A life changing diagnosis like a brain tumor can throw a person into emergency mode. It is natural to feel a sense of urgency and panic. Obviously, depending on the diagnosis and the symptoms there can be some very time sensitive tasks that need to be accomplished. However, most often an acoustic neuroma is not an emergency. It is something that needs to be handled, but there is time for research, planning, and preparation. It is best if you have the gift of time to pick out your doctors, treatment center, and the right treatment plan for your situation. Just organizing treatment is a long and drawn out process. When you add in recovery from treatment, it is very common from diagnosis to a new normal to span more than a year.

It’s important to have a somewhat realistic perspective on how long a brain tumor journey is. It can be overwhelmingly tempting to push too hard at the beginning of the situation and struggle to continue that level of energy as the situation continues on. Pacing is hard but a very important tool for coping with the diagnosis. Keeping in mind the longevity of a brain tumor journey is also important for not falling into despair. If you have a very different expected timeline you can end up feeling defeated as things continue to go on. Hope is a key tool for managing life with a brain tumor. You need to plan on the brain tumor journey being like a marathon and not like a sprint.

Perseverance is so important when handling an acoustic neuroma diagnosis. It can be very tempting to throw in the towel when you get conflicting advice from doctors, or when you have what feels like a never ending insurance battle. It’s exhausting, and you may need to take breaks, but don’t give up. It’s worth battling through to the other side of treatment. It’s so hard to see how life will be sweet again when you are in the midst of moments where you feel like your quality of life is nonexsitent. It gets better, keep pressing on.

Mindfulness can be a really useful tool for day to day coping with a brain tumor. I know it is a buzz word that many of us are sick of, but it is true that staying present is so important. It is easy to fall down rabbit holes of assuming that absolutely everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and waste a lot of time planning for horrible outcomes that don’t actually end up happening. I am not saying don’t research or prepare, but know when to stop and focus on now. It can be so easy to toss away good days now because we are worried about bad days being possible later. I am not minimizing how tough those moments are, but I have realized that by grounding myself in the present can help me feel better and be more functional.

A good team can make all the difference. It’s so important to gather the people around you that can support and help. Your friends and family really want to help, giving them a task to do can be a gift to them as it helps them to feel useful. Delegate tasks where you can and save your energy for the important things. It can be hard to ask for help, but literally everyone needs help at some point in their life. Let your loved ones be there for you when you need them. I had so much support outpouring from my community that I said, “There’s nothing like a brain tumor to restore your faith in humanity.”

I won’t lie and say the brain tumor journey is easy, but you can do it. It’s worth the long battle to make it through treatment and recovery. Make sure you to plan and pace for the long haul and try not to give into the temptation to treat it like a sprint. There are many challenges that come with a long distance to run, but there are also tools to manage. I believe in you.

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