Yes, I love May because it's the season of growing flowers, Mother's Day and the start of Summer! Although I'd love a beautiful bouquet of peonies for my day, I'd love it even more if we could find a cure for this little known brain tumor diagnosis called a "meningioma." A WHAT??!! I screamed into the phone when I was diagnosed. Yes, this brain tumor is the most prevalent primary brain tumor out there.
"Of all the patients diagnosed with one, 65% are women. According to Peter McLaren Black, professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School, meningioma is diagnosed in about one in 1,000 people each year and that at least 138,000 people in the U.S. are living with one."
~Liz Holzemer, meningioma survivor and author of "Curveball: When Life Throws You a Brain Tumor"
These kinds of brain tumors are the ones somewhat discounted by the medical profession as they are known as the "good kind of brain tumors," as many of them are benign. Call me crazy but in my opinion there are no good brain tumors! Many meningiomas cause blindness (that's me), deafness, paralysis, cognitive changes, severe mood changes, depression, seizures and more. Meningiomas have claimed the lives of too many. It is not a simple surgery (craniotomy) that is just finished when they close you up with titanium screws. Many people have to learn to live with disablilites and continue to wait and see if the tumor will continue to grow.
I have been blessed with great doctors here in NYC and in Pittsburgh. Most people who are newly diagnosed have a very good chance of finding a great team of neurosurgeons who have committed their lives to researching and understanding meningiomas. But we still don't know why people get them. I had a nice sized tumor the size of a golf ball in my sphenoid wing. I've always lived a healthy life, heck I'm a holistic health coach! What causes these things??
If you are able, please consider donating to a non-profit group called Meningioma Mommas. Our brain tumors are underfunded and understudied. You can make a difference!
It was the scariest time of my life when I was diagnosed. I thought I was going to be gone ... not being able to see my two daughters grow up, or grow old with my husband. I didn't know anyone who had survived a brain tumor or let alone had one! If you or anyone else you know has been diagnosed please feel free to contact me! You are not alone in your fight!
Much Love,
Krista Daley
http://krista-daley.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com/
http://www.refuelyourathleticfamily.com/
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| I have never shown this pic to anyone but my family. I was in the ring with a heavyweight! |
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| Cannot believe my Mom actually wanted to remember me this way! |
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| My love bunny was able to visit :) |
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| Isn't that too freaky? |
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| Here is my "mask face" from the radiation at UPMD last March. |
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| My man smiling to see my clear MRI last June. |
1 comment:
If you have trouble donating on the link that is above, scan down to the bottom of the page to make a donation there. Thank you from the bottom of my heart :)
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