Ep 18 | April 1, 2026 | 17 mins

Alec Harju shares his personal journey of recovery following surgery, discussing the challenges he faced and the impact on his family, particularly his two young children. The conversation delves into the emotional and mental aspects of healing, highlighting the importance of family support during difficult times.
Recovery can be a foggy experience immediately after surgery.
Having young children adds complexity to the recovery process.
Conversations with family during recovery are crucial.
Mental health plays a significant role in physical recovery.
Children may not fully understand the situation but feel its impact.
Every recovery journey is unique and personal.

Resources
Check out a list of the most common medical terms relating to the brain tumor experience: rewired-minds.com/terms
Connect with brain tumor organizations here: https://www.rewired-minds.com/braintumorresources

Connect with Rewired Minds
Website: rewired-minds.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RewiredMindsPod
Instagram: @rewiredmindspod
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rewiredminds

Connect with Alec Harju
Website: https://www.facebook.com/alec.harju

Be a Guest
Interested in being a guest on a future episode? Visit rewired-minds.com/guest for more information and to submit your request.

Disclaimer
The stories shared here are personal accounts from the brain tumor community for informational and awareness purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding your specific situation. Most importantly, take care of yourself as you listen and process.

Transcript
Bri (00:06)
I'm Bri Salsman, a brain tumor survivor and identity integration coach, and you're listening to Rewired Minds, a podcast that shares brain tumor stories that change us. Sometimes guests use medical terminology, so I've partnered with Northwestern Medicine Malnati Brain Tumor Institute to provide definitions of common terms. You can find the full list in the show notes. Most importantly, take care of yourself as you listen and process.

Bri (00:30)
Today's guest is Alec Haru. Welcome Alec. How are you doing?

Alec Harju (00:34)
Hi, I'm doing good. I'm doing great. How are you?

Bri (00:37)
I'm doing well, thanks for asking. And thank you so much for joining the conversation today. What would you like to share about yourself to get things started?

Alec Harju (00:45)
I'm from Wisconsin. I grew up in the area, pretty much lived in this area my whole life. I work construction now. I have a wife and two kids. Two young ones.

Bri (01:03)
Sounds like a full life.

Alec Harju (01:05)
Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, definitely very busy.

Bri (01:08)
And of course, the reason we're here is because you have experience with a brain tumor. So I'd love just to kind of frame the conversation by sharing what your diagnosis was and when you were diagnosed.

Alec Harju (01:22)
So I was diagnosed with a ganglioglioma and that was discovered in March of 2023 to be exact. And that was found with a biopsy.

Bri (01:41)
You shared a little bit about living in Wisconsin, being there your whole life, of course, your family. I'd love to get a snapshot of what your life looked like before receiving your diagnosis.

Alec Harju (01:53)
I was 28 at the time of my diagnosis. Just had my second child and just working and enjoying family time and all the normal stuff, I guess. Working and pretty much enjoying life.

Bri (02:16)
What did you enjoy most about life?

Alec Harju (02:18)
Definitely playing with the kids and being outside because I definitely love being outside. I'm a big outdoors person. So yeah, definitely just being outside and working as well because I do like to work.

Bri (02:39)
And were you doing construction at that time also?

Alec Harju (02:42)
I was, but just to back it up a little bit farther, I drove dump trucks, quad axle dump trucks, for quite a while before getting into painting and everything like that. So I did have my CDL license. And so with that I had to continue the DOT physical, the whole exam and all of that portion of it. I had gone in for my physical at one point – my blood work and all that stuff. And I was getting all that done and I was actually doing the eye test and in the peripheral test I was having issues with my right side. I couldn't see the flashing light in my right peripheral. So that was kind of the start of it.

Bri (03:48)
So you went in for this test, and that's kind of the first sign that maybe something wasn't quite right. What happened next?

Alec Harju (03:57)
I had made an appointment, went to my eye doctor, got everything checked out. I remember it was just a basic eye test that he did with my peripheral vision and he said, “yeah, you're all good. You're fine.”

And he signed off on it. I brought the paperwork and I got my license and it was no issues.

I can't remember the exact year of that because it was quite a few years before 2023. It started with that and then there was no issues that I noticed.

And then I believe it was fall of 2022. There was some other eye test that I had done. And again, I had the issues with the right peripheral that I couldn't see. So my wife has actually worked in the medical field for all of her career. And she wanted me to go see somebody specific. And that's kind of how it really started moving forward on what the issue was.

Bri (05:17)
This is one of the things that I find really interesting about your experience is, so many brain tumor patients learn about a tumor because they have seizures or they have migraines or they're doing other medical things and it shows up on imaging. But for you, it was actually connected to requirements of your career that ended up putting you in the place of finding this out.

So your wife twisted your arm, it sounds like, and got you into the appointment. Now, was this with a general practitioner or did you go straight to a neuro specialist?

Alec Harju (05:58)
She was a surgical and she actually knew quite a few eye doctors, so she wanted me to go see one of them. And so I had went in for that appointment and I had gotten my eyes dilated and checked out. And the way my optic nerve looked, he didn't like it, but he wasn't 100% what the issue was or anything like that. It just didn't look right to him.

So he had a doctor in Milwaukee that he knew and I had went up to Milwaukee and that's where it like really started, moving along a little bit quicker. I got the MRI done. And then I got the results. They said there was a mass or I forget the exact terminology that was used, but they were unsure of exactly what it was.

Bri (07:07)
What was it like in that moment hearing that though, even without the certainty of what it was, just hearing that you have a mask inside of your head?

Alec Harju (07:17)
I wasn't sure what to think, I guess if that makes sense.

Bri (07:19)
Mm-hmm.

Alec Harju (07:23)
Because I didn't really notice anything wrong at that time.

Bri (07:30)
Yeah. I assume they did more testing. What came next?

Alec Harju (07:33)
They wanted to take it to the, like to the board, I believe it was, Board of Doctors, and talk it over and see from there if they could, I guess, figure out exactly what it was that they seen. And pretty much they were still unsure out of everybody in the whole board what it was. So from that point, a biopsy was scheduled.

Bri (08:04)
And so from the biopsy, I imagine you get the information and a treatment plan is developed. Can you share what was involved in your treatment?

Alec Harju (08:14)
I had gone in for the biopsy and then about a week later, I had finally gotten the results back on what it was. And I remember just being given like three different options. And the first option was to pretty much wait and see. Have MRIs every three months or two months, whatever it was, and see if it changed over time or if it was staying the same. The second option I believe it was called laser ablation surgery. And then the third option was a full craniotomy.

And I ended up just deciding to do the craniotomy because, for me, the biggest thing was losing the vision. My surgeon really seemed pretty confident in his ability for the full craniotomy. To me, he didn't seem like the laser ablation surgery was a better choice.

Bri (09:33)
How would you describe that immediate impact of the craniotomy? Those early days, what was the impact?

Alec Harju (09:42)
I ended up actually having a stroke during surgery. So from surgery day to probably about a week and a half out from there, I don't remember much of anything.

Bri (09:58)
And you mentioned you've got two young children at this time as well. That's got to be a heavy piece of this on its own. What are conversations like with them at this time?

Alec Harju (10:09)
There wasn't really too much. At that time, I didn't have too many conversations really with anybody because I had such issues with my speech and memory and all of that.

Bri (10:35)
At what point do you start remembering things again?

Alec Harju (10:38)
I remember like a few things here and there, like in ICU and stuff. But I would say it was probably like a good 14 days in or something. I was in the hospital for almost four weeks. So I would say probably like a good two weeks. That's when I finally kind of started getting back to kind of knowing what was going on. And at that time my vision was like really bad too. I couldn't go on my phone. I couldn't watch TV. It was definitely interesting.

Bri (11:27)
What would you say has been the most surprising part of recovery?

Alec Harju (11:34)
That's a tough one. Because there's been so many surprises. The biggest surprise I guess would be how far I've actually came from where I was. Because looking back is just, it's crazy.

Bri (11:53)
How do you see yourself differently now?

Alec Harju (11:55)
More understanding. Definitely more understanding and more laid back.

Bri (12:02)
What is it that you find easier to understand now?

Alec Harju (12:06)
Issues that people are having and things like mental issues and health issues and everything like that.

Bri (12:25)
Hmm. It sounds like it's almost like it has unlocked a new level of empathy for others.

Alec Harju (12:31)
Yeah, I think so, definitely.

Bri (12:33)
What kinds of conversations do you have now that you maybe wouldn't have had before all of this?

Alec Harju (12:38)
Mental well-being and stuff like that. I never would have really been like so open to and understanding of that in the past because like anxiety and stuff like that was huge. With my whole journey from the start, the anxiety was terrible. So I definitely feel for people that do have anxiety in any way.

Bri (13:12)
Yeah. It's interesting, when we have these experiences for ourselves, it allows us to relate with other people in a different kind of way.

Alec Harju (13:20)
It does, yes.

Bri (13:22)
What would you say to your pre-diagnosed self?

Alec Harju (13:27)
I would probably say slow down and really look at life and see what's going on because it goes by really fast.

Bri (13:39)
It absolutely does. What would you say matters to you now that maybe you didn't previously think was as important?

Alec Harju (13:49)
I would say I make time for other people and just making memories.

Bri (14:00)
What's one of your favorite recent memories?

Alec Harju (14:02)
Definitely playing outside with my kids and spending time with family this past summer. Just being outside and enjoying the weather and enjoying life.

Bri (14:17)
That sounds beautiful. And I know the Wisconsin summers are beautiful.

Alec Harju (14:22)
They are, yeah, they are. Sometimes a little too humid. But yeah, this summer was really nice.

Bri (14:33)
Alec, how has this experience rewired your mind?

Alec Harju (14:38)
My whole thought process now, just in conversation, how deep I think into things now definitely before I say it, I guess.

Bri (14:52)
That old adage, think before you speak.

Alec Harju (14:56)
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I think it's definitely changed my way on that now for sure.

Bri (14:58)
Well, Alec, if listeners resonated with your story and they want to connect with you to build community and learn more, where can they find you?

Alec Harju (15:15)
Facebook, pretty big on Facebook. That's probably kind of the main social media I'm on, I'd say.

Bri (15:23)
Well, I will include a link to your Facebook profile in the show notes. And I appreciate you, Alec, for sharing your story and your journey. And I know we will keep in touch and stay connected about what comes in the future and continue to support one another.

Alec Harju (15:45)
Yeah, definitely. Thanks for having me.

Bri (15:53)
Thank you for being part of the Rewired Minds community. Full show notes, resources, and a transcript for today's conversation can be found at rewired-minds.com. If you or someone you know has a brain tumor story to share, I'd love to hear from you. Visit rewired-minds.com to learn more about collaborating on a future episode. This podcast is a one woman labor of love. It's a true honor to bring it to your ears and facilitate connection among the brain tumor community. If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share with someone who might need to hear it.

Bri (16:25)
The stories shared in this podcast are personal accounts from the brain tumor community for informational and awareness purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding your specific situation.