Hi, I'm George.​
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"I had just started university when I was told about the tumour. Before this, I was your typical student, I went to the weekly university quiz and enjoyed socialising.
Four years prior to being diagnosed, I was having 'Deja Vu' episodes where I would see everything as though it had happened before. I would feel sick, a strange taste would appear in my mouth, I would get emotional, I would twitch slightly, and I would say things that I would later forget. I brushed it aside as part of growing up, weird things happen to everyone is what I thought.
I was getting ready to go travelling for two months when I had a 'Deja Vu episode' that lasted 8 hours. My mum and I phoned 111 and they booked me for an EEG scan and an MRI scan.
I was walking down the Lidl bread aisle with a new friend I made at university when I received a call from a neurologist. 'George, we've got the results from your MRI, and you have a growth on your brain'. I started to cry in Lidl and hugged the friend that I had made only a couple of days before. I didn't know what this meant, but I knew it wasn't good.
I had a craniotomy at UCLH to discover what type the tumour was, and to take some pressure off the nerve endings behind my eyes to prevent me from going blind.​ After being told the tumour had started to grow again, I had proton beam therapy. This was the first time it became obvious that there was something different about me because some of my hair fell out. I had always been able to hide the tumour from friends before - I didn't want to appear weak, or anyone feeling sorry for me. Eventually I had to tell them when they asked why I was wearing a hat ALL the time, and they were so supportive. And, like all good friends do, made light of the situation, and comforted me with humour. Teens Unite have been incredible at connecting me with other people my age going through similar experiences. It's so nice to be able to talk to people who understand and can relate to having MRI scans, operations, radiotherapy, and seizures. It's so refreshing to know that I am not the only one out there, and as someone who has hopefully come out the other side, it's nice to be able to try and comfort those who are still having treatment. Teens Unite, and the activities I have participated in such as Rock Climbing, and skateboarding - have not only connected me with people like me but also given me the chance to try things I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to."
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