Our Head of PR Susan Castle-Smith is keen to highlight a blog from Brain Tumour Research supporter Sara Crosland who has been writing about her journey with an acoustic neuroma.
Sara’s life took a dramatic turn when, in February 2018, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour; you can read her story here. Following major surgery and a brain haemorrhage, Sara, an active mum of three, was left unable to walk, with impaired vision and balance and permanent profound hearing loss.
Sara has been charting her recovery on her blog, More to My Story and during this Mental Health Awareness week will be sharing her experiences including how she coped when, already suffering from extreme neuro-fatigue, she lost two friends to cancer and another to suicide.
Sara also shares her thoughts on mindfulness and some techniques for others to try which she says have helped to improve her own physical and mental health.
She says: “It was around this time last year when my mental health was really beginning to take a downward turn. Having gone through the ordeal of a brain tumour diagnosis, haemorrhage and life-changing surgery, I had put much of what I had been feeling to the back of my mind in order to try and focus on the here and now.
“I thought that was a good thing to do. I mean, if I didn’t think about it, it would go away right? Wrong. You can only put a lid on those thoughts for so long before they come simmering back to the surface.”
Susan, who works with patients and their families to write their case studies and share them in the media, said: “I found that Sara’s blog articulates many of the things which patients tell us about, particularly post-surgery, and I think that her experiences could help others who find themselves in a similar situation and hopefully bring some comfort.”
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