Name
Leo Simmons

Age Group (If you are a caregiver/family member please check Caregiver/Family Member)
Adult: 21 and over

Artist Statement (include type of art, techniques & materials used, what it means to you)
A poem to express just some of the feelings arising from my ongoing symptoms. The poem is aligned to the right of the page to represent the loss of sight in my left eye caused by my tumor.

Bio (include your age, tumor type and date of diagnosis)
Leo Simmons, aged 57, Craniopharyngioma diagnosed January 2018.
I was 52 when I found out about my tumor, following a period of increasing headaches (go figure) and eyesight which was worsening slowly enough for me to pretend it wasn't happening. I was already writing by this time, but my output stopped for none months while I underwent two surgeries, radiotherapy and convalescence. I returned to writing principally as a form of self-therapy; I felt a need to try to explain the inexplicable to myself and to my small, remote community. My writing provides goals, forces me to try to organize my thoughts and work (a real struggle post-tumor) and reminds me not to hide from public view. After an initial misdiagnosis, I am still finding joy in being alive and recovering.