Neurospicy Art is a 109-piece art collection by Linda Radosinska. Photo / Supplied
Linda Radosinska was just 39 when doctors found a golf ball-sized tumour in her brain during what she thought would be a routine MRI in March.
What followed turned the Kiwi’s world upside down as she struggled to rebuild her life and mental health after what could have been a death sentence.
To find purpose in her trauma, she turned to the medium she had always loved: art. And in that form of personal therapy, she found a way to help others.
Hamilton-born Linda Radosinska moved to Melbourne in 2020 for a fresh start, working as an educator.
She was living what most would consider a very healthy lifestyle; she didn’t drink alcohol or smoke, she exercised regularly and ate a vegetarian diet.
But something wasn’t right and Radosinska’s concern grew as she began suffering debilitating pain in her head and face, which left her unable to sleep. This, paired with a history of migraines, saw her book a trip to her GP, who assured her she was likely fine, and most likely TMJ, a stress-related jaw injury.
Out of an abundance of caution, they booked an MRI to rule out something more sinister.
Four weeks later, the results of the MRI revealed a large, golfball-sized tumour that doctors would later explain had likely been growing inside her brain for nearly 20 years, potentially explaining the migraines she had been experiencing for more than a decade.
“The radiologist immediately knew something was wrong,” Radonsinka tells the Herald. “They pretty much told me that I needed to get into an ambulance immediately and go to the hospital.”
But Radosinska felt paralysed by fear and went into shock; she couldn’t believe the diagnosis, especially considering all other test results showing a picture of health.
“I nearly passed out and I knew I had to go home and process the news before I could face whatever was going to come during the hospital visit.”
The next morning, she got a phone call from her GP telling her she needed to go to the hospital right away as they were expecting her.
Radosinska was admitted to the high dependency neurosurgery ward of the Royal Melbourne Hospital and booked in for surgery two weeks later.
“The surgery itself was about 13 hours, and then I had a five-day stay in the hospital, while I recovered,” she says.
The results were the best she could have hoped for; the tumour (acoustic neuroma), though large, was benign. She would make a full recovery, but suffered hearing loss in one ear.
Radosinska considered herself one of the lucky ones, but the trauma of what could have been stuck with her.
“In those two weeks in the lead up to the surgery, I did have to go through that full cycle of grieving and preparing myself for maybe not making it.
“And the four to six weeks after the surgery were really difficult because even though the tumour was benign, there is always the risk that you’re going to die in a major surgery like that.”
While she expected the physical recovery to be tough, it was the mental element she battled with most. It is something she is still coming to terms with.
“When you get discharged from the hospital, they expect you to experience pain, and they send you home with all this medication. But there was nothing for the mental health side of things,” Radosinska says.
“Facing death and mortality is really traumatic, and of course, someone’s going to need some support.”
Radosinska felt she had a really good “tool kit” and strong mental health before her surgery, but she couldn’t help but think about how it might impact those who didn’t.
“For me to come out the other side and almost be broken by it, other people who don’t have the same access to the same information or the experience of working through this stuff on their own, I don’t know how they cope, to be honest.”
Determined to make sense of what happened, Radosinska felt a responsibility to do something for others facing the same, or worse, reality.
For her, that came in the form of art, and creating and exhibiting a 109-piece series titled Neurospicy Art, first for her own therapy, and eventually in an effort to raise money for cancer research. She’s now selling the art pieces on her website, and 100% of the project’s profits will be donated to brain cancer research.
“It comes with a bit of an ethical responsibility to give back to the people who are not doing so well. I have to acknowledge that I was so lucky.”
In New Zealand, brain cancer is responsible for around 277 deaths per year, making it the 10th most fatal cancer in New Zealand.
However, in children, it’s the most fatal childhood cancer, responsible for over 40% of all cancer deaths in children aged 0 to 14.
Radosinska says that despite the stats, the field of brain cancer is “chronically underfunded”, which has limited the advancements in treatments and outcomes. She wants to change that.
Her goal isn’t a set monetary figure; it’s simply to make a meaningful contribution to brain cancer research, a mere eight months on from her own diagnosis.
“I have to make this mean something. It can’t be for no reason.”
Where to get help:
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111