Hello everyone. This is my story of the brain tumor that crept into our lives. Some of the signs where there, but we could explain them away. So let my story begin.
In 2020 I had all my back teeth pulled on the right side. I was planning to get dentures. Then Pandemic hit. So, I wasn't able to get the other side done. Then I noticed the right side of my face was numb. Not only that but my taste buds and tongue were also numb on the right side. My wife and I thought nerve damage from getting my teeth pulled. This was the first sign explained away.
A month or so later I began to lose my hearing on the right ear. I went to 2 hearing specialists. One said the hairs in my ear are damaged and there was nothing could be done. Not even hearing aids would work. So as my wife and I talked about it, we figured my hearing was affected by the loud fans and the loud noises from unloading stock from semi. I worked at a Kroger's store. I was a dairy associate first. Then I got transferred from Dairy to 3rd shift 5 years later. Happy Man I was. Anyway, the loading docks and the fans in the coolers are very loud. So now we are at sign number two.
First two signs are explained away. We had no idea there was more to come.
A few months later my right eye became blurry. Went to eye doctor. Eye test and new glasses seemed to help for a couple weeks. Then the double vision started. Went back to eye doctor. Got prisms put in my glasses. When I first put them on amazing, I can see! Thinking everything was okay. We got down the road, and seriously, ten minutes the double vision was back. We were in shock really. So, we talked about it, and we figured it was from my high blood sugar. Diabetics are prone to eyesight loss. So, we got a patch and put it over the right eye. This was sign three. We could explain away. Went to my doctors because my feet were in terrible pain. He diagnosed me with gout. Really! So now I have gout on top of eye, hearing and face and mouth problems.
Now we are treating gout. Soon after I started the medication, I became dizzy and off balance. My doctor said I probably have vertigo. Damn! what else. So, he put me on medication for vertigo. But it really didn't work. It got worse. I shouldn't have been driving but I needed to get back and forth to work. A week or so later, I began to think something else was going on. I had my doctor get a hold of a neurologist. The neurologist done the basic test. We found that my right eye was not dilating like the left. The Neurologist ordered an MRI. The staff said it would take a couple days for the results. When the doctor read the MRI results, he called me the next day to come in and discuss the results. We were not prepared for what he had to say. He was showing the results to us and was explaining. The words rang through me like an echo. 'You have a brain tumor'. My wife went pale sat in silence. We both could hear the doctor talking but nothing was actually heard.
I did hear Meninges Benign Tumor. This is when everything seems to fall apart.
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