A former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader has been sharing her story of being dismissed by doctors after experiencing hearing loss, only to find out she has a tumor in her head.
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This sequence of events are all too familiar for many out there, especially women, I've noticed.
Shanna Adamic, who used to be a cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs, recently shared her story with the Daily Mail. The same story in her memoir, Audacious Optimism, released in December last year.
When cheerleading in 2011, her right ear began to struggle to hear. This was like the first warning sign the cheerleader noticed. When reporting this, however, the doctors never identified the tumor.
Over the span of six years, Adamic's symptoms changed and worsened. She went to doctors about constant headaches, a partial loss of vision, and slurred speech. However, she said she was always, "misdiagnosed, underdiagnosed or even dismissed as a tired overworked mom."
The mother-of-three said she was diagnosed with all sorts. She was also disregarded simply as a stressed mother.
"I was treated for dehydration many, many times," she told the outlet. "[My condition] was blamed on hormonal changes, breastfeeding my kids, menstrual period. I felt crazy and I started to believe that there was nothing wrong with me."
Shanna Adamic Finally Found Out About Her Tumor
After years of experiencing problems, Adamic finally got an MRI scan, which revealed the nearly two-inch wide tumor growing in her right ear.
Adamic was suffering from an acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma). This is a non-cancerous tumor that develops on the vestibular nerve that connects the brain to the inner ear. Although non-cancerous, the tumor was pressing against the brainstem, making it life-threatening.
The "ticking time bomb" had to be surgically removed. Thankfully, after a 13 hour surgery, doctors removed 99% of the tumor. This didn't come freely, however, as Adamic then suffered partial facial weakness on the right side of her face, and was unable to hear out of her right ear at all.
She has since made a full recovery, and credits this to her unwavering determination and "audacious optimism."
Adamic has faced a terrible journey full of trials but has come out the other side smiling. She is now the Executive Director of the Oracle Health Foundation and advocates for people not to second-guess their inner voice.
She shared, and continues to share, her story on her Instagram.
