A few weeks before my nineteenth birthday, I was sitting next to my mom when she pointed out that my left eye wasn’t lining up with my right one, which made it look like I had a lazy eye.
The next day, after we all laughed about it (because it did look kind of funny), my mom made an appointment with a specialist called a neuro-ophthalmologist. We went in on a busy Saturday, and after checking my eye, he suggested we come back another day when he would have more time for more tests.
Two weeks later, we went to his other office for more tests. He asked me if I had been seeing double recently, and I realized I had. He told me that my eye problem, which he called sixth cranial nerve palsy, could be caused by an infection, or in rare cases, a brain tumor. He ordered a chest x-ray, blood work, and an MRI of my head.
The chest x-ray and blood work were fine, but when I went for my MRI, I had a feeling the diagnosis might be bigger than just an infection. After the MRI, my mom and I went to lunch feeling hopeful, and then I went home to work on my online classes. A few hours later, my mom came into my room, really upset, and told me to pick up the phone.
My doctor was on the line and told me there was a mass in my brain pressing on my sixth cranial nerve. He said it might be a very rare type of bone cancer called chordoma, which grows at the base of the skull. I was diagnosed with it two days after my nineteenth birthday.
Since then, my diagnosis was confirmed, and I had surgery to remove the tumor. It wasn’t easy—I had complications like infections and brain fluid leaks—but I made it through. There was still a little bit of the tumor left, so I had proton radiation therapy to get rid of the rest. In a few weeks, I’ll have been in partial remission for a year. I also had eye surgery about ten months ago to fix my eye, which had been stuck looking inward after my first surgery.
Even though I’ve had a lot of challenges because of the tumor and my treatment, like chronic nerve pain, Hashimoto’s disease, and thyroid problems, I’m lucky to have a great team of doctors helping me.
I was a freshman in college when I was diagnosed, and now I’m a junior. I’m studying psychology and music, and I’m involved in my college’s choirs, theater, and student life. In the future, I hope to get my Master’s in mental health counseling and become a therapist for young people with disabilities, rare diseases, and cancer. I also want to perform professionally in my city’s orchestra and choir and maybe even audition for America’s Got Talent.
I’m so thankful to the Lord for everything he has done for me 
Credit to the rightful owner~