Introduction

Jeeze, you would think I would have started this earlier. And the longer I waited the more and more there was to write. But I'm going to try and break it down, put it into small bits to update piece-by-piece. This is the blog of me, Ben. And, as stated, I have a brain tumor. And dude, that is still REALLY weird to say. I mean, fantastically weird.

 Her name is Sylvia. Why Sylvia? I dunno, why not. Sounds like the name of a bitch. I've known one Sylvia in my life, and suffice it to say she and I did NOT get along.

Why the blog? Because, why not? I want to keep a record. I need a place to write and vent and yell and scream. And update and hope and say thanks. My wife needs it, too (I suspect). She's added as an author, I suppose we'll probably see posts from her, too. But I want something off of Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook. I really do, I see the value and use of it as a tool that you have to manage. But when it comes to things like "brain tumor," I want to make sure it's not getting sandwiched between "Which Big Bang Theory Character are you?" and "Cute video cat stuck in a toilet!"

So, a blog. And I'm known for being awesomely cheap, so I use the free site from Google. In the 10 days since my diagnosis, I have become a *HUGE* fan of The Everywhereist. I was sent the site from a very close friend, who claims her as a "friend-of-a-friend," though I'm not sure quite how many degrees of separation are there. But she (The Everywhereist) is just a normal person, living her life with a travel blog, who went through this about a year and a half ago. I already know that we have two very different tumor types, and treatment could be vastly different, but her humor and insight was awesome to read. It uplifts the spirit to know that others have gone before, and are doing well. It sucks that she's funny as hell and I had a lot of the same/similar jokes, and now I can't use them for fear of being accused of stealing.

So, about me? Yeah, I'm Ben. I'm 35, and on Active Duty (well, sort of, these days...) in the US Coast Guard. I've got an amazing wife (Laura), the most incredible son (Teddy, 20 months), and we're expecting son #2 in early April. We live in the Washington DC area. And I've got a brain tumor.