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I beat a brain tumor.

I'm ticking things off my list: I had a tumor removed; I had spinal surgery; I had four surgeries in three months.

Brain surgery is a fairly aggressive process. There's a lot to get through. There's the beautiful, delicate shaving first, which is really lovely. There's a wonderful ceremony of putting all the covers on, so only the little bit you're operating on is revealed. But once they make the incision and tear the skin back, the drill comes out.

I was able to get operated on four days after I was diagnosed. It was just a matter of getting this baseball-sized tumor out of me. I reflect now on how lucky I was to be in the situation where I could get the best possible help and treatment.

I was going to go to school to become a neurological surgeon.

I had a lump on my face and had a big cancer thing removed.

I had a lumpectomy. It wasn't that bad. Six and a half weeks of radiation.

I was diagnosed with Graves' disease, an illness of the thyroid gland. Instead of surgery, I was given radiation treatment.

When the headache persisted, I checked myself into an emergency room. When the doctor used the term 'brain tumour', I feared the worst. My whole world shrank around me.