by Madison McConnell
My life flipped upside down and backwards on August 9, 2025.
I went to the emergency room after a four-week migraine that had grown impossible to ignore. Dizziness, vomiting, numbness in my toes, and double vision had taken over. I could no longer control the symptoms, and I knew something was wrong.
What I never imagined was that within hours of walking in, I would be immobilized on a stretcher, admitted to the ICU, and facing the reality of a cyst, a brain tumor, and significant brain swelling.
Time stopped when the doctor looked at me and said, “Honey, I have really bad news. You have a brain tumor.”
My heart dropped. How do you respond to words like that?
I told the doctor there had to be a mistake. There was no way I had a brain tumor. I am a self-proclaimed health nut and I immediately asked for a second opinion. The doctor gently held my hand and repeated the words again and again until they finally sank in.
My best friend held my other hand as I sobbed. The machines around me beeped relentlessly as my heart rate and blood pressure climbed. Everything felt surreal.
I would spend the next six days in the hospital preparing for and recovering from intensive brain surgery. There were no other options. Due to severe swelling and fluid build-up in my brain, I was considered a borderline emergent case.
So I took a deep breath, found every ounce of courage I had, and said, “Bring it.”
After two years of ongoing health complications, I underwent a suboccipital craniotomy to remove a cystic tumor located in my left cerebellum. The surgery was successful. Both the cyst and the tumor were fully removed.
Two weeks later, pathology results confirmed that the tumor was a benign cerebellar hemangioblastoma. Hearing the word “benign” felt like a miracle. I was given an excellent prognosis, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
Still, learning that I had a cystic brain tumor and needing emergency brain surgery was profoundly traumatic. From diagnosis to surgery, everything moved at lightning speed. I was admitted to the ICU immediately and underwent surgery just three days later.
During my time in the ICU, I made a promise to myself. If I made it through, I would find a way to use my story to help others. I wanted to turn my pain into purpose.
I am still discovering what that looks like, but that promise led me to start @thejoyfulordinary on Instagram. My hope is to support people who are facing complex medical challenges, as well as those who love and care for them.
I am endlessly grateful for my healing, my medical team, the community who prayed for me, and the loved ones who carried me through this chapter of my life. This experience changed me forever, but it also gave me a deeper understanding of resilience, gratitude, and the power of human connection.
And that is where my healing continues.
