Brain Fog Blog

My name is Eliot. Welcome to my Brain Fog Blog.

A bit about me

I’m 27 years old. Originally from the East Midlands (between the North and South of England… yes the Midlands exists). I’ve lived in London for the best part of five years.

I originally moved down here to do my Masters with big plans… Then four months later the world shutdown due to Covid.

Since 2020 and before 2024 life has been relatively good to me. After some time (many many months) I got a Graduate job and have since taken on a management role. I’ve now bought a house and live with my long-term girlfriend Lauren.

I love travelling and seeing new places. I actually met Lauren while travelling Nepal and was on route to Everest Base camp. If there isn’t a trip planned then I begin to get itchy feet.

My one true love however is the pub. There’s nothing in life better than catching up with friends over several pints.

Up until this year I considered myself a fairly healthy person. I eat well, have the occasional cigarette, walk 10k steps a day and have never had any major health issues.

So what happened?

In January I started experiencing intense headaches, nothing like I had felt before. At the time I shrugged this off and did the classic self-diagnosis and assumed it was just stress or long Covid.

Fast forward four months and I was diagnosed with a chronic brain tumour. Two months later I underwent a frontal craniotomy (brain surgery) and five months after that I began the start of a year long treatment journey.

To top off this traumatic and life-changing experience I lost my Dad quite suddenly to cancer in April, just four days after I received my diagnosis.

I have what is called a Oligodendroglioma (Grade II) – this is a mouthful I know so I will shorten to Oligo. They can occur in people of any age, but are most common in adults between 40-60. This type of tumour is more common in men.

Because of what I have, I’m about to go through a year of radio and chemotherapy. I want to blog my experience so anyone who’s doing this treatment or has anything similar can relate and maybe find some comfort knowing you’re not alone.

Why am I doing this blog?

There’s a lot of research around Oligo. When I was first diagnosed I really wanted to find someone my age to relate, but given how rare it is, this is difficult. When I first joined a support group I was the only person there in their 20s.

I spent hours on the internet looking for people my age who have had similar experiences.

I’ve joined random brain tumour Facebook groups and come across all sorts of people. Even those who don’t believe in medicine… If you fall into this bracket, this blog is not for you.

I’ve also searched on Twitter and fallen down Reddit thread rabbit holes.

Writing this out and sharing it online for all to see is not easy for me, but I hope that by throwing this out there I can connect with others who are going through something similar.

It’s hard for me to write out my anxieties around this whole journey (and trust me there are many) but maybe if I do someone can navigate their own journey through sickness a little better.

This blog won’t be limited to people who are just sick though. Maybe you know someone who is going through something similar. Hopefully reading this can give an insight into what might go through their head.

One of my biggest frustrations in the last few months has been communicating to others what I have, how this affects me and ultimately, how it makes me feel.

Most people mean well. And I have to stress that without my family, friends and my partner I would not have gotten through the last few months.

I’ve come to realise that there are however frustrations that you have to deal with when something big like this happens.

I’ve bit my tongue through a lot… from people saying “I thought you’d look worse” weeks after brain surgery – think I was expected to come out looking like the elephant man – or being spoken down to at work as if I’m taking time off for a cold, when I’m about to undergo rounds of chemotherapy.

Some people mean well…. and others don’t really think when they speak.

Anxieties aside, I am glad to write this all out. Other than the above reasons I am doing this to help me process what’s happened and provide a blog for anyone to read.

I’ll break this year down into several different reads – I don’t plan on making this a short novel.

I’m now at the beginning of my treatment journey, and this feels like a good time to me to kick this off.

Bare with me as I put out individual blogs. I’ll aim to do something once a week, could be more, could be less.

So please read if you’re interested, and share with someone if you think they might be interested. If you found this relatable please feel free to like and comment on the forum and share your experience. I might be slow to reply but I will make the time to read.

Cheers,

Eliot