So you have been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer

Shocker, what feelings are going through your mind?

I started feeling weird around the holidays. Started with headaches/dull in origin. Not much different than that of a stress related headache. Take a couple ibuprophen and be done right? It did help.

Then I felt like my speech was being effected. Slurred speech. I sounded drunk. I don’t drink. What could this be? I talked with my staff because I knew I wasn’t the only person to hear the slurring. My wife could hear subtle changes in my speech. At first I thought it was just me.

I thought I may have had a stroke. I told my father in law I feel like I had a mini stroke but something still didn’t feel right. I started having walking and mobility issues. January, I ordered a cane on amazon to help with stability. The wobbling was here and I could manage it.

February 2025 came and I was set to see a new doctor. Back story, I love my dr’s office. The staff has always been great but I seem to have had many dr changes over 8 years of being with them. Ok, deal with yet another doctor. I lost a ton of weight using Weight Watchers. I was 362lbs. I cut sugar and dropped down to under 300. Today I sit comfortably at 199-203lbs. So I see a new Doc. Let’s call her Dr N. I had a colostomy placed back in 2012 due to a perforated colon. I had a blockage in january of 2024. Then another in February of 24. That put me on the path to ostomy reversal. I was in the hospital early January and February 2024 for 2 weeks. I met with a surgeon and scheduled the reversal. Great no more poo bag. Fast forward to now and I am thankful to not have to deal with the bag.

So Dr N sends me for an MRI of my brain. Ok fine…Insurance sucks let’s be clear. The deductibles are astronomical, $9200 until it kicks in. MRI was $507 out of pocket.. I was like wtf seriously? I cancelled the MRI. My family was telling me to reschedule it. So i did. 3 weeks later I go for the MRI.

Everything changed

03.25.2025 MRI day… I arrive at 7:30am for the 8am appt. They get me going. I ask for the disc from the MRI and they say no prob. MRI done a little after 9am. I head back to work with the disc.. My computer, as many these days, does not have a disc drive. Probably for the best in my case/not that I would know what to look for anyway. 11am comes and my phone rings.. It’s Dr N. I answer and my world would be forever changed. Dr N goes on to tell me that I have a Glioblastoma, a terminal cancerous tumor on my brainstem. I went numb- ringing in my ears but was perceptive and understanding what was being said to me.