In this episode of Rewired Minds, host Bri Salsman speaks with Jen Chang, a 20-year survivor of a rare brain tumor known as central neurocytoma. Jen shares her journey from the onset of symptoms during her teenage years to receiving her diagnosis and navigating treatment. She reflects on the challenges of survivor's guilt, the importance of community support, and how her experience has shaped her perspective on life. Jen emphasizes the power of resilience and the desire to help others facing similar challenges, ultimately finding purpose in her journey.

• Jen is a 20-year survivor of a central neurocytoma.

• Her teenage years were marked by academic pressure and introversion.

• Symptoms began with fatigue and memory issues during junior year.

• Persistence in seeking medical help was crucial to her diagnosis.

• The moment of diagnosis was shocking and life-altering.

• Support from her parents was instrumental during her treatment.

• Jen's treatment involved a craniotomy, and she did not need further chemotherapy or radiation.

• Survivor's guilt is a common feeling among long-term survivors.

• Finding community and sharing her story has been therapeutic for Jen.

• Jen is excited about her future and getting married soon.

 

Connect with Jen Chang

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jennifer-l-chang-phd-8b336290

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Be a Guest

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

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Work with Bri Salsman

If you’d like to work more closely with Bri as your coach, visit rewired-minds.com for details.

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Disclaimer

The stories and experiences shared in this podcast are personal accounts from patients, survivors, caregivers, family members and friends affected by brain tumors. This content is for informational and awareness purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding your specific situation and treatment options. Most importantly, take care of yourself as you listen and process.

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Transcript

Bri (00:00)

The stories and experiences shared in this podcast are personal accounts from patients, survivors, caregivers, family members and friends affected by brain tumors. This content is for informational and awareness purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding your specific situation and treatment options. Most importantly, take care of yourself as you listen and process.

 

Rewired Minds (00:27)

I'm Bri Salsman a brain tumor survivor and life coach, and you're listening to Rewired Minds, a podcast where we share brain tumor stories that change us. Today's guest is Jen. Welcome, Jen. How are you doing today?

 

Jen Chang (00:39)

Doing pretty well. How about you?

 

Bri (00:41)

Today's been a good day. Side effects are fairly minimal, comparatively speaking. So it's a good day. Well, Jen, tell the listeners who you are. What would you like to share about yourself to kick us off?

 

Jen Chang (00:43)

Mm-hmm.

 

I am a 20 plus year survivor of a central neurocytoma. So I actually don't even quite know a whole lot about my tumor because it's basically like a super rare tumor according to what my neurosurgeon and neuro-oncologist said when I was 17 years old.

 

I have pretty much just, you know, powered through and tried to make sense of my own diagnosis the best way I can. So I'm just really glad that you invited me to be part of this, Bri, and I'm happy to be here.

 

Bri (01:31)

I'm excited and I'm happy that you're here too. What listeners don't know is that you and I are connected even beyond this podcast through the brain tumor community in general, and have known each other for a little while now. And so just am so grateful to have you on to share your story. I'd love to kind of rewind a bit and lay the path of what came before all of this. And if you can recall back to the years leading up to your diagnosis and what did teenage life look like for you before your diagnosis?

 

Jen Chang (02:09)

I was basically the quintessential nerd. It's just, know, like any, if you think of any type of like just teenage, movie, I was that awkward girl in the corner pretty much. As I am Asian, I basically had to follow a very strict kind of pattern. Of course, I played piano, I played violin, I read a lot, I was expected to excel in a lot of my classes. And of course, push towards the math and science as my father was trying to groom us for some sort of career later on in life.

 

But thankfully I do enjoy all those things. I although my parents kind of like gave us a little bit of a steer towards that, I'm actually really grateful because it gave me the career that I have now and the hobbies that I picked up, you know, I still love to play music. I still love to listen to classical music and you know, math is never my strong point, but science was something that I absolutely fell in love with. Just as I went through school and you know,

 

Bri (03:06)

Mm-hmm.

 

Jen Chang (03:09)

I took as many classes as I possibly could in high school. You know, of course, being that kind of nerdy person, like, I really had not a whole lot of friends. I was, you know, I'm basically still very much an introvert. And, I had a core group of friends that I had in high school, you know, basically, those are the people that I sought out.

 

Definitely spent a lot of weekends at home, definitely wasn't very like, you know, into socializing. And yeah, I just kind of lived my own life, kind of was in my own little, you know, in my own little sphere. For all intents and purposes, I was very happy. You know, I mean, my life was simple. You know, basically everything was kind of going to a plan. You know, my dad was like steering me towards like, you know, going to college and,

 

Bri (03:42)

Hmm.

 

Hmm.

 

Jen Chang (03:51)

hopefully having some kind of scientific career after that. So, it was good.

 

Bri (03:55)

So you are generally happy, things were going well, things were good. Of course, every human at all ages faces some sort of challenge or uncertainty. So I'm kind of curious, of course, there's this big challenge that's looming that you don't know is coming just yet. But before that, how did you typically handle challenges as a teenager?

 

Jen Chang (04:13)

Mm-hmm.

 

Usually a lot of crying. No, but I mean, like in actuality, like my parents were really great. I mean, like if anything showed up, like I could always talk to my mom. I still can always talk to her. And, you know, she was really, really instrumental in kind of just getting me through all the hard parts. And on top of that, like I'm also a really big dog lover and my childhood dog, she kind of was the person that brought out any kind of emotion in me. Cause I tried to keep like a very even keel all throughout kind of like my adolescence. I never acted out with my parents, I never, I never had that desire to rebel or do anything that I knew it was going to make them annoyed with me or something like that. But you know, it to my dog, like any little thing, I was just worried, stressed or, know, she made me incredibly happy and she was basically my best friend.

 

I raised her since she was a puppy and she kind of kept me grounded almost. I was able to go walks with her and then my friends all loved her too. If anything felt weird or if I was just going through a rough time, just giving her a couple pets, she absolutely kind of was my emotional support animal even before emotional support animals became a thing, which was kind of cool.

 

Bri (05:04)

No.

 

Yeah.

 

Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I think pets don't get enough credit in our lives sometimes. I have a dog myself and sometimes I just look at him and I think I'm definitely getting more out of this than you are.

 

Jen Chang (05:32)

Absolutely.

 

I know, right?

 

Bri (05:39)

Oh

 

So you're trucking along, you're loving on your dog, you're playing your music, you're studying the sciences, generally happy. And at some point along the way, I presume that you start noticing something, symptoms or maybe it was abrupt. What happened that made you think, maybe I should get this checked out?

 

Jen Chang (06:05)

Junior year, I just went full throttle. Basically because I wanted to take Introduction to Journalism because I was definitely interested in being on the main school's paper. I was in freshman paper. I wrote for the sophomore paper and trying to put Introduction to Journalism in my schedule absolutely threw everything for a wrench.

 

And I also wanted to take my first AP Science class. So I basically was in school from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. because I was just chock full of classes and stuff. And then because I was also in orchestra class, it was basically like all these extracurriculars I wanted to be part of had to be part of my schedule. And then, of course, some of them bled into the after school part of it too. And so I was just busy.

 

Bri (06:42)

haha

 

Jen Chang (06:51)

which was pretty much the groundwork. And then, you know, I just kind of assumed that the fatigue that I started was feeling, I noticed that I started having issues with my memory, and I was just like, this is not normal because definitely prior to the diagnosis, my memory was something else. I basically could just read a chapter of a book or like a textbook, remember almost everything that I needed to do for that exam the next day.

 

Bri (07:01)

Mm.

 

Mm-hmm.

 

Jen Chang (07:16)

So henceforth, I had extremely poor study skills because instead of studying a little bit every time, I basically just taught myself how to cram the night before and then still managed to succeed the next day. The big part was definitely for pre-calculus. So that was when I took it junior year and just not being able to remember anything.

 

Bri (07:20)

Mm.

 

Jen Chang (07:36)

But that was the first time I ever got like below a B in a class ever. And like, I just kind of figured that was like, maybe I was just pushing myself too hard. Like I never thought it was something that was, you know, actually physically wrong with me. I still was able to, you know, kind of test out, was able to just kind of go as it was planned.

 

Bri (07:41)

Hmm.

 

Jen Chang (07:56)

But summer between junior and senior year, I decided like, hey, you know what, instead of doing something academic for summer school this year, I want to learn how to fence. So I took fencing classes with my school and then my violin teacher suggested just to keep up with practice that I joined like this external orchestra, so I did basically just extracurriculars for the summertime, which was great because prior to that I was taking a lot of, science classes in the summertime so that I could have time to take the AP Chem AP Bio. And so this was the first summer where I could basically just kind of hang out with my friends, have some fun, you know, that kind of stuff. And then of course, like, best laid plans,

 

Bri (08:25)

Mm.

 

Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (08:36)

So essentially what happened was midway through June that year, I started getting weird kind of symptoms. So it started out with the headaches. The headaches were just so awful. It would just be a pounding thing that would come on and I just couldn't figure out what was going on. So my mom found me in the basement one day and I had turned off all the lights and I was just sitting on the couch down there and just leaning my head against the wall because it hurts so bad. And the lights bothered me and my mom was just like, this is not normal. We're going to the doctor. So I went to my PCP. And then, she was just like, okay, yeah, you're a teenager, this could be related to your cycle. It could be menstrual related. So you know what, just take Excedrin, deal with it. You're fine, go home. So that's what I did.

 

Bri (09:08)

Mm-hmm.

 

Jen Chang (09:24)

And, the headaches still continued, And then slowly what I started noticing because I was more physically active and doing more with the violin playing and then the fencing, I started noticing some sort of weird tingling feelings in my left hand and left arm in general. And I was like, okay, this could just be overuse. I'm not

 

Bri (09:40)

Mm-hmm.

 

Jen Chang (09:44)

particularly sporty. So I just assumed that this was just, years of inactivity and just all of sudden, you're trying to sport at 17 for the first time. And so I was just, I wrote that off as well. So symptoms are still going on. I keep going back to the doctor every time a new symptom comes up and they keep telling me like, it's probably nothing, you know, just if it persists, come back or whatever. What happened was one day I woke up and I had essentially double vision. I couldn't watch TV. I couldn't walk around. It was probably the most frustrating thing in my life. I remember watching Harry Potter and just seeing like two Daniel Radcliffe's on the screen and just being like, I can't live like this, you know? And so we go to the doctor again and she's just like,

 

Bri (10:20)

Mm.

 

Jen Chang (10:24)

Okay, you know what, let's go to the eye doctor. Maybe the eye doctor can figure something out. My eye doctor is actually the genius who sent me to an MRI. So he was just like, this is definitely not normal. You need to go back, get an MRI of your brain and let's see what happens. So this is kind of like the hard part.

 

Bri (10:41)

Well, before we get to that, I think it's really telling because, some people have, something major that happens like a seizure or something significant. And then others like you have this series of seemingly small disconnected things that are happening that takes a little bit to kind of put all the pieces together to figure it out. But what I'm hearing and what you're describing is that it required a lot of persistence and diligence and advocacy to, tell the doctors, no, you're wrong.

 

Jen Chang (11:07)

Mm-hmm.

 

Absolutely, yeah.

 

Bri (11:17)

This isn't normal. I know you're the professional and you have the degree and all the stuff, but I know my body. I'd love to hear more about kind of, what did you draw on inside yourself to keep pushing for answers rather than just sitting back and saying, they're doctors, they know best?

 

Jen Chang (11:24)

Mm-hmm.

 

Up until then I was an extremely healthy kid. Of course I was a little bit on the the chunky side and I was a little plump but I mean like you know it's I was for all intents and purposes just like normal human teenager and I never even broken a bone I had never gone to the hospital for anything. I've seen my brother go in and out of emergency rooms like my entire life up until that point and I never even had a cavity.

 

I just assumed that I was superwoman. And to have that many things wrong with me at one time, that's what really did it. This is not normal. My body is telling me something. Also like, I really don't like feeling uncomfortable.

 

Bri (12:02)

Hahaha

 

Jen Chang (12:15)

And then it wasn't even just like one thing would happen and then it would go away and another thing would pop up. These three things, the headaches, the numbness, the double vision, all happened at the same time. I can't live like this. There has to be something going on. So I just kept telling my mom, my mom just like,

 

Bri (12:26)

Mm-hmm.

 

Jen Chang (12:34)

it's really her tenacity if you think about it, because she kept bringing me to the doctor being like, there is really something wrong with her. I was kind of like the kid that, you can kind leave alone, because nothing's wrong with her. She advocated for me the whole way.

 

Bri (12:46)

Mm.

 

Your mom sounds amazing. Yeah, yeah. And so then the moment comes when you get the news. What do you remember about that moment?

 

Jen Chang (12:52)

She is. I love her very much.

 

That is seared in my brain. It was almost like the floor dropped from underneath of me. I guess the doctors had kind of had me convinced that I was fine. It was just like maybe just some kind of growing pain or whatever.

 

So I went in there with zero kind of idea that this was going to happen. The tech immediately was just like, okay, we actually need to send you to the hospital right now because we found something that's pretty huge in your brain and this is not normal. So even the tech knew there was something up before it even went to a radiologist or a neuro-onc or anything like that. This was actually kind of the part I was dreading to talk about the most because it's that moment

 

Bri (13:32)

Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (13:42)

of just your life is going to change forever.

 

Bri (13:46)

And you knew that. When it happened you could see that.

 

Jen Chang (13:50)

Absolutely, I think I just went into some sort of shock honestly, because I remember I was sitting in between my parents, they were both hugging me, and I just remember holding onto some piece of paper or whatever. I don't even remember what was on that piece of paper, but was questioning reality at that point. I was just like, this is not happening right now. I have built too much for this to be 

 

Bri (14:05)

Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (14:13)

what happens to me and what ends me right now. I was just full of piss and vinegar essentially at that point. It was just absolutely just bewildering shock because I'm just like, how? why? You're asking all of those bargaining questions of God and whatever. Both my parents were like hugging me and that was one of the first, like one of the few times I remember both of them hugging me at the same time. They knew it was like a serious moment. It was almost an out of body experience. Cause I just, yeah, I just still cannot, I've never been that shocked.

 

Bri (14:41)

Yeah.

 

Well, and at 17, this is a time that you're planning for your future and do I go to college? And if I do, what do I study? If I don't, what does that mean? And thinking about career choices and all the things that you were describing earlier. And all of a sudden it's, I mean, this is beyond a curve ball. A curve ball is the understatement of the century for this situation, it feels. So what was most helpful in that moment right out of the gate when you're just in this shock.

 

Jen Chang (14:57)

Mm-hmm.

 

Totally.

 

Jen Chang (15:19)

My dad just telling me, he turned around and he faced me and I remember he was like, okay, we're gonna fight this. So it's like, you are strong, you are going to get through this. I remember my dad telling me that and I'm just like, yeah, yeah, dad, this is exactly what's good. It was just kind of like the next challenge. And that's kind of how my dad's always been though. He's the guy that's always wanted to push me to be better. Traditional Asian dad, if you get an A minus, it's not good enough.

 

Bri (15:33)

Mm.

 

Jen Chang (15:43)

He just like, know, just one other thing, you know, gotta pull through this, you gotta go through this. It was really my parents having that support from them, and I didn't see them break at all. If they did cry or if they did have some sort of, emotional reaction, I never saw it. My mom told me later on that she and my dad did go and cry when they dropped me off at the hospital or something like that. But I never saw that at all from them. They were just, you and they still of strength for me.

 

Bri (16:05)

Sure.

 

Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

 

So you get this news and you've got the support of your parents there with you and they're in your corner fighting with you. What treatment did you go through?

 

Jen Chang (16:24)

This is where my memory gets little spotty. We don't know if it's fast growing or slow growing or whatever. They had an idea that it was probably a benign tumor, just because they only saw the one thing. So if you look at it in the scan, it's like right in the direct center of my brain. So there's like a little ventricle in there. So that's a little fluid filled sac that's right by the hippocampus. And so they basically gave me a really awesome anatomy lesson. So the hippocampus is in the center of your brain and also responsible for where your short term and long term memories are held. So he said, it's right by that center. And I was just like, okay, that makes sense for why I couldn't remember anything in

 

Bri (17:05)

Yeah, yeah, the light bulbs are coming on now.

 

Jen Chang (17:09)

Exactly and as a pre-scientist at that point, I love those light bulb moments. And so the moment they gave me that, I was just like, okay, game on. I know what the problem is. Let's do this. They basically were just like, okay, we're just going to go in and, you know, we'll see if you need chemo or radiation later. So immediately what the initial plan of attack was craniotomy right away.

 

Bri (17:32)

And then did you end up needing chemo or radiation later on?

 

Jen Chang (17:37)

That was it. I guess like the surgery took a really long time and I was out of it for oh God like a good good several hours I think afterwards. So she asked all the questions that I would have probably done if I were conscious at the time. But when they took it out it wasn't even a solid tumor. It was like a fluid filled sack and it was a three centimeter little thing and when they went in it they almost had to suction it out because it was not a solid they were just like okay this thing was probably growing in your head from potentially birth. It's so slow growing and then they were like, we probably don't need to do chemo or radiation for you. We're just gonna right now just, keep monitoring you with MRIs. We'll do a year and then like, if that's clear, we'll do five. If that's clear, 10, that's kind of like where I'm at right now, almost.

 

Bri (18:25)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (18:27)

So the last year was actually my 20th anniversary. like, I know. And what was so funny about that appointment that I had with her last fall was just like,

 

Bri (18:31)

Amazing.

 

Jen Chang (18:36)

it was literally a physical. So basically, you know, while she's just like, you know, checking my ears and like, you know, looking down my throat, I was just like, so am I due for an MRI? And then she was like, oh my God, I forgot that you had that.

 

Bri (18:50)

Wow!

 

Jen Chang (18:52)

My neuro-oncologist had since retired and I didn't really have anybody to follow up with me. And she's like, I'll go and reach out to like, the neuro-oncology department and then, see what they say.

 

I was actually nervous about that scan because I hadn't had any issue, but you know, there's always in that back of your mind, what happens if this thing comes back?

 

The best thing ever was I saw that the neuro-onc had written, have an unremarkable brain. And I'm just like, yes. *laughter*

 

Bri (19:19)

I've never been so proud to have that descriptor.

 

*Musical transition*

 

A lot of the people that I've spoken with are not quite yet long-term survivors like you are. You know, they haven't reached the 10-year mark, the 15-year mark, the 20-year mark like you.

 

Jen Chang (19:35)

Mm-hmm.

 

Bri (19:40)

And so they’re still in that phase of this isn't just a daily thing that I think about, this is a minute by minute thing that I think about or an hourly thing that I think about. It is so ever present, even when the people around us have no idea. And so I imagine there are a lot of people wondering like,

 

Jen Chang (19:50)

Exactly.

 

Mm-hmm.

 

Right.

 

Bri (20:01)

does that part get better? And I know your experience is your experience and not representative of everyone who's survived as long as you have. But I'm just curious, like how has your relationship with your diagnosis evolved over the last 20 years?

 

Jen Chang (20:15)

As you're a teenager, you want to be as normal as possible. You don't want to stick out. You know, you don't want to be, yeah, that's the brain tumor girl. You know, so only the people that were closest to me, so like my friends and then my teachers consequently, they were the only ones who knew that I was even going through this. I was just so desperate to go back to normal, there was even no question about whether or not I was going back to school that August. As soon as the craniotomy happened, I was allowed to go home. And then I was prepping to go back to school, right away, not even a month after having major brain surgery.

 

I was just like, this is something that I just need to keep fighting. I'm just going to live out senior year like I'm not missing this with my friends for anything. You know, I'm just determined to be as normal as possible. So I tried to hide it initially, and of course, I have this massive scar on the front of my head and I had no hair there at that time. And so

 

Bri (21:00)

Mm.

 

Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (21:14)

had to wear lot of bandanas, a lot of headbands, a lot of things that just covered up the fact that I was bald and had a massive scar and it was just so frustrating because like I didn't want any special treatment. I just wanted to be treated the exact same way that I was before. I just wanted to prove that this has not changed me. I'm still the exact same person.

 

Bri (21:21)

Mm-hmm.

 

Jen Chang (21:33)

I think this is probably why I buried it for so long, was because I tried so desperately to just be not the brain tumor girl.

 

For me, what actually came about me talking about my diagnosis more often was finding the job that I ultimately got. The ABTA really just kind of like

 

Bri (21:42)

Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (21:55)

really gave me that space to explore this part that I kept buried for so long. It was the longest denial anybody probably could have, that I was like, yes, you had this happen to you. And, you know, I just tried desperately to just forget that this happened.

 

It wasn't until I started meeting other brain tumor patients like me, listening to their stories, listening to how they're doing, how they're surviving that I'm just like, you know what, maybe I should kind of unpack this a little bit. So, what really kind of made it a big thing was going to that national conference that ABTA has every year and just seeing other people like me at various stages of survivorship or treatment, and then just kind of having a little bit of survivor's guilt, you know, and then just feeling thankful that like, you know, you're here still. It kind of just lit a fire in me. I came home and just cried. I just felt so guilty. And then my therapist thankfully helped me really unpack all of that. And then what I decided to do was just like, okay, you know what? You try to hide this, let's try to own it now. This is part of you.

 

Maybe your story can help somebody or maybe my story can help somebody else out there who is going through this. Maybe another 17 year old out there who is having the same diagnosis or a brain tumor diagnosis. There is no shame in this. It's a shitty thing that happens to people, but you can overcome. You can be who you were. You can still be the person that you are,

 

Jen Chang (23:28)

you know, despite a brain tumor diagnosis. It's really kind of what I'm trying to get.

 

Bri (23:31)

Yeah, yeah. And you mentioned survivor's guilt. What brought that to the surface?

 

Jen Chang (23:38)

It really was just seeing patients that, you know, were not as lucky as me. Their status was just like, don't know if this thing can come back. Seeing how it affected them because for all intents and purposes, I was able to recapture my life.

 

I was able to go to school. I was able to go to graduate school. I was able to continue doing what I do for the most part. This was just a little blip on my radar, but I know for a lot of other people out there this is a thing that, you think about it minute by minute. For me, I kind of feel for now, people forget that I had a brain tumor.

 

I don't even know how to articulate this very well. It's part of my story, but it's something that I can put on the back burner. You know what I mean? So I feel just, so incredibly grateful for, the cards that I was dealt, but just knowing that, there are people out there who don't have this story. There was just something that was in me that I was like, you need to do something to give back.

 

Bri (24:26)

Mmm, yeah.

 

Jen Chang (24:38)

All the things that you've experienced, maybe there's something you can do to help. There's something that you can inspire some people or, just trying to find some way to get more involved, just be more involved with other survivors or learning about someone who's going through treatment right now. How can I be that rock for them? How can I be like what my parents did for me?

 

Maybe if they just had one person in their corner and that person's me, they can get through this and, have that kind of same success story. I'm just interested in trying to help as many people as I can.

 

Bri (25:06)

On that note, what would you share with someone who's maybe currently experiencing survivor's guilt and it's kind of having a negative impact for them?

 

Jen Chang (25:19)

I would just say to them that try to get involved. It's only a little bit amount of your time to try to get more involved in your community, get to know some more people, and find some way to be useful. I think what's been really key for me for not feeling that way is sharing my story. I started talking more about it with people, anybody who I know who's had a hard time, it's like, hey, I also went through some pretty horrible things too, but there's another side.

 

I think my perspective on it. This is just like a dark moment where you get out and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I kind of want to help guide people towards that.

 

Bri (26:00)

Yeah.

 

Jen Chang (26:11)

The fact that I was able to get through this relatively unscathed, for the most part, and that maybe listening to my story and then knowing that, yes, there are other people out there who have gone through this exact same thing, it is possible. That little bit of hope is so important. That's what my dad told me too, was just like, you have to have that hope and that belief and that ability see past this.

 

Bri (26:37)

And what do you see past all of this?

 

Jen Chang (26:40)

Well, I am actually getting married at the end of this month. Thank you. And so, you know, it's just been he's been just so great and having a partner like this who views me as like a true partner. He knows this is part of my story as well and I'm just so excited to grow with him.

 

Bri (26:45)

Congratulations.

 

Jen Chang (26:59)

I'm trying to look for as many opportunities as I can to help out and be part of this brain tumor community. I know it's a horrible thing that ties us all together, but we are survivors. We are a group of people who are strong. We are resilient. I'm very, very proud to be associated with people like you guys.

 

Bri (27:19)

Well, I think I can speak for a lot of people listening when I say ditto. I'm really happy that our paths crossed and that we get to share in this experience together. How has this experience rewired your mind?

 

Jen Chang (27:25)

Hahaha!

 

Mm-hmm.

 

Oh man, I used to joke a lot that the craniotomy left me with severe brain damage because it changed my personality 100%. I learned how to be such an extrovert. I think what happened was when they went in, they killed that part of the brain that was shyness. I don't even have a problem. I used to have such a problem trying to even call to order pizza.

 

That all went away. So this fully rewired my brain. It's kind of made me more human almost I feel. I'm more in touch with my emotions. I process them better. I can make better sense of it, and just the world around me in general. So it's awful, you know, all in all, I don't want to say I fully wish I didn't experience it because it did make me the person who I am. I feel like it's allowed my personality come through.

 

Bri (28:24)

Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing, Jen. And I imagine there are some people who are listening who are either resonating with your experience and your story or more curious to learn more. If they want to connect with you, where can they find you?

 

Jen Chang (28:43)

Um, you can find me on LinkedIn is probably the best way because I really don't have a whole lot of social media. But LinkedIn, you can absolutely find me there.

 

Bri (28:51)

Okay, awesome. And I will share the link for that in the show notes too.

 

Bri
Thank you for joining me for another episode of Rewired Minds. 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. Whether you’re a patient, survivor, caregiver, family member, or friend, visit rewired-minds.com to learn more about being a guest on a future episode.

This podcast is a one-woman labor of love and it’s an honor to bring it to your ears and connect the brain tumor community. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate, review, and share with someone who might need these stories. 5-star reviews and sharing really make a huge difference in keeping this going!

I'm Bri Salsman, and I'll be back next time with another life changing brain tumor story.