Scared but Smarter

About 2 years ago, spring of 2017, I had my first dizzy spell. I was carrying my daughter on my shoulders, she wanted to get down to look at some flowers. When I put her down, I had a serious case of the spins come over me. Fast forward to the weekend of Thanksgiving the same year, and I have my second dizzy spell. This led me to the ER where I had a CAT Scan. The doctors thought I had a stroke and possibly an ear infection on top of that. I was admitted to the hospital that night.

After a couple of MRIs, the doctors said i didn’t have a stroke, to which i thought was a victory. Then they said and i quote “we don’t know what you have, we know it’s not nothing, and we could give you a laundry list of anxiety provoking things it could be.”

My next hurdle was a MRI to see if I had metastatic cancer. When my results came back my Dr said “no cancer.” Once again, I thought it was time to celebrate. Then came the meeting with the neurosurgeon, this was when they said we believe you have a stage 2 glioma and i need need to have it removed. I spent the next 3 months trying to find any possible way to avoid surgery. This just led to disappointment and a realization that it was unavoidable.

I had my tumor removed February 8, 2018. Looking back now recovery wasn’t so bad, but in the midst of it I experienced sever anxiety and depression. I reached out and shared my feelings which helped a lot. Its now spring of 2019, and I’m finally feeling like my old self.

Each scheduled MRI brings back the anxiety, but I’m so happy I had the courage to have the surgery, and have this extra time in my life to enjoy my family and watch my children grow up.

If you or a family member are in the midst of this horror, please know that there are people that have survived and thrived!

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