Author Claudette Brown said being diagnosed with a brain tumour, although an exceptionally traumatic experience, happened for a reason.
The Stony Plain-based author spoke to a dozen patrons at the Westlock Library on Wednesday, Jan. 25 about her book Searching for Heaven on the Road Through Hell, which details her journey of overcoming the tumour.
“ ‘Searching for Heaven’ is part of my story where I went through a very profound spiritual experience with the brain tumour,” she said. “ ‘On the Road Through Hell’ is the pain and suffering associated with it.”
After a series of hospital visits and tests, she was eventually diagnosed with a 1.5-cm tumour on her pituitary gland — the “master” gland that triggers other glands to produce necessary hormones, like cortisol, thyroid and growth hormone.
She spent the next two weeks at the University of Alberta hospital, where she was heavily medicated before undergoing surgery. In these two weeks, she said her experience was life changing.
“It was a time where I had visions, I had a calling, I had a purpose in life,” she said. “I saw Jesus in my curtains, I had a conversation with my father who was deceased 19 years prior. It was a pretty out there time.”
In this “out there” time, she said she was prompted to name her tumour “Timmy” and was pushed to thank him for what he taught her. She said Timmy was the most important thing that ever happened to her, as it gave her a purpose and became her teacher on brain tumours.
“Is it the medication, is it my own spirituality, is it the book I was reading, is it the people I was in contact with?” she asked. “Probably all of the above that influenced this two-week period of time that was so profound in my life that it has really changed me.”
Through her memoir, she said readers will experience an array of emotions, from happiness and sadness, to inspiration and hope. Along with detailing her journey, she details her “angels” and the many people that helped her get through the most difficult time in her life.
The timing of her diagnosis came as a shock to her. About 10 months prior, she went through bowel surgery and thought everything was going well.
Having suffered headaches for roughly 20 years, Brown didn’t think much of the pain she was experiencing, until she was sick to her stomach.
“I had the most excruciating headache I have ever experienced,” she said.
She took some medication, but with the nausea, she couldn’t keep it down. Later that night, she insisted her husband take her to hospital.
Upon arriving in emergency, she was diagnosed with a migraine headache — something Brown said she had heard horror stories about.
She was given medication and sent home once the pain subsided. The next day, the pain returned, but she put up with it until the symptoms escalated, affecting her vision.
“It was a tell-tale sign that it was something serious,” she said, adding that prompted numerous tests including a CAT scan, MRI and spinal tap.
After receiving the diagnosis, Brown said she was inspired to give back. She is working to establish a Canadian chapter of the Pituitary Network Association, participates in an annual walk/run with the Brain Tumour Foundation and is reaching out to others facing the same diagnosis.
For more about Brown and her book check out www.cbrownart.ca.
