Last week, on 2/7/23, I was thrilled to be appointed Chief Marketing Officer at my company, a wonderful milestone. This is now my second time as a CMO in my career and I couldn’t be more excited to continue my journey leading one of the best marketing teams you could ask for.
On 2/8/23, the very next day, I had a seizure near the Starbucks in the train station across the street from my office and lost consciousness, later waking up in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Quite the turn of events.
After a number of scans and tests at the hospital, I later found out I had a small tumor on the front right side of my brain.
A ton of different emotions and questions flooded in…
-What caused this?
-Why me?
-Why now?
-Will I be okay?
-Is it cancerous?
-What’s next?
-Will I need surgery?
-Will my family be okay?
-What about work?
-And so on…
For quite some time I’ve subscribed to the idea that life is fate, but in moments like this you question that. Maybe… Or maybe all of this is part of the plan and something bigger and more important comes out the other side. In a moment like this, It’s hard to think about it that way.
After several days in the hospital, the incredible staff and Doctors at Rush Medical determined the best course of action would be an immediate awake craniotomy on 2.13.2023. Due to the location of the tumor, they would need to make sure my left side was still functioning as they removed the mass. The best way to do that was to have me awake during that critical part of the operation. A scary thought, but I knew I was in one of the best places in the country to have this done, so that gave me peace of mind.
After about a four hour operation, I was out of the operating room and into the neuro-ICU to recover under close monitoring. Early post-op scans showed all signs of a successful surgery. There’s still some waiting I have to do to learn more, but early signs are very positive! I’m incredibly grateful to be back home and recovering. I’m looking forward to getting back to normalcy as soon as possible.
During my stay at Rush, I met a ton of wonderful people. I tried to remember every person’s name, but there’s a good chance I missed a few. This list spans staff from the emergency room all the way to the operating room and every stop in between. All special in their own ways and people that I will never forget.
Morgan
Morgen
Adeline
Gabi
Sophie
Chris
Anita
Bryan
Laurencia
Juliana
Dr. Lorenzo Muñoz
Ally
Lekisha
Dr. Louis
The entire anesthesiology team (they were good at their job so I don’t remember names)
Rachel
Edyta
Kara
Warren
Christina
Missy
Jennifer
Roger
I still have a lot of questions. Some which may never be answered due to the nature of these things. In hindsight, my body had been giving me signals that something was not right for about 3-4 months leading up to this event. I had been having smaller scale seizures, but had a difficult time describing the occurrences. Aside from seemingly random blips every few weeks, I was leading a normal life. At least it seemed that way.
I feel blessed in so many ways. To have the people around me I did, family, friends, colleagues, doctors, hospital staff and so on. I feel fortunate that things were not worse than they were. I’m ecstatic to finally be back home with my wife and son by my side.
“Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”
~Susan Sontag
DEALING WITH PAIN
“Whenever you suffer pain, keep in mind that it’s nothing to be ashamed of and that it can’t degrade your guiding intelligence, nor keep it from acting rationally and for the common good. And in most cases you should be helped by the saying of Epicurus, that pain is never unbearable or unending, so you can remember these limits and not add to them in your imagination. Remember too that many common annoyances are pain in disguise, such as sleepiness, fever, and loss of appetite. When they start to get you down, tell yourself you are giving into pain.”
~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.64
Final thought: Always try to keep life’s events in perspective.
To everyone who sent positive vibes and love during this time. Thank you.
To my wife and son for being an absolute rock, and family for being here with us. I love you.
Onward.
