Beyond Brain Tumours

Finding joy and purpose: Embracing life after change | Part 2

• Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada • Episode 15

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In Episode 15, we’re joined by Meegan, a single mother, teacher, and survivor of a non-malignant pituitary macroadenoma and stroke. This is an emotional and heartfelt conversation as she shares her journey through diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. 

Listen in as Meegan reflects on the many adjustments she’s made while embracing this new chapter of life, choosing to stay curious and engaged through learning, volunteering, and her love of reading and baseball. Her story of strength and resilience is a powerful reminder of the importance of community and support. 

For additional information, you may visit: 

GALE courses: Gale Courses 

Dale Brain Injury Services: Home 

If you’d like to share your story and take part in our Beyond Brain Tumours podcast, we invite you to fill out this short form.

Learn more about Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada at BrainTumour.ca. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and Linkedin.


SPEAKER_01:

Okay, welcome back to part two of the Beyond Brain Tumors Podcast. Podcast of inspiration, hope, and support for the Brain Tumor Community. I'm your host, Ben Seawald, Support Services Specialist at Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada. In part two of episode 15, this is our conversation with Megan Campbell from St. Thomas, Ontario. We'll be discussing how this single mom, Toronto Blue Jay super fan, and former teacher finds passion and purpose while exploring her many adjustments and adaptations to the life that she had planned. Please have a listen to part one of episode 15 with Megan for a longer introduction and some context to her story. Author Joseph Campbell has said that, quote, we must be willing to get rid of the life that we've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. Can you share with us a little of how you've kept your passions and interests alive through all of the challenges that you've encountered?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I realized I didn't have any passions. My entire hobbies were there were working, lesson planning, and marking, and thinking about school.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

So this has given actually giving me a new lease on finding things that I like to do.

SPEAKER_01:

I bet your principal loved you.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know. I put everything I had into my job. And I kind of realized afterwards that that's not really the way to go because somebody else got my job and I'm here at home.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know, not to be too like in-depth about that, but I I did not have hobbies. I mean, I've always liked to read, so I always had a book on the go, but I wasn't it wasn't something that I you know sought out looking for things on the internet for all the time. I have the time to do that now.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And I didn't know that I liked photography as much as I do. So my one of my first things that I did when I was at home was I signed up to take a bunch of online courses through our library. They're called Gale G A L E courses, and they're free, and they're just like a university course with modules and an exam at the end. And I turned that into my little intellectual backyard. I took about six of the courses, most of them were photography, but I even went into like interior design, and then I would study for days for that exam, and I'd get over 85 and I'd print the certificate off, and I'd tell everyone I knew, Oh my god, mom, I did this. And my mom would think, You don't need to do that. And then I was at my old school one time and I was talking to a friend of mine, and he said, What have you been doing? Like, how have you been keeping busy? And I said, Well, I've been taking these online courses, and he said, Well, you and I are very different. And I said, I think I might be. I just I wanted that intellectual piece, yeah, like that lesson planning learning piece, because that's kind of who I am, and that fulfilled it for me. I don't do that anymore. I'm done with them now, but right.

SPEAKER_01:

But that got you through the kind of the initial phase of your recovery.

SPEAKER_00:

The the floating through life with really no coming down phase, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

That's amazing. Uh what we'll do is we'll try and link to that resource in the show notes so that we can share that share those wonderful uh online courses with uh with the community at large. So that's great. What a great idea. Then did you pivot into doing yoga classes? And I know that you're also an avid traveler, you love to travel.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, yeah, and so most of these things have kind of come again to me, not me finding them. But um at the school where I worked the a couple of years ago, they started doing yoga because one of my friends was friends with the yoga instructor and said, Hey, would you mind coming into our school um just to do some classes for some colleagues of mine? And so then my friends told me they were doing this, so then it turned out that the yoga instructor would pick me up, I still don't drive, at my house and drive me home every time in exchange for me carrying in all the gear from her car.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a good trade.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, because I was gonna have to take the bus and it was gonna be a lot less fun. And it was wonderful, and that was a really welcoming community of people that I already knew, but who welcomed me in a really different way because we did restorative yoga, and if you know what that is, you'll know that I had a real problem with that. It's so emotional. And I just I just lost it that day. Okay, like in a in a crying way, not in an angry way. Like I I got out all my emotions, and then after that the instructor switched um jobs, so that was the end of it.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's too bad.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean you can do it on TV. You have to go to a place to do it. Um traveling, yes. We waited many years to go on that Alaska trip, and I got COVID in the middle of it, and we were stuck in we were stuck in Anchorage, Alaska for a week, missed seven days of our cruise. That was honestly for me, it was a lifetime. Uh like a cruise of a lifetime, a trip of a lifetime. Right. And it was really wonderful. So, and I don't really have any other travel plans because I don't even know how we would do it, but um, would you still go back to do the Alaska trip again, knowing at all? 100%, a hundred percent, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So if there's a travel company listening, I will a hundred percent go, and I will be even like I will do an influencer thing if you need me to.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's great. Just no no more COVID, right? You don't want to get COVID again. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I was very sick. My dad was more sick, but I was very sick.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Goodness. So you mentioned that you are an avid reader. Do you still read? What kind of books do you enjoy? What's on your nightstand now?

SPEAKER_00:

It's interesting that you should say what's on your nightstand. I can't read at night because I can't see anymore. Oh I read at lunch.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, great.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, the light's good coming in and I I can see better. I wear glasses now to read, and I don't want to wear them in bed at night, so I don't I just don't read at night. I have just started this. Oh, sorry. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConnell.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Very interesting, not what I normally read. Okay. I'm sort of a a bit of a mild thriller mystery person.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Like a Ruth Ware or the Housemaid series, but I I struggle now with a few things in my brain that tell me I don't want to read those things. I get scared easily now.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And I just I'm more aware of my surroundings all the time. So I don't I try not to read those stories when it's dark or that's why I started to read at lunch in the day because I thought these these are books I can't read at night. Right, right. Yeah. I know that sounds funny because I used to not care about any of that stuff. That's a part of the new me. And I can't change her. So yeah, no, this wild dark shore book by Charlotte McConaughey is awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Amazing. What a great recommendation.

SPEAKER_00:

Very, very different than what I would normally read.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. All right, Megan. Can you tell me a little bit more about your recovery and things that you did to connect with your previous self?

SPEAKER_00:

Sure. Well, when I was a child, we had a backyard swimming pool, and that kind of defined my childhood into adolescence. Spending every day in the pool, splashing around with neighbors and friends. Really was it gave me a lot of freedom and independence, but also I'm quite comfortable in water. I had a period where I didn't swim from adolescence to maybe after my surgery. Just because the opportunity never presented itself. I didn't have a pool, I didn't go to the Y. You know, when you're on vacation, you bob around with a drink, but you don't actually swim. Well, I decided I really wanted to swim. And um a local swimming instructor who was teaching my son swimming offered her pool up and asked if I wanted to come and assist with her adult swimming lessons class. She knew I didn't need the swimming lessons, but she knew I needed the water and the time in the water. So I volunteered to be a non-certified helper, reasonably responsible adult, is I think how I worded it. And I went to her house a couple of times. My mom came and watched me because she had to drive me. And I swam and swam and swam. And I probably did things that people didn't think I could do. At that time, my left arm was really not working very well, and I was doing physio at the time, and I said to the physiotherapist, Is it okay if I swim? Thinking she would say no. And she said, Yes, I think that's a great idea. Well, my mom videotaped me swimming, and I showed it to the physiotherapist proudly the next day, and everyone thought, Wow, I can't believe you do this. And I'm like, Yeah, this feels so natural to me. In fact, when nothing else felt familiar that year, the water welcomed me back, and I felt so happy. Last year I did a series of aqua fit classes at the local YMCA. This year I'm not able to do that, but it really again, it just brought me right back to who I am and my roots. And sometimes when you have a brain tumor and you've gone through all the things that we've gone through, you really struggle to find that person that you were before. And just getting in the water helps me do that. Now that's not the only thing that I've been doing to get back to my old self. Last year and this year, I've also been volunteering at a local elementary school in their reading program. If I had finished my teaching career as expected, then I probably wouldn't look for volunteer, wouldn't have looked for volunteer opportunities. But because that didn't happen, and I was asked by a friend who it was the LST if I would help. Um now I'm working one-on-one with a bunch of students who are just so enthusiastic and they just bring me so much happiness and peace. And it really feels like a good way to cap off my career, even though I was a secondary teacher and being involved with elementary students. It's just it's such a neat full circle moment.

SPEAKER_01:

Education is education, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I feel like a part of their staff, like they are so welcoming to me. Right from day one, when I was Dallas' mom walking the halls, they were like, Hey, thanks for coming in and helping. And like they still, a lot of the staff just stopped me in the hall and said, Thanks for coming in and doing this. I'm like, no, thank you, because I'm getting more out of this than I'm giving for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it's amazing. I know I am on the parent council at my daughter's school, and just being involved with kind of that energy and that uh that that level, um, I I can't imagine what it's like actually being kind of part of the education rather than just kind of an as an adult supporter of the community. Um, and I know that the education system needs as many helpers as possible right now, so that's fabulous that you're doing that. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's so wonderful. I mean, I I was nervous to work one-on-one with students because I didn't know what would happen. Again, my my background is high school and it's a bit different. You know, they don't always want to work, and it sometimes can be more uncomfortable. But these students I've worked with are so welcoming to me and they try so hard, and I'm nobody, like I'm nobody to them except I am Madame Campbell. Because they call every they call every female teacher Madame, and I'm like, I'm not even married, and I'm Madame. Like I feel like I got promoted to Madame, and then I got promoted to working in the VP's office because they don't have a vice principal. So I'm like, I'm working in the office now, I'm not even working.

SPEAKER_01:

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yeah, it feels really neat to me, and also sad at the same time that I didn't do this in my career, but it's been so fulfilling to me. There's that adage about filling your cup, and this fills my cup. And I hope I fill their cup too, but they certainly overfill mine every Wednesday.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's lovely. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit about how important your son Dallas has been in your life. You you talked a little bit about about episode one, how he was really your influence and motivation to get better and to get out of the hospital. Can you just kind of free-flow talk to me a little bit about how wonderful he is as your son and what he means to you?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, everything I've done in my life since he was born was for him. I've changed jobs, we changed communities, I had brain surgery, you know, also that I would be more there for him, and my parents would be closer, and you know, things like that. And I would do anything for him. I mean, I brought him into this world by myself, so I feel like a a really big responsibility to stay alive and be with him. And for the last four years he's lived with my parents. This is the first year that he's lived with me since my surgery.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And we're having a blast.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I'm so glad.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm making family dinners and I'm getting up at 7 a.m. to get him on the bus, and we're chatting at night, and it's just wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I'm so glad.

SPEAKER_00:

It's who I'm meant to be with.

SPEAKER_01:

It's incredible that some people go through their entire life and never never have that experience, right? And so Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I almost did. I had him at 38.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my goodness. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I um I mean I was this close to missing, and then the next year I was diagnosed with a hormonal tumor. Like if if the stars hadn't aligned like they did, I wouldn't have them.

SPEAKER_01:

Well as I think we are often used to hearing, especially in this community, kind of that everything happens for a reason. Um and I know that's a loaded statement, um, and there's a lot to unpack there, but uh, I have to believe that um it it it all came together and um kind of crystallized at the right time and has allowed all of this to happen. So yeah, that's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, if I didn't have him, I think my whole approach to this brain tumor journey would have been very different.

SPEAKER_01:

Um and I've I've I've had the brief encounter, uh exceptional joy of meeting Dallas at the London Brain Tumor Walk uh this past summer, and he is just such a remarkable, shiny, happy kid. Um I'm sure he's got a lot of depths and uh layers of complexity to him, but uh you're obviously doing an incredible job uh raising an exceptional young man.

SPEAKER_00:

So thank you. Shout out to my parents too for doing what they did too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So what about your parents and your friends? What do they mean to you in your life?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, my parents have taken like they have shouldered the load for the last four years. And I mean, like, not just my my son living with them, but they drove me everywhere, they take me grocery shopping, they pay attention to my medications, like they they really just have done everything for me. And they're in their 80s, and it's not easy for them. So they're really working hard to help Dallas and I have a better life or have the life that we thought we would more so. Yeah. Um, my friends, I mean, my friends have been there since my diagnosis and have had to walk that road with me. Sometimes I feel bad and I feel guilty that I'm the one that had the brain tumor, and you don't want to be that person. So I felt like I was the needy person. So I've gone through like stages of grief over that, I think, where sometimes I feel like they don't want to be friends with me or be near me because I'm so brain tumor focused. But I also need someone to listen, you know, like other but myself, otherwise. So I just want to also have a friendly conversation with them. And that's proven a bit difficult. Plus, everybody's so busy, like the pace of life is unreal. And they don't have time to figure their lives in my life.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I know I understand from your story that they formed this Campbell's cranium crew. Um, it sounds like they are firmly in your corner and probably are a little bit mortified listening to you talk about how they don't have time for you. And um, I know that uh your community is definitely there for you and will support you to the level that they possibly can. So that's exceptional to have friends at your back and in your corner like that.

SPEAKER_00:

And also, I don't mean they don't have time for me. I mean I have all the time in the world, they do not.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Can I tell you the story about how the Campbell's cranium crew happened?

SPEAKER_01:

I'd love to hear it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so I'm in the hospital. The only way I've seen my friends is they're coming to do a lawn visit outside my room. So my friends jumped this up, and I mean they're all teachers as well, so you know the the level of them. And they are they call me on the phone, and uh so I'm on my cell phone and they're out on the lawn waving at me. Hey, how are you doing? They can't come in the hospital. For me to see them like down two floors, they have to get on a certain level of the grass. It's not warm out. They're there, they're waving at me. I'm giving them the you know heart hands in the window, and they're talking, they take turns talking to me into their cell phone.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00:

And they did that more than once.

SPEAKER_01:

Teacher, we as a society just don't deserve the goodness that is most teachers, right? Like, holy cow! Like wow, that's just exceptional.

SPEAKER_00:

So then that same day before they I knew they were coming over, but before they came over, my physiotherapist came up and he gave me a bag, and I said, Well, that's this you said you got mail. And I said, Oh, okay. So I open it up and there's this black t-shirt inside, and I'm unfurling it. I'm like, who would do this? And I see that it's Campbell's cranium crew, and I see that you know it's it's love and friendship, and so I'm like, turn it up. Who gave me this shirt? I have no idea. So I text a few people, hey, did you bring me a shirt? Hidden dream shirt. Well, then the girls who made me the shirt show up on the lawn. They're all wearing their shirts. I'm like, oh my gosh. I called my parents. Oh my gosh, you won't believe what my friend did. Yes, we will, because they brought us t-shirts too. So my mom, my dad, Dallas, all my friends, me, we've all got the exact same shirts. Well, mine says I have a brain tier, but theirs doesn't. Right. But that it was just that to me was the level of friendship that you you just cannot exceed.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Oh, just friendship and inclusiveness and kind of yeah, normalizing it and making sure that you knew that they had your backs. Oh, I just I love that so much. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was that was a really, really special time for me because I was really hitting rock bottom at that time in the hospital. Right. And that gave me just a little bit of a push to be like, yeah, you can do this.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

People really do care about you.

SPEAKER_01:

And and you're not alone.

SPEAKER_00:

No.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I I I really do see in the community and a lot of conversations that I have, um, even that statement to know that you are not alone going through this makes such a difference. And that's what hopefully we're doing here today, um, and people listening to this will realize that they are also not alone going through this.

SPEAKER_00:

I hope so, because you're not alone.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And of the power of friendship, which is a really great segue into I think just a uh something that I know about you is your super fandom of the Toronto Blue Jays and their remarkable run to the World Series this year that was fueled by the power of friendship that they self-proclaimed, the power of friendship. So do you tell me a little bit about what the the Toronto Blue Jays mean to you and what their remarkable run to the World Series uh meant to you this past year?

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, then. Um, well it 92 and 93, I was in Oasis and first year university. So embarrassingly enough, I didn't watch the Blue Jays very much. Prior to that, I did watch every night with my dad at 7.05 or whatever, 707, whenever they started. I would go for a bike ride after dinner and I'd be home, be sitting on the couch with my dad when the game started for first pitch. So that was really important to us. When I was in university, I had a friend who would always take me to the games. She lived in Burlington, so we'd stay at her house and go downtown. And we'd go to a lot of games. So it's really important. Then I moved out west to go to university to Vancouver. And then it became a lot less important because the games run at 4 p.m. and you're just not ready. So the time difference made a big difference. And also it wasn't Toronto there. There's a different mindset. So um I kind of lost touch with them. And then when Brett Laurie and Donaldson and Tulowitzki came, that's when I went, I came back like full force. And that was when Dallas was born. Actually, Dallas had uh Blue Jays onesie. And one of his first pictures is him in the onesie as an actual like 70-old baby.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Then we've gotten to a smattering of games over the years, not too many. I've got a few friends now at this point in my life who are big fans, like big, big fans. And my dad still is, my parents still watch 162 games. I still watch 162 games.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Baseball as a sport is remarkable. It's it's my favorite sport, which is always met with a little bit of confusion with a lot of my friends who grew up in Canada with hockey, of course. And then I mean a lot of basketball was a was a big thing, and definitely with the Raptors. Um and so people are often confused when I say that baseball is my favorite sport. Um, but I just I I grew up watching it. Um my dad grew up in New York in the 50s when the Yankees were the biggest team in the world. Um, and so I think I I learned about how to appreciate the finer points of the game, and it's really remarkable, and I I just I really love um the sense of community that it provides and teamwork, and there's there's so much about baseball to really enjoy.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. I can't make Dallas a Blue Jays fan. I mean, he's not another team fan either, he's just not a baseball fan, he's not a sports person, and I've always been very much a sports person. I did play Optimus softball when I was in grade seven, but I'm just not a baseball player. Um and I did play again as a woman too, but it was not that was just for fun. I love sports. My university degree is in kinesiology, I was a phys ed teacher, but I just have seem to have been on a hiatus from playing team sports in my adult life.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, for me, anyway, as I get older, my body is kind of under protest about playing a lot of sports, and so um it's it's difficult to find sports that I can kind of participate in without severely injuring myself these days. So, yeah, I I get it. Can you tell me a little bit about how important the support group or brain tumor walks are for you and what they mean for the community?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. I did not join a support group for a long time because I wasn't really aware of them. My neighbor, when I was first diagnosed, gave me a copy of the handbooks because she got them from her son. That was my first foray into the Brain Tumor Foundation. Um, I would say it was after my stroke and my second surgery that I was looking for something on the Brain Tumor Facebook group, and then they told me about the support group, and I showed up a little bit nervous. I mean, I had used Zoom before because of school, but I had never really gone to a meeting on Zoom, and probably was I welcomed with open arms. It was wonderful, and the people were and like being you know in this not real person group with people who had been through the exact same thing as me, it was just at the time, it was exactly what I needed. I thought, wow, I'd have to explain things to these people. They know yeah, that was just so wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

There's so many shortcuts that can happen, right? And then it's just open acceptance on a lot of how you are as a person. That's what I found too.

SPEAKER_00:

It was wonderful. And the walks, I've only done two walks. I did 2025, and then I'm not sure if it was 2022 or 2023 in London. And I was so happy when they brought those back to be run by the foundation because we need that. We need to go, and we don't need to walk five kilometers, we need to go and have some exercise, and we need to see each other.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And be surrounded with the community.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, pick up some swag, like that's what we need.

SPEAKER_01:

That's right. Yeah. Um, I uh I love that they're back as well. Um, and again, it was uh it was there that I had the fortunate pleasure of meeting you, and so um as my shoes, I think. I it might have been, yeah. Um well it was also, I mean, I know that uh because at the Brain Tumor Walks, we give all of the survivors blue t-shirts, and so uh I made a point to kind of walk around and introduce myself to uh as many of the survivors as possible. But um yeah, uh there there was something about you specifically that I walked right over and um yeah, we got to know each other.

SPEAKER_00:

So was it my ice cream sandwich from Shaw's?

SPEAKER_01:

That might have been what it was. Really good because they ran out, and so I was looking for somebody who wanted me to give them give me theirs, but uh I don't think I was able to convince you that day.

SPEAKER_00:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, but I agree, I think that there's those kind of components of what Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada offers, um, the larger community support networks, and again leaning into the fact that you know the people who go through this, I hope they hear very clearly that you're not alone when you're going through this, and um there's uh there's so much support and um guidance um or even just people there to listen if you need to process.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And because there's people there in all stages of their journey. There's people who are diagnosed a month before, and then there's people who've been doing it for decades. And so to bring all of that together is really powerful.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. So the last person I just want to mention is your rehabilitation counselor from Dale Brain Injury Services. So, did you want to give a a shout out or talk about how they are?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely, Ben. Um, I did a little reading and it said that Dale exists to support people with brain injuries to enrich their lives through developing skills and making connections. And certainly that's what I've done with them. We typically find something I need to do as a goal. It could be finances, it could be organizing my kitchen, could be anything like that. Um, and then once we set the goals, we work to achieve them. I've had three rehabilitation facilitators, they call them RFs. I just learned that this week. I've had Paula, Sue, and Tracy, and I currently have Paula. And she helps me achieve my life goals, feel confident, talk about things. We start every session just you know, recapping the week. And she keeps me in touch with community resources as well. She's got ideas that I would never think of. We do food prep, we go grocery shopping, things like that. The face can the face-to-face connections that I've made with my many RFs has gotten me through a lot of life's ups and downs in the past few years.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And basically saying thank you doesn't seem like enough, but I really want to thank Paula Sue and Tracy for going on this crazy brain injury adventure with me.

SPEAKER_01:

They sound like phenomenal human beings, and we'll make sure to link to the show notes just in case anyone else uh would like to access Dale Brain Injury Services, um, because uh the limited amount that I know it they are, they're incredible people and a really incredible organization.

SPEAKER_00:

And like I said, I think it's a private agency, so anyone who can donate to them too would be wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And and they deal with uh all brain injuries, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Not just brain tumors. No. Strokes, car accidents, falls, concussions, I think. Like their scope of knowledge is so much greater than my. And they have clients all over southwestern Ontario.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. I don't I don't think I knew that. And so they're beyond just the London area.

SPEAKER_00:

Like Owen Sound even.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Do you have any final lessons for anyone listening?

SPEAKER_00:

I do. And they're kinda sad, but bear with me. This is more like uh what stage in my life I'm at, too, as well. The whole it's a whole thing. Um I would say the first one is you don't know what's gonna happen to you. Build your team before you need one. So make friends, be a friend, build a circle so that if something does happen to you that you don't have to then you know struggle to find people to help you, you'll have the people built in who will help you because you help them. So be a friend, get a friend before you need them. And the other one is yeah, it's sort of sad, but basically live your life the way you want to now because you don't know what's going to happen. And I've been lucky to have this terrible diagnosis and still do things. Not everybody's been that lucky. So I would say don't put off what you can do today.

SPEAKER_01:

Those are two remarkable lessons and final thoughts from you. So thank you. This is the remarkable thing about your story to me is that you chose every step of the way to live, and you chose to focus on the joyful things in your life, your son, your parents, your friends, your career as an educator. All of those things you chose. Um you chose to sing songs and dance while you're doing the dishes, right? You chose to find the inspiration, to see the blessings and to enjoy life. And that's just so inspiring to me, and I'm sure to a lot of other people out there, how you chose to approach this situation.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I wanted to spend every day on the couch, but I realize that's not that's not the way I am. Even though it seems like when you're in the thick of things, you think that's a good option, and it's really not, because you have a life to live and and and this is it, and every moment counts. So I I wouldn't say like I'm different than other people, but I definitely decided not to sit on the couch every day and just let life pass me by. I wanted to make a difference, and sometimes you have to go and grab the bull by the horns to do that kind of stuff.

unknown:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you. Thank you for demonstrating that and sharing your authentic story and um being being that source of inspiration in the world.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks, Ben.

SPEAKER_01:

We are so lucky to have connected with you today um and for you to have participated in this uh this podcast. Um you're such a remarkable, shining light of hope and strength, and just such an incredible person. Um, I really appreciate you stepping outside of your comfort zone and sharing some of your life with us and uh the brain tumor community throughout Canada, I'm sure, appreciates it. Megan, thank you so much for sharing your heartfelt and personal journey and for pushing through your emotions to share it with the brain tumor community all throughout Canada. Feel free to click on the link in the episode and send us your feedback or let us know if you'd like to be our next guest on the Beyond Brain Tumors podcast. In a world where the challenges of brain tumor diagnosis can be devastating, Megan is standing with Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada as a beacon of hope and transformation. Thank you all. Stay hydrated and stay strong.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, thanks, Ben. Good luck, everybody. You are not alone.