HeadStrong

by Amy Hodge

Brainstem tumors have met their match, at least for now. Inoperable per four neurosurgeons, Amy Toconita Hodge was told to live with neoplasm growing in the center of her head. She decided to learn as much as she could about this foe. To everyone’s surprise, she was introduced to the World’s Best Neurosurgeon. He called her operable. Amy successfully underwent two deep brain surgeries for rare Gangliogliomas -- Central Nervous System tumors that occur in less than 1% of brain cancer patients. Another doctor along the way told her that she could even survive for the next ten years. She told him she'd see his ten and raise him twenty. This is the daily account of Amy’s double tour of duty in a campaign against fear and brain tumors, her back-against-the-wall diagnoses, facing unexpected craniotomies, and captaining her own SurvivorShip. Her fierce message to the world? “You give up when I give up.”

543 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2015