My Story
Chapter One: Cancer
The dizzy spells started in 2003. After a particularly bad seizure, I knew something was wrong. I was 35 years old, had two beautiful kids, a career-defining job…and was scared to death. The doctors laid out my new reality: I had a golf ball-sized tumor on the left side of my brain that was clearly malignant. It had to come out fast. Luckily for me, the tumor was operable and doctors took out what they could. After six weeks of radiation and 17 cycles of chemotherapy I finally started to feel like myself again. Eleven years later, I consider myself a lucky guy. My cancer remains in remission. More than 200,000 Americans a year are diagnosed with brain cancer and most are gone within eighteen months. I had beaten the Grim Reaper and thought my life could finally go back to normal. Man, was I wrong.
Chapter Two: Epilepsy
Remember the old joke about the cure being worse than the ailment? Although I was grateful to be alive, the surgery set off a series of epileptic seizures that medication couldn’t control. The same doctor who had taken out the brain tumor wanted to perform surgery one more time. By implanting mesh netting into the part of my brain where the seizures started, he thought there was a fairly good chance we could get rid of them forever. It was more than a fairly good chance, in fact – they thought the chances for success were roughly 98 percent. They would even use the same incision mark where they had gone in initially. Being a CPA by trade (a “numbers guy”), I drifted off into the fog of anesthesia knowing that if the doctors were right, I could be headed back to work in a month. Man, were they wrong.
Chapter Three: The Stroke
To be fair, the doctors warned me that by agreeing to this surgery there was a slight risk of a stroke during the procedure. The most frightening moment was when I woke up from the surgery. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t move and I had no idea what had happened. My family and friends were holding my hands while the doctors explained that I had suffered a major stroke. Gradually, most of the post-stroke symptoms faded. It took more than 500 sessions of physical, speech and occupation therapy but today I walk, talk and do many of the activities I did prior to the surgeries. Dozens of medical professionals contributed to making me a medical miracle and every day I thank them for the fact I’m still alive. I am alive and ready to help. Help you. Help your family. Help your neighbor.
Chapter Four: Now What?
Unfortunately, my life story isn’t a sappy Hollywood movie with a happy ending. The last nine years have brought an avalanche of problems. I nearly died several times. I lost my job, I lost my house, I lost my kids’ college savings accounts. I lost it all. But what I got in return was a life’s purpose. I’ve been to the deepest, darkest places any person can go. But even though life did it’s best to knock me down and out permanently, I got back up and dusted myself off again and again. Now that you know my story, I want to hear yours. Let’s meet. I’ll talk with two people or two hundred. I want to help you find the right answer to protect yourself and your family. You call, I’ll answer. That’s all it takes to start the conversation.