Newly Diagnosed? Calm down and focus on life!

Instead of providing a laundry list of steps to teach you what to do without knowing how you feel or what is your condition I was more compelled to share what has worked for me:

- Shifted my focus towards the Present: I thanked God for being alive! This gave me energy to move beyond my tumor. I felt mortal for the first time in 37 years, and this made me scared of the future, of what would happen to me, my family. Then I realized that there is no way of knowing how much time I had on Earth, with or without a tumor, so I decided to live while I can, and shift my focus towards the present. I was back to work, active family duties and surrounded myself with people who gave me energy.
- I searched for information about my condition: the brain is the last frontier of Human Knowledge, an amazing and fascinating work of art developed over millions of years, over which very few people are gifted enough to deal with. I searched for the best scientific papers, doctors and survival stories to understand the safest alternatives to treat the tumor and preserve my neurological function
- I always stayed positive: in any situtation we can choose to be miserable or optimistic. A tumor is not a trivial challenge but everyone faces demons in life. This was mine. I continued to define who I was, and did not let a medical condition define who I was. This enabled me to face my tumor in a cold-blooded way and allowed me to manage all aspects of my life as well or better than before.
- I took action: After meeting several doctors, I chose one. I discussed alternatives with him and we worked together to begin my treatment, in my case, surgery and chemotherapy. The decisions were not easy as I had a relatively high risk of losing movement with the surgery, but I waited until he found a safe surgery option. In my case, I performed my brain surgery awake. Now I am on chemo.

To illustrate how tenues life is and how important it is to focus on the present I recommend that you read the next post, preferably before you read my last action. It is a French story called "The Life Thread". In a way it illustrates how important your tumor might be in your life if you look at it as a learning opportunity. Don't walk away from your challenges, face them and you will be better afterwards. This leads me to my last action:

- I never wondered how much longer I will live: Let me tell you a secret - your Doctor doesn't know either. Life expectancy statistics, overall survival rates, progression free time are all important numbers for researchers, pharmaceutical companies, doctors who are looking at cures and improving treatment outcomes. But you are unique. No matter what happened to test groups, the only case that matters to you is your case, so remember the life thread and focus on the present.

Yesterday is the Past

Tomorrow is the Future

Today is a Gift - That's Why it is Called the Present

May God bless you and I hope you find your way to a long and happy life!