I didn’t think my headaches had anything to do with surgery
They came slowly at first.
Tight behind the eyes.
Then pressure started spreading across my forehead.
I blamed screens.
I blamed caffeine.
I blamed stress.
But nothing helped.
The light felt sharper.
The room spun more often.
My doctor said it might be neurological.
I didn’t expect a referral to a brain surgeon.
He said we weren’t there yet, but we needed to watch
He didn’t suggest surgery immediately.
He just wanted a scan.
He said, “Let’s have a baseline.”
That sentence stayed with me.
He wasn’t rushing.
But he wasn’t dismissing anything either.
My hand stopped listening to me
Typing got slower.
Then shaking.
Only on the right side.
Small buttons took forever.
My writing changed.
I tried to hide it.
But it spread to my grip.
I dropped a glass one morning.
The referral came next.
He watched how I walked before looking at my scans
He didn’t start with charts.
He asked me to walk.
Then turn.
Then close my eyes and stand still.
He asked if stairs felt different.
If I ever tripped when nothing was there.
I nodded without thinking.
He just wrote it down.
You don’t have to lose consciousness to see a brain surgeon
I hadn’t fainted.
I hadn’t blacked out.
But I couldn’t explain the forgetting.
It wasn’t full gaps.
Just moments.
Names I knew, suddenly missing.
I said nothing for months.
Then I said it once.
And someone listened.
My vision changed, but my eyes were fine
The eye doctor found nothing.
My pupils were equal.
No pressure.
Still, something was wrong.
Reading lines moved slightly.
My depth felt off.
I bumped into doorways.
The neurosurgeon reviewed the scans.
He saw what others hadn’t.
He said the symptoms didn’t match the timing
I told him when it started.
He asked what else changed that month.
I said, “Nothing.”
He kept digging.
He matched the symptoms to a location.
He showed me the spot on the screen.
I asked, “Is that causing all this?”
He said, “It might be.”
You can walk, talk, and still need to see one
I wasn’t bedridden.
I wasn’t in crisis.
But I was different.
And it was getting louder.
Not dramatic
But steady
That’s when they take notice
He said, “If it grows, we act. If not, we wait.”
That felt fair.
He wasn’t rushing to cut.
But he wasn’t passive.
He wanted images every few months.
He explained what growth would mean.
He explained where it sat.
And what functions it touched.
Some related to speech.
Some to memory.
You don’t always feel pain where the problem lives
My neck hurt
But the issue was higher
He said nerves travel
And symptoms take detours
That’s why he asked strange questions
Some I couldn’t answer
She forgot parts of conversations and thought it was just stress
She didn’t feel sick
She didn’t look different
But her friend noticed
She repeated a story twice in one hour
She got lost walking home
Her scan showed more than expected
Her follow-up changed everything
You should see one if something shifts and doesn’t shift back
A hand that stops responding
A leg that moves differently
A voice that changes tone
Not once
But often
That’s when it’s time
Not for surgery
But for someone who knows what silence can mean
He asked about smell, and I didn’t know why
He asked if I noticed scents more
Or less
If burnt toast ever appeared
I said yes
He paused
He knew something
And I knew it wasn’t random
It’s not always a tumor, but that doesn’t mean it’s nothing
He showed the image
It wasn’t cancer
It wasn’t dangerous yet
But it pressed
That pressing made things shift
He explained the risk
Then left the decision to me
She had seizures no one saw
Not grand mal
Not falling down
Just seconds
Gone
She blinked
And missed things
They called it absence
But it was enough to dig deeper
You don’t wait for emergencies to ask questions
By the time it’s urgent
The options shrink
So you go when the patterns appear
Before they root themselves
And steal something quietly