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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Tracey Croke

How the perils of mountain biking helped me cope with my brain tumour diagnosis

Two mountain bikers in bicycle helmets and sunglasses smiling
‘As ridiculous as it sounds, the undivided attention required to carry on out a risky activity turned out to be a mind trick that worked’: Tracey Croke, right, on finding her flow through mountain biking Photograph: Supplied

It wasn’t the news my doctor expected from the scan. I could tell by the look on his face. Most partial hearing loss episodes are caused by infections. I was that rare, one-in-whatever-thousand case in which they’d discovered a squatter – which I now call “the thing” – was hanging out in my head.

“It’s a brain tumour,” he said.

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