Lobe Yourself

It's the week of your repeat scan and nothing is okay. You feel like you might cry, vomit and spontaneously combust all at the same time. The weather is bad, there's nothing on TV and you're on your fourth KFC. Your emotions are in turmoil, you're trying not to think the worst but you can't help it. You play hearing the results in your head like a video tape. Does this sound familiar? Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid the dreaded scan and they don't feel like they get any easier each time you go.  So is there anything you can do to make the build up easier? Well I could sit here and tell you to meditate harder, check into a Spa and consume a whole bottle of  Rescue Remedy  like a shot. (Please don't.) But the truth is, none of those things will 100% rid you of nerves. This is why I choose humour for my tumour. Nothing works wonders like having a good belly laugh when you least expect it.  I recently joined the  Brain Tumours...

Time to stop just coping and start living! If I can do it so can you. Below are a few things I wish I knew when I was first diagnosed. 1 : There's no right or wrong way to process this.  We are all unique and we are all accepting something monumental in different parts of our lives. In my case, it took about 7 months to truly acknowledge that I needed to start finding ways to improve the daily quality of my life. We walk around subconsciously trying to file away the fact that we're actively suffering with a form of post traumatic stress disorder and we literally don't know what to do about it. We become disinterested, upset and unmotivated versions of ourselves- and that isn't our fault. My advice to you if you're still struggling to accept your diagnosis: find something purposeful and progressive to channel the negative energy into and make it part of your routine. A few examples that I found helped me were: Gentle Yoga once a week Doing a Min...

On the day I learnt my Brain Tumour (BT) was stable, I came away feeling depressed. That day was something to be celebrated, but it was only the champagne that followed that made me feel more relaxed. I couldn't understand why I was so upset when something so positive in my journey was happening... then a study from when I was on a placement in Anaesthetics at Great Ormond Street sprung to mind. Did you know that children feel a heightened sense of pain when you literally say the word “pain”around them? Once you've said it, they wind themselves up something silly, because all they hear in their audio loop is “pain pain pain pain pain”.  The imagination is the single most powerful tool that we possess in healing, and this has been something reiterated throughout my journey: my Spiritual Healer Anna Parkinson has even healed her own BT using her imagination as a key tool.  I came to realise that the reason I continuously feel so upset on the day of my scans is...

My journey began back in 2015 when I started University. I was studying a course called Operating Department Practice in London and was subsequently working 37.5 hours on a placement at Great Ormond Street. The hours really took a toll on my stress levels and I began to feel incredibly fatigued all of the time. I started to develop small one-sided headaches that stretched over my face. They didn't last long but they were very intense and I quickly put it down to dehydration and exhaustion: even Student Nurses sometimes don't get breaks. Regardless, I ignored it.  In my second and third year, the headaches became more of a frequent part of my life; but knowing Clinicians so well, I deduced a trip to the GP would result in me coming away with instructions to drink more water, de-stress and potentially try a migraine medication. It was around this time my gut instinct was first telling me what I really needed was an MRI.  By the time I had qualified, I was subconsc...