In 2014 I began to experience constant headaches that never seemed to ever go away. I put up with them as best I could despite the pain and frustration they caused. I tried to get rid of the pain by taking Aspirin, seeing a chiropractor, and seeing a massage therapist. Nothing seemed to work no matter what I tried and unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to see a doctor. I began to accept the headaches as my reality.

In 2016, after two years of sometimes debilitating headaches, everything came to a head (pun intended). I was away at law school (3 weeks left in my final semester) and in my dorm room on the phone with my then girlfriend. While talking to her, I was acting out of character. I was overly affectionate and couldn’t seem to focus on the conversation at hand. My odd behavior told her something was definitely wrong with me.

Luckily for me, my strange behavior keyed her into recognizing something was wrong with me and I needed help. Due to her quick thinking, she contacted a mutual friend who then summoned the police to my dorm room. After a chat with the police, they decided to take me to the emergency room to be evaluated.

While at the emergency room, the doctors decided to run a CT scan of my brain. The scan was inconclusive and the doctor told me he needed an MRI to get a better picture of my brain. At this point, I still didn’t have any real idea of what was wrong or even if anything WAS wrong at all (I attribute this to my depreciated mental state).

When the MRI results came back, I sat down with the doctor to listen to the diagnosis. The doctor directly told me that I had a massive brain tumor (Craniopharingioma which grew a large cyst) and without emergency brain surgery, I was going to die. Although I understood the doctor’s words and what they meant, I was unable to fully grasp what he was telling me. Instead of feeling fearful, depressed, or nervousness - I felt relief. I finally had an answer as to what was causing me headaches for such a long period of time. My response to the doctor was simple and straightforward; “ok great, let’s go ahead and do the surgery.”

Many hours later and the craniotomy behind me, I awoke in the intensive care unit and surrounded by my loved ones. My headaches were completely gone, but my mental process was much slower. I had a difficult time communicating my thoughts despite being able to understand those around me.

With every new day, I began to progress in my ability to communicate. I went from speaking gibberish, to incorrectly answering basic questions, to communicating my basic thoughts, to fully communicating with others in the span of a week.

After a week in the hospital, I was beginning to walk again and was discharged from the hospital. The road to recovery would prove to be slow and steady. After a number of months resting my brain and doing what little exercise I could, I began to return to my old self. My mental process sped up, I could walk normally, and even finished up my law school studies.

It’s been an unbelievable journey since I first began experiencing headaches in 2014. This experience has shown me how life truly is precious and I am forever grateful for each and every day I continue to walk this earth.