colloid cyst

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I Travelled 1278 Miles to Have Surgery for My #ColloidCyst

After 8 years of trying to find a neurosurgeon in my state willing to do the surgery to remove the #ColloidCyst that was causing  #Hydrocephalus, a friend who was an anaesthetist suggested I travel interstate to a world renowned Neurosurgeon who was the last resort for many people living with brain tumour. I emailed him and after being driven for few trips to see him, finally made the final trip for my surgery. Sometimes you have to make long journeys to get the results you need. If I hadn't made those long car trips I would have died in 2011.

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#ColloidCyst My journey in short

I was diagnosed in 2003 at the aged of 29. Our children were still very young my twin step daughters were 13, the eldest son was 9 and the youngest son was 6. The tumour was located in the third ventricle the middle of the brain and a part of the brain's CSF system. I was very symptomatic for 8 years. I finally found a doctor in Sydney who performed my surgery in February 2011. By this time half of my brain had shifted and was asymmetrical from intermittent hydrocephalus caused by the tumour blocking and unblocking the CSF flow for 8 years. I had an endoscopic resection of the tumour and was out of the hospital the following morning.  

I started studying at 17 months post op and achieved a Dual certificate III in Business and Business Administration in just over 5 months. Five  months after that (just under 3 years post op) I started a certificate IV in Adult Tertiary Preparation it was a year long course which I completed with honours. That launched me into a Bachelor of Science (Clinical Science). So far I have scored credits and distinctions. I have had to take a half year off as my father passed away and it has had a tremendous impact on me. I went to the Bio med conference in Melbourne in November 2014 and the Cancer Council QLD Brain Tumour Consumer Forum February 2015.  Apart from that I have been raising a money for brain tumour research doing fun runs and things since 13 months post op.

I have been a part of the BTSM (brain tumour social media) and Brain Tumor Thursday hash tag posts on Twitter. I make a blog post each month (or more frequently) about my recovery and the things I have learnt along the way.