When I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, my world was turned upside down. I knew of teachers and friends of friends who had been diagnosed with brain tumors, but nobody in my immediate family. I was alone in this fight, but not without the tremendous support of my family and friends.
I started this blog as a way to share my story with others. To educate, inspire and be an outlet for those who are currently undergoing treatment or who are just diagnosed. At the time I was diagnosed, I had just finished my first year of law school, underwent treatment, went through an extensive recovery period and immediately went back to school all within a matter of six months. I didn’t dwell on it or feel bad for myself and in turn, I never really talked about my ordeal until now. While I likely face obstacles for the rest of my life, I am here to share with you my story to show you that today was not as bad as it seems and tomorrow gives rise to new opportunities.
During my recovery, I was given this picture that now hangs in my office and I read it daily – “Adversity. We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”
Chris
Grey Matters 
Dear Chris, I feel so connected to your experiences and your writing. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with brain cancer (anaplastic ependymoma) and have since faced a recurrence and 3 brain surgeries (the latest even involving a plastic surgery team and infectious disease team). When I was diagnosed, I was a practicing civil defense litigation attorney and beside all of the physical, mental, emotional issues, having to face whether I could continue my career is yet another huge challenge. I’m looking forward to following you and your journey! Xoxoxo
Thank you for reaching out! It’s certainly nice to connect with you, especially given our unique similarities with the law. Like you, the emotional challenges of what I went through, in addition to the surgeries and infection, were another obstacle that I had to overcome, but now eight years later, I am standing with my head held high. You sound like a very strong woman, and I commend you for not losing hope and writing your blog, which I very much look forward to reading.
Chris
Not sure how I cane back to this post, but I am believing it was no coincidence. A statement resonated with me, guess needed to analyze it a bit further, but I am having some difficulty doing so. “While likely to face obstacles for the rest of my life…”. Much like your latest post, having to jump back into your recovery left no room to accept otherwise but forward strides. I’ve had the need to do the same the entirety of 2016 and at this point I am feeling these “obstacles”. I am more aware of my deficits (my son hates when I say handicapps) and not happy with the evidence. However I am a bit at ease knowing this thought and feeling is not just mine, others feel this as well. Thanks for sharing
BTW when does this blasted shunt stop hurting/aching?
Every day gets better, but no one day is perfect. Patience and commitment is so vital to making a full recovery, but don’t push yourself too hard. Our deficits don’t define us, but rather make us stronger and hungrier to overcome the odds and persevere. I can speak from experience when I say that my second shunt was a harder recovery than the first, but the pain and swelling subsided within a month. Any serious concerns should be discussed with your doctor though! I look forward to seeing you soon.
Chris,
Great blog. I am new to CT from Houston, TX and looking for a great Neurosurgeon at Yale-New Haven to replace the valve on my 17-year-old Codman Programmable VP shunt. Any recommendations?
Hello. I’m sorry for my English. I was looking for information about neirocytoma in Russian language(my mother tongue), but there is no one history of real person. Than I found u in English language google search. Can you tell me about main stages of your tumor?
My boyfriend have a neirocytoma from 2017. Now he is 22 yeas. He get 1 operation, but doctor can’t delete all of tumor. Than, there was gamma-knife a year ago. Now doctor said that tumor increase and there is new places of tumor in brain. Boyfriend feel himself bad. He can’t eat, have a headache and etc.
Tell me please how you tumor was.
I’m scared 😦
Thank you
Hello Natalia, thank you for reaching out. I have sent you an email, please let me know if you have received it. Thanks!