'Behind the Headlines' commentator recovering after brain tumor scare
BALTIMORE (WKRC) - He was a national commentator with the Local 12 team until he went off the air recently due to a brain tumor.
Now, Mark Hyman has an important reminder for all of us.
Hyman stepped down from his on-air duties after being diagnosed with the tumor. It was a brave admission. But when Local 12 sat down behind the scenes with Hyman at his his home Sinclair office in Baltimore, his statements were a little harder to put into words.
"Well, we all have those moments we think about things, like walking daughters down the aisle. It seems kind of cliche, but it's true. I never thought about that before. And then I thought, 'Wow, I will not walk a daughter down the aisle," he said.
What started with a few changes, like vision problems, eventually led Hyman to an eye specialist who told him, based on what he saw, he either had a brain tumor or a stroke. It turned out to be a large brain tumor.
"These tumors can get very large, sometimes even the size of an orange, before we find it and realize that the patient has a problem," said Dr. Vince Dinapoli with Mayfield Brain & Spine.
Dr. Dinapoli is a neurosurgeon who specializes in neuro-oncology and skull-based tumors. He did not treat Hyman, but says, in addition to vision changes, the most common symptoms of a large brain tumor or swelling in the brain are seizures and bad headaches, especially in somebody who has not had bad headaches before.
"The day I was diagnosed, the doctor sat me down and said I strongly encourage you to get your personal affairs in order; this is not going to end well for you," said Hyman.
So Hyman continued to work and get his personal affairs in order, including telling his close co-workers the unthinkable. Several weeks later, Hyman was in surgery, and then for 10 days, he waited for the diagnostic results.
When he got the call, Hyman said it was good news -- that his tumor was not cancerous.
He has spent the last few months healing. As for what his behind-the-scenes message is now?
"I was ignoring what were clear warning signs in order to do the job," he said.
"I think he'll always know the value that if [he] can make a difference -- and that's what he wants to do; he just wants to make a difference -- he can really help others with telling his story and making sure that people hopefully take care of themselves first and understand the value of life," said co-worker Scott Livingston.
Hyman is expected to return to our air sometime after the first of 2019.
