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Pituitary adenoma has nothing on me and my troops

Friends, 

I'm overwhelmed and strengthened from all the support I've gotten in light of my diagnosis. It's been a little under a week since I found out that I have a brain tumor. I began by telling my close friends and family. After personally telling my closest friends and relatives, I announced my diagnosis on here and on Facebook yesterday. 

I expected some sort of response, relatives and old friends posting well wishes and prayers, but I didn't expect the response I got. I was immediately showered with love and support from my friends, family, old classmates, acquaintances, and people who hardly know me. 

Aunts and uncles and cousins started calling and offering helping hands to my parents. My sisters friends started reaching out to me and sending me balloons and treats. And best of all, one of my best friends drove 5 hours and organized a group of our friends to come visit me. With my limited mobility and the business of all my friends this summer, most are off working, interning, taking classes, etc., I haven't been able to have much fun this summer. 

But today I got to spend most of the day with three of my closest friends, Kate, Fab, and Matthew. We went out to eat and saw our other friend, Hannah, as a server. We ran (I rolled) around the mall joking around and people watching. We went to the movies and saw Inside Out (very good movie, I'd recommend it without hesitation). 

Know what we didn't do? We didn't talk about my tumor. We didn't spend the day calling doctors or charting my BP. We didn't monopolize all our mind power thinking about my treatment plan and surgeries to come. Instead, we had fun and for a few hours I got to forget that I was sick. Of course, sitting in a wheel chair and dealing with the continuous symptoms, I couldn't really forget, but I came close. I laughed harder than I had in weeks and I started to feel like myself again. 

On days when I feel weak and this illness starts to make me feel like I'm losing myself, I'll just have to remember to surround myself with all these beautiful people. Try as it might, this tumor doesn't have half the strength that I do when I've got this much love in my life. 

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