by Anonymous
I'm 14 years old. I found out about three months ago that I had a brain tumor on the left side of the cerebellum. It started with horrible headaches. The kind of headaches that can only be tamed with Excedrin migraine. My family and I didn't think much of the headaches; we kind of put it out of our minds like it's no big deal. Soon I begged my father for a doctor's appointment. Friday I was taken out of school early to go to my appointment. I told the doctor everything that was going on and she immediately ordered a CAT Scan. My mom and I waited in the emergency room for hours until finally a doctor came in with a picture of my brain. But there was something wrong with that picture. There was a round black ball in my brain. The doctor told me that I had a brain tumor. My first reaction was to just laugh it off. I know -- it was a weird response to something like that, but I was in complete denial.
They soon called my dad at work and told him the news. He rushed over here so fast. My mom was devastated. She made no sound and cried silently, trying to hide it from me. Now no one told me I could have died from this. No one told me that there was a chance of this tumor being cancerous. No I was completely helpless. I went into surgery the Sunday following the discovery -- a grueling ten hours of surgery with my parents in the waiting room the whole time! After the surgery, two professionals confirmed that the tumor was benign!
I was put in the ICU for recovery. I don't remember much of it. I had horrible hallucinations due to lack of sleep. I thought people that I loved were getting hurt or killed, but in reality it was only me that was hurt. After two weeks I was let out of the hospital! I went through this with "flying colors" as my dad would say. This tumor was kind of in it's own way a good thing. I now see life differently and live everyday like it was my last. I never take things for granted because you never know when tragedy hits. I'm so thankful for my supportive friends and family who never took their minds off me.
