Last updated: 8/27/2007
On December 1, 2001, I was watching a football game on TV and went to the refrigerator to get something to eat. Then, just like that, I woke up riding in an ambulance. I quickly found out that I had a seizure. My mom, dad, and brother witnessed it and called 911. I was kept in the hospital overnight and the next day I had an MRI done. To my absolute surprise, I was told I had a brain tumor. I later found out that I had a grapefruit-sized, benign meningioma. Other than the seizure, I never had any warning signs. Five days later, on December 7, 2001, I had a nine-hour surgery to remove the brain tumor. I am blessed that I had the surgeon I did. He has to be one of the best surgeons out there. For my surgery, I went to the hospital on a Thursday, had surgery on a Friday, and was sent home on a Sunday night. I only missed eight days of school because it happened near Christmas break. In fact, less than a month after surgery, I was back in school. At the time, I was 14 and in eighth grade. My classmates at school made posters and cards for me while I was gone and gave me a warm welcome back when I returned. I was also in basketball at the time and the whole team signed a basketball and gave it to me. I remember not understanding why I wasn't allowed to play basketball during the week I was going to have surgery. That sounds pretty silly now because now I understand why.
Since I was only 14 years old and still in eighth grade, I had no idea of the seriousness of what I had. I didn't think anything of it. Looking back to the day of the surgery, I never once worried or thought about coming out of it all right. In comparison, all of my friends, family, and teachers were worried. I remember becoming more nervous before taking a test than I did before having surgery. I now believe it was because I was so young and that loved ones prayed for me. At that time, the only thing that I seemed to care about was being able to play tackle football during high school. The whole time I was in the hospital, football was the only thing I worried about. In fact, I was scared that I might not be able to play football in high school. In middle school, I was very good in flag football and had played quarterback, wide receiver, punter, and middle line backer. Everything I did in middle school was geared towards being successful in football. Football was my life and now I had been forced to give it up. At the time, that was so hard to swallow. Reluctantly, with the advice of my parents and my surgeon, I chose not to try out for football in high school. As bad as I wanted to, I felt that I owed so much of my life to my surgeon and parents and that I should listen to them.
In high school, I tried out for cross-country and basketball. I really struggled with basketball during my freshman year. I was to the point where I almost wanted to give up on sports all together. I had a hard time keeping up with the game and with my level of motivation. Due to my lack of motivation and the dreadful season of basketball, I didn't try out for a spring sport my freshman year. Thankfully, during my sophomore year, I continued with cross-country and tried out for track and stayed with both sports throughout the rest of high school.
Participating in cross-country and track worked out to be great for me. In fact, I ended up being part of the 4x400 relay team that went to state both my junior and senior years. When I got to state as a junior, which was about three and half years after my surgery, I finally got over not playing football. That year, we ended up missing the finals by three seconds and took home an 11th place finish. After getting to state my junior year, I shifted all of my focus into returning to state the following year. Finally, I had gained back my fire for athletics that I had before my surgery.
As a senior, I finished first team all conference in cross-country. Then in track I anchored the 4x400 and the 4x800 relays. With the 4x400 relay, we earned a spot on the podium and took home the final medal at state by finishing as the sixth best Division 3 team in the state. During my senior year of high school, I was so determined to get back to state that I continued to push myself even with an injury. Right before our Conference meet, I developed a stress fracture in my left foot. At one point it got so bad that I could barely walk. Once I started going in for treatment, my foot got better. My training was on a stationary bike and I had to ice my foot for an hour every night for three straight weeks. Having my foot injury motivated me even more to return to the state meet.
Amazingly, the first race with my foot injury, I finished third place by running my fastest open 400 ever. Then, at that same meet, I was able to run the last leg of the 4x400 in which we set a conference record. Two eventful weeks later, we made it back to state. Our last five races of the year were our five fastest times of the year. We ended the year by running the fastest time of the year, which was five seconds faster than what we ran the previous year at state, which was 3 minutes 32 seconds. I was very blessed to have such great teammates and a great coach. If it were not for my three team mates on the relay, I would have not been able to get to state. My foot injury took three months after track season to heal, but it was definitely worth it.
At the end of my senior year, I received the male senior athlete of the year award, which was voted on by all the high school students, staff, and coaches. This honor was special because it had meant that my classmates had a great amount of respect towards me. Surprisingly, since I have graduated from high school, my Cross-Country coach renamed the award to dedication to me. It's definitely an odd feeling having an award named after myself. I feel honored by this, but also think that I probably don't deserve to have an award named after me.
Currently, I am 20 years old and attending college for a health club technician certificate. I am not entirely sure what I want to be just yet, but I do know that I want to be able to help other people. Right now, I am working on getting more involved with helping other brain tumor survivors.
I go in for a check up once a year and have not had any reoccurrences in over five and half years. Other than some short-term memory problems, my life has been as normal as I ever could have expected. I definitely have an understanding side towards anyone that has a major health problem. Having this tumor kept me out of trouble and from getting into drinking and partying. I also have a great appreciation for things that I wouldn't have otherwise had. I always went to church before having this tumor, but didn't really believe in God to the extent that I do now. My advice to those trying to recover is be willing to accept other people’s help instead of trying to take on more than you can handle. There is no reason to be ashamed of getting help. We’re stronger if we work together as a team rather than trying to do everything on our own as an individual.
I am looking forward to running in the New York City Marathon as a member of Team McGraw this November 4th, 2007. I really feel running in the NYC marathon is a great opportunity for me to help raise more awareness and put a face to brain tumors. Personally, I know what it is like to be told that you have a brain tumor and how important the help and support of others is. I was fortunate to come out of surgery as well as I have. I also receive a lot of help and support from both of my parents. Since I feel so blessed, I want to help others fighting the same battle. The thought that I am helping represent all other brain tumor survivors is my motivation to keep running mile after mile.
