Beyond Brain Tumours

“I was not expecting this today”: Navigating the unthinkable at 15 years old | Part 2

• Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada • Episode 18

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In episode 18, we’re joined by Emma Garcia, a young athlete whose life changed at fifteen when a concussion eventually led to a brain tumour diagnosis and four life‑saving surgeries. During this conversation, Emma shares her journey through unimaginable challenges, the strength she discovered along the way, and the community that helped her heal. Her story is a moving reminder that brain tumours can affect young people too and why supporting the Brain Tumour Walk in your community helps survivors know they’re not alone. 

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.


Welcome And Important Disclaimer

SPEAKER_00

On the Beyond Brain Tumors podcast, we aim to share personal stories from the Brain Tumor community and believe in creating space for people to talk openly and authentically about their lived experiences. We recognize that this may look and sound different for everyone. The views and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Braintree Foundation of Canada. This podcast is intended for storytelling and community connection, and is not a replacement or substitute for medical advice. We encourage our listeners to speak with your healthcare team regarding your specific symptoms, needs, and situations. Welcome back to part two of Beyond Brain Tumors, a podcast of inspiration, hope, and support for the Brain Tumor community. I'm your host, Ben Seawald, Sports Services Specialist at Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada. In part two of our conversation with high school superstar Emma Garcia, please have a listen to part one of episode 18 with Emma for a longer introduction and some context to her story. Emma, in part one, we covered your diagnosis, your treatment, and the results of your surgeries. All four of them. But now I want to get into that next phase of your survivorship. Life after treatment and your survivorship era. So tell me a little bit about your post-operative life.

SPEAKER_01

Well, do you know what? Like I said before, like last year my post-op life, like like, or even just like all of the summer of 2024 and like 2025 was pretty tricky. But like this summer, like this year of my post-op life, like 2026 has and twenty even 2025, it's just been so good. Like, yeah, sure, my memory still isn't amazing. And like, yeah, sure, there's like things here and there, but it's like I really, really can't complain because compared to how I was in 2024, I'm like light years better. It's crazy. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

Back To School With Accommodations

SPEAKER_00

That's terrific. Yeah. Um, sorry, and uh, do you have any funny or specific stories about how you navigated going back to school?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh, you know what? At school, like I said, shout out to my school Saint Joe's, they're amazing. And also shout out to my EA, Miss Jackie. Love her so much. I have like my school, like they really took on my case, like I said earlier. They took on my case and they were like, Yeah, we're gonna support you, we're gonna help you, we're gonna give you anything you need, as many resources as possible, and like we're just gonna help you. And I was like, Thank you, like they've just been amazing. Like, I really can't say enough good things. But yeah, school has been this year, school's been school's hard, but school's good. I'm still doing like I'm trying like my absolute best. This semester I've got like a really good course load, which is nice. Last semester was a bit tricky, but this semester I have a really good course load. I have all good classes, which is nice. And yeah, school, I really can't say too much about school. Like, it's been oh yeah, I'm graduating this year as well, which is really crazy. Cause like I still remember like last year in grade 11, I was like thinking I was gonna have to do like a fourth year of high school because I wasn't able to graduate, but no, I'm graduating this year, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_00

Yay, congratulations!

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, it's wild. Oh my gosh.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, yeah, and um, I I know that some of the high schools are just phenomenal in terms of uh supporting students who uh go through a lot of health challenges and everything. Um, but specifically brain tumor patients and all of the kind of the accommodations that they need, a little bit extra time, but also like uh a number member of the communities, like they just consume information differently. And so um yeah, uh read in, write in, but audio, visual, like all of those tools. I think um it's amazing to know that those options exist.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's incredible. Honestly, like it's so I'm so lucky and so blessed to have all those like resources and options. So, like, like you said, yeah, if I want to like listen to a story, if I want to listen to like a example of like we're reading a poem in English, I can have like my EA Mustacky read it to me, or I can have like like the reader read it to me, like on like the computer, I can have like someone write for me, I can have someone type for me. It is amazing like the resources that I have at my school, like it's so crazy. Like, we're so lucky, honestly. Very, very blessed.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I mean I think that as your brain rewires itself and as those synapses kind of get reconnected and start firing again, like you will kind of eventually um get to a point where maybe that's not needed anymore.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I know it's going back a little bit for me to remember, but I know just how important friends are to a teenager. How did your friends relate to what you were dealing with?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, and even for me, like I still I remember the day that I told my friends so vividly because so okay, we found out like I found out April 10th of 2024, that was a Wednesday, and then that Thursday I didn't go to school because I needed a day to just to like partially process what I was hearing. And then the Friday I went to school. Uh at lunch I told all my friends because I had this big friend group at the time, we all like had lunch together every day. It was really fun. But I was like, hey, everyone, like, and even that morning too, my one friend, she was like, Oh, how'd the MRI go? And I was like, I'll talk to you about it later because I like couldn't process. I was like, Let me tell you guys, I'm gonna tell you guys at lunch. Yeah, and so everyone like kind of gathered around and I was like, Hey, so with my MRI, I just gave them like kind of like the rundown, like told them about the brain tumor, told them about like the 10 minute, like the 15-minute, the two-hour MRI, and I just like I told them everything, but like they didn't even know how to react. Like, I still remember like my one friend, her jaw dropped, she was just like I was like, Yeah, and then I still remember um my other friend, she was like, Oh, like, is it cancerous? And I was like, It's not, but like doesn't make it any better. Like, what? And then yeah, I was like, I'm not gonna be at school for the rest of the year. Like, I won't see you guys until grade 11. And they were all just like, oh my gosh. And like, I still remember too, like, one of my friends at the time, like he had just gotten surgery in his hand, and he was oh my god, complaining, complaining, complaining, complaining about the surgery, a surgery, a surgery. But then, like, for me and my brain surgery, that like really shut him up because he was just like, Oh my god, I can't believe you're gonna have to get brain surgery. I was like, Me, I know, me too. And yeah, they really couldn't believe it, and also like I feel like they could obviously I couldn't process it, but I feel like they couldn't process it either. And like, I still remember like getting like texts like they they reached out a couple times, but like really, like when I was in the hospital, I only had like one really, really good friend come and visit me, and that was it. Like everyone else kind of just like didn't ditch me, but like they just didn't really know how to like talk to me or like reach out, you know what I mean? Yeah, so I kind of that was another reason why I felt alone, is because like I couldn't really like talk to people, talk to my friends about it, right? Yeah, and I still remember too going back in grade 11, and then like one of my friends, she was like, Oh my god, like if my hair my hair here was super short because they shaved it all here, all here was shaved, and like it was like super short little like spikes of hair, and she was like, Oh, you can't even tell, you can't even tell. And obviously, you can tell it's because there's short hair right here, you can see it very well. She's like, You can't even notice it, it's not even noticeable. And I was like, thanks for your words, but you're lying, like you're lying to me. But yeah, and like no one knew how to talk to me either, and also everyone, it felt like everyone was walking on eggshells around me. Like, no one knew what to say to me, no one knew how to talk to me. I also didn't know how to talk to them either, because like they hadn't seen me for like four months, and like I just like came out of the blue looking like a zombie and acting like a zombie, and so it's like yeah, it was a very, very tricky to kind of navigate like the social and like friends aspect of it because I really did not know how to like you didn't know how to go into it, you know what I mean? I had no idea what to expect, and yeah, and even now I will say, like, everyone's everyone treats me like how they used to treat me now. Because now we're like we're two years into it, it's like hey, whatever, that's old news. But like my one friend, she still treats me like she's still, I feel like like overly nice to me, or it's like overly just like not she doesn't say baby me, I should say, but if it's like she does, she's very careful what what she says around me. I can tell. But yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh, that's so hard.

SPEAKER_01

But a story that I I just remembered I really want to share because I feel like it's like a really good story to tell, is this was English class last year. So last so in grade 11, first semester, um, I took English, math, and baking. I ended up dropping math because who can do math and you have like terrible memory. Yeah. And so, but I stuck with English, English 20-1. And for like one of these like like warm-up exercises, my teacher was like, Hey, you have to write, like, write me like a st like about like a story about, or write me about one of your experiences you've had, like overcoming difficulty or a challenge that you've had to overcome, or like, well, like a really difficult moment in your life. And I was like, Well, like literally this past year, like I got a lot to write about. And so I wrote about the day that I found out about my brain tumor, and then what I didn't expect to happen next was that my teacher was like, Okay, find a find someone to like swap stories with like in your group, swap a story with someone and have them read your story, and you read theirs. And so I swap stories this with this guy in my class, and I'm reading his. His is about something that happened in soccer, and I wasn't really reading it because whatever. But I'm like watching him read mine, I just see his face drop, and he like puts the paper down and he's like, Is this true? And I was like, Sorry, he's like, Did this actually happen to you? And I was like, Yeah, he's like, Oh my god, are you okay? And I was like, Yeah, he's like, Oh my, but like I remember that thing so well because it was just like I feel like it really gave him some perspective too, right? Because I feel like you never really obviously everyone kind of knows this, but like you never know what someone's going through unless you talk to them about it, right? And so for me, like this is just this was a guy in my class, but like he like you would really never know unless like in that case, like he read about it, right? But yeah, he I just remember him being like, Are you okay? And I was like, Yeah, but like you know what I mean? It's just a crazy moment because I and I still remember like feeling like when like my teacher was like, Hey, find someone to swap a story with. I was like, Oh my god, like heck, this sucks. Like, I don't want to swap this story with someone because like it's like a vulnerable, and it's very, very vulnerable and like story that's like kind of close to my heart because like it's a first of all, it's a true story, but it's also a very emotional and powerful and like horrible moment in my life, and it's just like, yeah, this is crazy. And have someone read, like, oh my gosh, crazy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I mean I I can only imagine that that probably was part of the point of the exercise that your teacher was trying to get people to kind of share maybe some of their vulnerabilities with other members of the class and yeah, uh showcase that m for some what they identify as their biggest life challenges really don't match up in the same necessarily in the same way to some of the stories that we don't necessarily know about uh other individuals that are going through life carrying big, huge, heavy burdens.

Finding Community Support

SPEAKER_01

Right. No, exactly. Yeah, no, for sure.

SPEAKER_00

So uh were there any other kind of supports you had mentioned earlier, uh the brainwave community and how great that has been for your recovery. Um, and uh I think I I know a little bit that your mom got hersel's her her hands on uh one of the Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada handbooks as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yep, yeah, Brainwave and like all those people like Brainwave and they've been so amazing, and also like my support group's been really amazing too. I honestly I feel so like loved and supported, and just like I just have like all these options of like you know what I mean? It's like I'm not alone anymore. Like for so long I felt so alone and so sad and so like corrupt by just like this experience, but like having opportunities to like resources and people like this have really like helped me to not feel like I'm on this island like myself by myself, like I said earlier. Like, I just feel like very loved, very supportive, and like yeah, like you said, like brainwave. Oh my gosh. Got to go on Elks Game of this summer, so fun. Got to go on Pumpkins After Dark, also really fun. Like, they are so loving and so supportive. I'm just very, very grateful for them.

Baking Dreams After Graduation

SPEAKER_00

That's terrific. What schooling are you looking to do next year?

SPEAKER_01

Um, so my plan is to go to Nate, which is the North Alberta Institute of Technology, and my plan is to do the baking and pastry arts program there. And then be a baker.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's awesome. Oh my goodness. Yeah, amazing. I love that. That sounds like a perfect fit. Um, and and baking, what what an incredible thing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I know. And you know what? I've always loved baking, like from like even when I was a little kid, even till now, but like throughout my whole journey of recovery, the skills and like the mindset of baking never left me. Like I was like one thing that stuck with me throughout the whole journey is like this is love and passion for baking. And although like even though my memory was like really, really bad, and I couldn't remember like what ingredients to grab or like what the snacks for baking at school, like I just loved it so much. I just love like the hands-on aspect of it, you know what I mean. I love like the process of like stirring or like mixing, and I just really really enjoy just like the art of baking because it really is an art form, and it's so fun too. Like, love it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And from my perspective, bacon can bring so much joy to other people in the community, and I just I I love that that's what you're looking to do more of in the world.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, absolutely, yeah. It's so fun, yeah. Yeah, plus my family really appreciates it too. I bake, like, oh my gosh, they love it.

SPEAKER_00

So I bet, yeah. Um next time I'm in Edmonton, I'll hit you up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you have to.

SPEAKER_00

What's what's your absolutely all-time favorite thing to to bake?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, it's so basic, but I love baking cookies. Like, cookies are just like one of my favorite things because they're just really easy to make, and I just love like the texture of like either a really fudgy thick cookie or like a really chewy cookie. But I make like a really mean um cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookie. Oh my god, those things are to die for. They're so good. They're probably my favorite. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I love it.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I also yeah, I love just love cookies. I also really like like one skill on for my granny before she passed was how to make like traditional Portuguese biscuits, which are like this really, really like oh my god, they're my favorite. They're so good. They're lemony, they're zingy, they're just like they're really fun because you can like when you roll them out, you roll them out into like different shapes, and yeah, it's really really fun. Love baking.

Identity Shift And New Perspective

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that sounds lovely. Oh my gosh, amazing. Yeah, that's great. Alright, so let's just shift gears a little bit and talk about your path forward and who are you now and where are you going?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, who am I now? I would say now I'm like in a really good spot with school. I say like I'm a very extroverted person. I used to be so shy and very timid, but now I'm like very outgoing, I'm very talkative. I like to be like it's not like the center of like the room, but I like to like be like, you know, like myself present in things. Um, I feel like I'm very confident too. I've definitely gained a lot of confidence over these past couple years. Um, and I also feel like I've really gained this whole experience has really, really given me perspective. And perspective is something that I feel like not a lot of people have, or they have to gain it in order to have it. Because at least for me, like before this whole thing, before this whole shindig went down, I feel like I really didn't have perspective, but now I've definitely gained it, and like it's really giving me like it's really changed me as a person. I feel like like I feel like I'm a whole other human being now than I used to be. Like, yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00

But I think, yeah, a lot of people talk about maturity or wisdom or experience, all of those things I think are exactly what you're talking about, right?

SPEAKER_01

No, absolutely, and also just like the process of gaining patience as well. Like this whole like the recovery process, like my recovery time, it was supposed to be it was supposed to be one year, but and I don't want to brag. I was I was taking like longer than usual. So now my recovery time is two to three years, and it's definitely taught me a big lesson about patience because like good things come with time, and you just have to be patient and just trusting yourself, you know what I mean? Because like, yeah, I've definitely learned about patience, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00

And also you can plan everything until the cows come home, but it doesn't really matter until you're actually in a situation and dealing with what life is actually throwing at you.

SPEAKER_01

No, yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah, yeah. So thanks. That's another thing too. Like, you never know, at least for me, I really never know what to expect anymore because you just never know what's gonna happen, right? Like for me, like I still remember like I never ever expected like to have a rain tumor, right? You never expect things to happen, and you really have to just like trust when you find out that these things happen, you really just have to trust in yourself, trust in the process, and also really just give things time. I've been saying this for like the past year. You have to give things time, give it time. And I actually was saying, I was talking to my parents, but I want to get it tattooed on me just as like a reminder and as like a whole symbol for this whole journey, just to give things time. Good things will come with time, honestly. Like, just give everything to trust in the process, just give it all time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And and even if you use a baking analogy, right? Sometimes you just gotta let it rest and let it breathe and let the yeast do its thing, and then you you're gonna have a really great uh product at the end, right?

Inspiration And The Brain Tumour Walk

SPEAKER_01

Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So, can you tell me a little bit about where you find inspiration or strength or hope?

SPEAKER_01

Ooh, where do I find inspiration, strength, and hope? I find like I don't know, I find a lot of like I was thinking about this earlier. This is kind of self-centered, but I honestly get a lot of inspiration for myself in a way. Because I feel like my story is a little bit it's fairly it's a fairly inspiring story, I find. But also, I get a lot of inspiration from the members of my support group. Those girls, I love them all so much, but like a lot of their stories, like we've all had a we've all had the same story of like we've all had like brain surgery before or brain surgeries, but it's like I do really take like what they say to heart and like some of the things that they say because yeah, sure, maybe we've all had brain surgery, we all haven't had the same experience, and so I really take some of the things that they say like to heart, and I take some of the messages that they've taught me to heart because they're actually very inspiring. Yeah, I love those girls so much. Shout out to them, like they're awesome.

SPEAKER_00

And then did you want to talk at all about um your experience at the brain tumor walk in 2025?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, oh my gosh, okay, and also the brain tumor walk in 2025. My goodness, one of the most fun days because it was all it was just nice to kind of be like recognized and like not appreciated for what I've experienced, but just like it was like, hey, this is kind of your day, you know, this is a day to celebrate you and all that you accomplished. And it was myself and like I want to say seven or eight other survivors. We were all got like matching blue t-shirts and we got like matching merch and everything, and we all got to like group picture together, and it was so much fun. And we got to do like this big walk. I was like, it was a bigger I was very surprised. There was a it was a huge output of people, which is nice. We got to do this big walk, and I also got to meet like our local um MLA, Janice Irwin, who she's an amazing, she's like an amazing, incredible politician. And so I got to meet with her, and she was like, Oh my god, your story is so inspiring. Can I post about it on my Instagram? And I was like, Can you post about it on your Instagram? Of course, like of course, Janice Irwin, like anything for you. And so she posted about it on her Instagram, and then I was on her Instagram, she posted about me. I was like, Oh my gosh, a politician! I was like, little old me, like, oh my goodness, it was so nice. Yeah, it was a really, really fun day and a really, really fun experience. Um yeah, I'm really, really grateful. I I'm really excited too because this year I get to be like this one of the speakers there. I was like, no way, you want me to speak at this event? That's crazy! Like, oh my gosh, yeah, very, very, very amazing experience.

SPEAKER_00

Super well, and after after even just spending a short amount of time with you here, I cannot think of a better individual to inspire the crowd and speak to your experience and um yeah, uh share your passion and hope and strength uh with the community in Edmonton. So I I can't wait for that to happen.

SPEAKER_01

That's so kind. Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm really excited too. I think it'll be good.

SPEAKER_00

And so what just this is a really interesting question that I always love to ask is what do you wish folks would know about your experience at this point and moving forward?

SPEAKER_01

Which I wish people would know about my experience. I wish that they would know that like, like I said, like to give things time. Good things take time, and recovery, especially, my god, it takes so much time. And also, like, just to know what you like treat everyone with kindness. You never know what someone's going through. I really wish, like back then, like like last year especially, everyone was really nice to me, but they were kind of nice to me for the wrong reasons. Like they they knew that like I was gonna go through a lot, but I feel like a lot of people like they don't like because you obviously you can't read my mind, I can't read yours, I don't know what you're going through, you don't know what I'm going through. But it's like just treat everyone with kindness because you never know what someone is living through in their like personal lives and their home lives, and it's like like for me, especially, like a school was really hard, my per my home life was really hard because like being in recovery all the time is terrible. Like, just treat everyone with kindness, be respectful and kind to everyone because you never know what someone's experiencing or living through. And that's something that I've really tried to act out to. I try to treat I do treat everyone with kindness, but like I just just if you're nice to everyone, and like it's just good, like honestly, like just treat everyone nicely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Kindness and cookies, right?

SPEAKER_01

And cookies, honestly though, and cookies, of course. Yes, we love baking.

SPEAKER_00

Amazing. Yeah. Alright, do you have any final thoughts uh uh for the brain tumor community from your lived experience?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, do you know what I would say don't give up. Just like because you know what for me, like I was just like at the point where I was like, oh my god, that's too much for me. Do not give up on yourself, do not give up on others, just like really honestly, I can't say enough. Just give things time, give it time, and with time, things get better. Trust me, like honestly, even like it was just a little bit better, it's still better than it was before, right? So that'll be those would be my those would be my remarks to anyone in the brain teamers community. Let's give things time and just trust.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, amazing. Emma Garcia, everyone, please have a look at the Edmonton walk or any of uh the walks uh throughout Canada um that are happening. Uh Emma, I'm so grateful that um we have this time with you, that you shared your journey and your strength. Um, listeners, please click on the hyperlink in this episode, send us your direct feedback, or let us know if you would like. To be one of our next guests on the Beyond Brain Tumors podcast. In a world where the challenges of brain tumor diagnoses can be devastating, Emma is truly standing with Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada as a beacon of hope and transformation. Thank you so much. Stay curious, stay hydrated, and stay strong.