If you're interested in how I found out that I have this tumor in my head—called vestibular schwannoma, aka acoustic neuroma—here’s the full story. Actually, it’s so “full” that I had to split it into three parts. I really hope it sheds some light on how these things are usually discovered, and what tends to happen before someone actually gets their first diagnosis. Of course, it differs from case to case—but this is how it went for me. When people hear about my diagnosis, the one question that most frequently pops up is: “ But how did you even find out that you have this thing in your head? ” And it's usually hard to explain in a short format appropriate for today’s fast-paced lifestyle. The answer, in my case, can’t be boiled down to just one event or symptom. Well, I could pick one of the most obvious ones and throw that at them. But it wouldn’t have any context, and even worse, it would be just a pixel of the whole picture. So if you are truly interested in the whole “ ho...
Somewhere in the twilight, while fighting my demons, a tiny idea sparked to life—an idea to make something good out of the worst. So here I am… explaining WHY I’m even starting this blog-writing thingy, and HOW I’ll try to juggle it. Interested? Huh. OK. So it looks like I am doing it! I’m starting a blog… Well, what should I even say? To be straight, of course I have a basic idea of why I’m even starting this blog and what I want to say. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing these lines! Right!? But that’s actually all I have right now. A rough idea—why, and vaguely how. So, bear with me for a second. Let’s start with the WHY, which is clearer to me. First, to anyone who’s reading this website and asking themselves, “ Who is this nobody anyway, and why should I even care? ”—a little context would probably help at this point, right? So, in a nutshell… you see… I have this thing… they say it’s a tumor… it’s the size of a grape… and it’s in my head. Well, the doctors and the internet in gener...