) I was behaving erratic at work and collapsed in the parking lot. Fortunately the security guard knew me and escorted me back to my office. I vomited, my husband was called. He picked me up and drove me to the hospital. There I had my first MRI (due to my symptoms).

The results were a mass in my brain. I was transported by ambulance to UCLA. I arrived early on a Monday and had surgery Thursday morning. I was diagnosed with a Colloid Cyst in my frontal lobe. The blessing – it was benign. Another blessing I met a wonderful human being, my neurosurgeon Dr. Issac Yang. These tumors are more commonly found during autopsies. I consider myself blessed. I found out that I had people praying for me from all over and I believe that God heard.

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