Now there are artificial-intelligence tools that help doctors analyze MRIs and similarly complex scans to avoid missing even the smallest tumors.Īs I was reading about brain surgery, it became clear that operating on the part of the body that controls everything from breathing to movement, speech, memory, and consciousness would be a very delicate and risky surgery. This was when I understood how complex it was to analyze a brain MRI, in part because of irregular tumor shapes and sizes. Surprisingly, it was, but it was completely missed by the doctors that I was consulting with at that time, since it had been significantly smaller. The review was part of an in-depth health check-up to see if the tumor was already there at that time. It turned out the tumor had been growing for over 10 yearsĭuring this time, I asked one neurosurgeon to review an MRI of my brain that I had done 10 years prior. We decided not to tell our kids until we knew more about the risks of the surgery - which included partial facial paralysis and epilepsy - and had time to consult with several other neurosurgeons. I was with my husband when I got the news, and I was speechless. "Surgery is the only option, given the tumor's size," my neurologist said. MRI image of Andreea Vanacker's brain tumor. This tumor was the cause of my chronic pain since it was pressing on the trigeminal nerve, also known as the facial nerve, in my brain. The doctor told me I had a benign tumor and that given its size and shape, it had likely been growing for 10 to 15 years. By the time our appointment rolled around and they confirmed the diagnosis, the pain had intensified to a point that I was afraid to eat, talk, or even smile. I made an appointment with a neurologist. I was worried about how I was going to manage, but nothing could have prepared me for what came next. I had also recently launched a company focused on holistic-well-being technology, and we were working with various large clients.īalancing my role as a wife and mother with two kids, and as a newly minted CEO, was already not easy - now this.
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For years, my focus had been on healthy eating, abstaining from alcohol and coffee, getting seven hours of sleep each night, and exercising and meditating daily, all in order to be healthy and full of energy. I'd always done everything I could to avoid a health scare like this Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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