A Brain Tumor Diagnosis & the Mindset That Followed

Miss this bike, gonna miss riding the most, well, except for my wife.

The last few weeks have been a cluster, to say the least.
I’ve had a constant headache for months, which turned into a migraine… and just never left. We’re talking a full month of nonstop pain. On top of that, I started getting these sharp, electric, stabbing pains on one side of my face — the kind that make you freeze in place and wonder what the hell is happening.

Now, I’ve given birth to five very healthy kidney stones. The last one was 6mm. That one shouldn’t have been passed — it should’ve been blasted — so trust me, I know pain. Plus, I’ve been married for 30+ years.
But this pain?
This made kidney stones feel like a paper cut.

My wife hauled me into the ER. CT scan, blood work… all “normal.” Their advice? “Looks good, go home.”
My wife looked them dead in the eye and said, “I’m not taking THAT home.”
So they hit me with some three-part cocktail that dulled the pain just enough for me to sleep. Life felt okay… for a couple hours.

A few days later we tried urgent care. More blood work, more tests. This time someone mentioned it might be Trigeminal Neuropathy, but I’d need an MRI to know for sure.
Fine. Do it.

Got the referral, got the MRI done. Still in pain the whole time.

Two days later I get a notification that my MRI results are in my chart. It says: “abnormal.”
Well… yeah, I’m abnormal, but okay.

Within two hours, I get a call from a neurologist scheduling an appointment for the next day. Then neurosurgery calls to book me five days out. Then my primary care doctor calls wanting me in tomorrow.

Clearly something is happening.

And then the phone call that actually scared me:
Oncology.
Calling to “check on how I’m feeling” and “see if I need anything.”

Why?
What do they know that I don’t?

My doctor finally told me there’s a brain tumor. But no one can tell me how bad it is until I meet with the neurosurgeon.

I won’t lie — I’m worried. But weirdly, I’m not afraid of dying. Not anymore.
I’m afraid of what my family — especially my wife — will have to go through if this goes sideways.

She’s already caring for both her parents while working full-time. She’s stretched thin. She doesn’t need a paralyzed husband added to the pile.

And when I start Googling the medical terms in my MRI… well, let’s just say the surgery sounds extremely delicate. One tiny mistake and the outcomes range from paralysis to stroke to brain bleed — or death. Anything that doesn’t look like “normal life.”

And honestly?
Aside from not wanting to leave my wife with even more on her plate…
this is really going to mess up my 2026 racing and full-time RV plans.

“Japanese Legend has it”