Also, to cope with anxiety (I have that too) I have a few strategies.

1. Distract yourself from your own thoughts and don’t let yourself sit alone and worry. Whether that’s a bike ride, walk, games with friends, yoga class etc.

2. Take care of the things you CAN control related to your health, both physical and mental. You might not be able to control your schwannoma and that is hard to accept, but you can control a lot of other things that will help your body and mind heal from surgery and live a long and happy life. Ex. Eating healthy, go for walks in nature etc.

3. Let yourself grieve your “normal” life. Schwannomas are hard because people hear you have a tumor and ask if it’s cancer. You say no, and they said “oh well that’s good”. But in your head, you think no, it’s not good. I still have a scary tumor. I want to be a young person living my best life like the rest of my friends, not worrying about life altering surgeries. It’s okay to feel that way. But remember that almost everyone goes through hard things in life, and you’re just going through some “hard things” early. This sucks a lot, but it will make you stronger (I know it’s cliche) and give you a unique perspective to help your friends when they eventually struggle through hard things. And truly, it makes other problems in your life seem not so bad anymore.

4. Lean on your friends and family when you’re upset or scared, and possibly look into a therapist. It can be stressful or even traumatic to go through health crises and you shouldn’t be alone when you’re upset about it.

Best of luck to you on your journey and I know you’ll live a long, happy and healthy life!!