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(CNN) -- I was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.

This was shocking news. Sitting across from a doctor holding a clinical folder with your name on it, and hearing him say the words "low-grade glioma," "language and comprehension areas of your brain," "surgery" and "chemotherapy" is a very weird experience.

My first idea was to seek other opinions. Maybe this hospital is wrong. Maybe there are other places that wouldn't need to do surgery. Maybe there is a laser, a chemical, an ancient tradition, a shaman, a scientist, a nanorobot.