I Have A What?! Surviving A Brain Tumor
Join me as I share my deeply personal journey of being diagnosed with a brain tumor; a moment filled with confusion, fear, and uncertainty. I navigate the emotional rollercoaster of surgery and the fight for survival, revealing the highs and lows along the way. This podcast is for anyone interested in health and inspiring stories of resilience. Each episode features heartfelt storytelling, interviews, and discussions with fellow survivors and experts. Tune in for open conversations that acknowledge the stress of such a diagnosis while offering hope. New episodes are released twice a month. 🎧 Support the Show If you enjoy my content and want to help me keep creating inspiring stories and conversations, you can support my work here: https://buymeacoffee.com/Teflonjohn Every coffee helps fuel new episodes, better equipment, and meaningful content for the community. Thank you for your support! ☕️
Episodes
🧠 Episode Description
The morning of brain surgery was the moment everythingbecame real.
In this Season 2 finale, I take you through the final hoursbefore my surgery, from the day and night before, to the drive to UVA, thecheck-in process, seeing my family, meeting the surgical team, and the momentfear finally broke through the mask I had been wearing.
This episode begins with March 14th, 2024, the day beforesurgery, which was also m...
🧠Episode Description
Sometimes you do not know a moment is important until later.
In this episode, I take you inside the last few days before brain surgery, when life still looked normal on the outside, but everything felt different on the inside.
The countdown was almost over.
I was no longer months away from surgery. I was no longer weeks away. I was days away. And during those final days, every ordinary moment started to car...
🧠EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Sometimes you do not realize how important a moment is until later.
In this episode, I take you inside the last few days before my brain surgery, when the countdown was almost over and life started feeling different in ways I could not fully explain at the time.
This was not just about preparing for surgery.
It was about walking through the final stretch of normal life.
My last day at work.
The quiet weig...
There’s a difference between having faith… and having your faith challenged when fear is loud.
In this episode, I take you inside one of the most emotional parts of my brain tumor journey: the tension between my fear and my mom’s faith.
As my brain surgery date got closer, I was still trying to process what was happening. I was scared. I was uncertain. I was wearing a mask, trying to act like I was okay, while inte...
🧠 Season 2, Episode 4 Description
Life doesn’t pause just because you’re going through something.
In this episode, I take you deeper into a part of my journey that most people never see, the space between knowing something life-changing is coming and still having to show up every day like everything is normal.
While preparing for brain surgery, my body was already sending signals. Daily headaches. Constant nausea. Moments...
🧠 Season 2, Episode 3 Description
Brain Surgery Countdown: Living With Fear, Faith, and Uncertainty | Season 2 | Episode 3
There’s a difference between making a decision… and living with it.
In this episode, I take you inside what it really feels like after the date is set, when you’re no longer avoiding it… but you still have to wake up every day and live your life.
Nothing around me stopped. I was still goi...
🧠 Season 2, Episode 2 Description
Choosing My Brain Surgery Date: The Moment It Became Real
How do you choose the day… that your life might change forever?
In this episode of I Have a What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, I take you inside one of the hardest decisions I faced during my journey, choosing the date for brain surgery.
This wasn’t just about scheduling a procedure.
It was about coming to terms with reality.
For weeks, ...
🧠 Season 2, Episode 1 Description
After being told I needed brain surgery, everything shifted.
In this episode, I take you beyond the moment of diagnosis and into the quiet, often overlooked aftermath, the days where life continues moving forward, but mentally and emotionally, everything feels different. I was no longer just living with a brain tumor under a “watch and wait” plan. Now, I was living with the reality that ...
🧠 Episode 10 Description
In this deeply personal season finale of I Have A What?! Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith opens up about the appointment he never expected to change his journey. What began as a routine MRI and follow up visit slowly turned into a moment that shifted everything.
For over a year, Johnathan had settled into a rhythm of appointments, scans, and quiet monitoring. The symptoms tha...
🧠 Episode Description
In this deeply personal episode of I Have A What?! Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith opens up about the moment his brain tumor symptoms began returning in ways he could no longer push through. After weeks of quiet warnings, subtle pains, pressure, fatigue, and moments where the world seemed to shift around him, something changed. The symptoms did not stay quiet anymore, and his ...
🧠 Episode Description
In this deeply personal episode of I Have A What?! Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith shares the moment when the mask he had been wearing finally slipped, not at home and not with family, but at work. After weeks of pushing through dizziness, pressure, fatigue, and moments of zoning out, someone finally noticed. A trusted coworker saw what others missed, the truth that his sy...
🧠 Episode Description
In this emotional episode of I Have A What?! Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith opens up about one of the hardest parts of his journey, the part no one could see. It was not the headaches or the dizziness this time. It was the emotional pressure that slowly built inside him after hearing the words “you have a brain tumor.”
Life did not pause after the diagnosis. Work k...
🧠 Episode Description
In this emotional episode of I Have A What?! Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith opens the door to a part of the journey many people never talk about, what it feels like to go to work every day while silently carrying brain tumor symptoms that no one else can see.
Before the surgery, before sharing his diagnosis widely, and before connecting with a support community, Johnathan was...
🧠 Episode Description
In this episode of I Have A What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith opens up about one of the most overwhelming parts of the journey, the long nights after diagnosis when the world is quiet, but your mind will not let you rest. It is the season when fear grows louder, anxiety feels heavier, and Google becomes both a comfort and a trap.
After hearing the words “you have a br...
Living a Double Life After My Brain Tumor Diagnosis: Smiling Outside, Struggling Inside | Episode #4
🧠Episode Description
In this episode of I Have A What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith opens up about a part of the journey that many survivors never talk about. It is the season after the diagnosis, when everyone expects you to be strong, but inside you are still searching for peace.
After the first visit to UVA and hearing the words “watch and wait,” life was supposed to return to norm...
🧠 EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Every story has a moment where everything starts to make sense, even if it is hard to accept.In Episode 3 of I Have a What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, I, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith, share the day I went to UVA Medical Center for my first major appointment. It was the day I would finally get clarity about what was happening inside my head and what my future might look like.
Before meeting my neurosur...
🧠 EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Some phone calls change your life forever.
In Episode 2 of I Have a What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, I, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith, share the moment everything shifted, the day I got the call that revealed what was really happening inside my head.
After months of being told it was all in my mind, I finally found a new ENT specialist who took me seriously. She listened, ordered the right tests, and g...
🧠 EPISODE DESCRIPTION
They told me it was all in my head, but the truth was, it was a brain tumor.
In the very first episode of I Have a What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, I, Johnathan “TeflonJohn” Smith, share how it all started and how I learned to listen to my body when no one else did. Before I ever received my brain tumor diagnosis, I was living with what seemed like common issues: headaches, dizziness, and pain behind...
They told me it was all in my head, but the truth was, it was a brain tumor.
Welcome to I Have a What? Surviving a Brain Tumor, a podcast by Johnathan Smith, also known as TeflonJohn. This show is more than a story of survival. It is a journey of awareness, advocacy, faith, and resilience.
This is an audio podcast that will also feature a few special video episodes. In each one, you will hear and sometimes see real stories of perseve...
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