A woman found out she had been living with a tumor for 15 years after she lost hearing when her ears “popped” on a plane.
Nicole Cutler, 28, was flying from California to Boston when she experienced the loss and immediately booked an appointment with an audiologist who booked her in for an MRI scan.
It revealed Nicole had a brain tumor and she underwent an operation but doctors were only able to remove 50 percent because it was wrapped around her facial nerve.
After MRI scans every six months, in 2023 she found out the tumor had grown and underwent emergency radiation treatment to shrink the tumor.
The therapy didn’t work and the tumor continued to grow, so in February 2024, Nicole underwent her second emergency brain surgery to remove more of the tumor.
Now, Nicole is being monitored with regular MRI scans to see if the tumor is growing — which has been stable so far.
Nicole, who works in finance, from Boston, said: “When I was told I had a brain tumor, it was the scariest moment of my life.
“My whole body shut down, it was the scariest thing you can ever imagine, especially when you are 22 years old.
“The tumor was growing inside my head for 15 years. I was very clumsy growing up.
“I had broken bones, I have vertigo, and I was losing my hearing — which all makes sense now.
“Intially, I thought that my ears had popped, but when my husband tested an AirPod in my right ear and turned it up to the max, I couldn’t hear anything — so we realized something was wrong.”
Nicole said, with hindsight she now realises she had been losing her hearing for some time, but she went totally deaf on the right side in May 2021.
Nicole said: “I had a hearing test, but I couldn’t hear anything.
“My MRI results showed that I had a tumor the size of an avocado pressing on my brain.
“It was a scary moment — I just wanted to get home to my family.”
The surgery on July 27, 2021, lasted 12 hours, and Nicole was partially paralyzed on the right side for six months — unable to walk and move her right arm.
Nicole said: “I lost all my balance — I couldn’t walk for a while.
“I lost my motor function in my right hand, and my face was paralyzed on the right side for six months.
“After I recovered, I went into outpatients where I went to facial therapy, speech therapy and physical therapy for two months.”
After the operation, a biopsy revealed Nicole had a large acoustic neuroma — a benign tumor that grows on the hearing and balance nerves.
“It was even more aggressive than the first. I knew the risks — and this time, the damage was permanent,” said Nicole who can still only hear in her left ear.
Due to the loss of mobility in her face, Nicole underwent a major nerve graft in August 2024 — taking a nerve from her left foot and leg and putting it on her face.
Nicole said: “Doctors removed the sensation nerve from my left foot and leg in hopes of rebuilding my smile.
“That meant learning to walk again — this time, with new limitations.
“I had to go to facial therapy, but had a completely new smile.”
Doctors told her if tumor grows again, they will remove the whole thing.
After her first surgery, Nicole made a pledge to run all six major marathons across the world for brain tumor awareness.
She ran the Boston, London, Chicago and New York Marathons and is planning on running the Berlin Marathon in September to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity.
Nicole said: “I may never get my full smile back, but I’m learning to smile fully with my heart. And with each procedure, each mile, and each moment, I’m slowly, steadily working to bring back what was lost.
“This journey has been brutal. I’ve lost parts of myself – physically, emotionally, spiritually – but I’ve also found something deeper: strength, purpose, and a powerful sense of community.
“I’m not just running for myself. I’m running for the entire brain tumor community, for patients facing impossible decisions, for survivors rebuilding their lives, for researchers fighting for a cure, and for families who’ve lost someone they love. I’m fighting for all of us.”
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