Tomorrow marks my brain surgery “cranniversary” — 18 years since surgeons removed a ten-centimetre brain tumour that was pressing against my vision and memory.
At 25 years old, I thought I was simply exhausted. I never imagined that fainting on a London train would lead to emergency brain surgery and a completely different version of life.
Back then, I thought recovery would be about healing physically.
What I didn’t realise was that rebuilding my life would take far longer than recovering from the operation itself.
There were seizures, fear, exhaustion, frustration, embarrassment, grief for the person I used to be, and countless moments where I genuinely didn’t know how to move forward.
But somehow, amongst all of that, there was also humour.
Ridiculous moments.
Awkward moments.
Moments that, years later, still make me laugh.
One of the strangest things about surviving something life-changing is that people often focus on the moment you survive — but not the years afterwards.
The rebuilding.
The adapting.
The learning how to live again.
Eighteen years later, I’m still learning.
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Still adapting.
Still discovering new things about myself.
Some lessons arrived quickly.
Others took years.
Over the next 18 days, I’ll be sharing 18 things I’ve learnt during 18 years of surviving, recovering and rebuilding life after a brain tumour.
Some are difficult.
Some are funny.
Some surprised me.
But every one of them helped shape the person I am today.
And honestly, I’m incredibly grateful to still be here
Day 2 is here already: What Nobody Tells You About Life After Brain Surgery
Read More About My Journey
A Brain Tumour’s Travel Tale: Cards on the Table, I Pooed Myself shares the honest, funny and sometimes difficult reality of life before and after my brain tumour diagnosis.
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