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Achieving and maintaining balance means many different things to many different women. As a daughter, wife, mother, and working woman, Shannon Vaske’s life was a constant balancing act. Losing her balance physically shifted Shannon into unfamiliar territory and challenged her to redefine what it meant to have a “normal” life. When confronted with a serious health condition, Shannon’s ability to focus on the seemingly minor details of daily routines enabled her to manage her illness.

Shannon grew up in Fairmont, Minnesota. Following her graduation from high school, she attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received a degree in athletic training and sports medicine. A serious knee injury her senior year of high school influenced Shannon’s career choice. “I blew my knee out. I was supposed to play college basketball and could not play because of that injury—which is no longer considered a career-ending injury. Looking back, it was a blessing because it eventually led me to the orthopedic field.”

After working for a period of time, Shannon returned to college to become a certified nurse practitioner. She joined St. Croix Orthopaedics, P.A. in March of 2004 and works with Dr. Dahl in the area of limb lengthening. Much of their practice is devoted to deformity correction and charity work.

Six years ago, Shannon also met her husband, Ryan. They have two daughters: Emma, 5 and Maybel, 3. Shannon says, “When I was pregnant with my second child, I was having trouble hearing from my left ear. I thought it was probably an accumulation of fluid in the ear or allergies.”

Eighteen months following Maybel’s birth, Shannon began experiencing severe headaches and balance problems. “When I would get up in the night, I was literally bouncing from wall to wall to get down to her room.” Prescription strength migraine medications were not working, so Shannon went back to her family doctor and said, “Something is not right.”

The doctor ordered some initial testing and blood work and Shannon underwent an MRI. “The next morning she called me, and I knew it wasn’t a good sign when she asked if I was sitting down. She told me it wasn’t the worst thing, but it’s something.” The doctor went on to explain that Shannon had an acoustic neuroma, a brain tumor; it was resting on the brain stem and needed to be taken out immediately. They were 99 percent sure that it was not cancer.

The doctor arranged for her to meet with a neurosurgeon at the University of Minnesota Hospital. During a two-hour consultation, Shannon learned that removing the tumor would require that part of her skull be removed and be replaced with some fat from the abdomen and a metal plate. Shannon says, “The tumor was quite invasive and had probably been there for years. He described it like an octopus. There were numerous tentacles that had wrapped around all of the cranial nerves.” These nerves controlled facial expressions, swallowing and balance; the surgery could affect any or all of these functions.

One thing was certain; Shannon would be completely deaf in her left ear. “Removing the tumor meant cutting the nerve, but they assured me they were going to do everything possible to get the tumor out. I said, ‘Great, let’s do it.’”

The surgery was scheduled for November 29, 2007, giving Shannon two weeks to prepare herself and her family for the surgery and recovery time. She says, “I was in ‘mom mode.’ I had an 18-month-old and a three-year-old. I went in to work and told them everything. They told me to take as much time as I needed and wanted to know how they could help me.”

“At that point, I didn’t look back. I began planning, starting with one of those big calendars. I planned everything from my kids’ meals to phone numbers. My mom and dad arranged time off from their jobs. They came and stayed with the girls while I was in the hospital.”

“I couldn’t control what was happening inside, so I took control of external things. I never let myself think of the ‘what ifs.’ I just thought, ‘This is what I have to do.’ I had it set up so that the girls could continue with their normal life. We told them Mommy was going to have her ear fixed—that’s what they could understand. Even if my life wasn’t going to be normal, at least my home was going to be normal for my husband and family.”

The night before the surgery Shannon tucked her girls into bed, kissed them goodnight and told them she would see them in a few days. She and Ryan left for the hospital at 4:30 a.m. Shannon says, “My husband was my rock—he was tough. The only time he lost it was when they rolled me away to surgery. I looked back, and I could see his tears.”

A team of surgeons worked more than ten hours to successfully remove the tumor—an ear, nose and throat surgeon began the procedure followed by the neurosurgeon. Shannon and her family were relieved to learn that it was a benign brain tumor, just as the doctors had said it was. The surgery left her with 37 staples in her head and more than 20 stitches in her abdomen.

For Shannon, the first day following the surgery was the worst. “The room was spinning; I was sick, and I couldn’t move my left foot.” She later found out that the numbness was not from the brain surgery but rather, a nerve palsy caused by lying in the same position for a long time. Soon Shannon was sitting up in a chair—improving every day. After five days in the hospital, she returned home to her family.

Before, during and after her surgery, Shannon and her family received an overwhelming outpouring of care and support. “My mom knew exactly how things went at my home, so Ryan was able to keep working. My in-laws helped out, and my co-workers provided meals. My cousin, who is like a sister, was with me every day at the hospital.” Shannon’s preparations and planning helped her get through the ten-week recovery period.

The numbness in her leg improved, but Shannon was left with a condition known as tinnitus. “I have a loud buzzing sound in my ear that has turned out to be more of a challenge than the deafness because it never goes away – it’s always there. The nerve has been permanently cut, so there is nowhere for the sound waves to go; they just bounce around in my eardrum.”

Shannon was able to return to work without any limitations. The hearing loss did not affect her ability to take care of her patients. “My joke is that I turned in my stethoscope for wrenches. If, for example, I were a cardiac nurse, I wouldn’t be able to hear heart sounds, but I can crank on fixators. I put people back together in a different way.”

One year later, Shannon received another life-changing phone call—this time from her father. “Despite being told I had a brain tumor and needed a big neurosurgery to get it out; hands down, the hardest phone call I got was from my dad telling me he had cancer.” He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is currently responding well to treatment. Shannon says, “My dad has always been my backbone. Our motto has constantly been ‘Eye of the Tiger.’” The two of them now share first-hand knowledge of what the lyrics of the song mean when it talks about facing the battle and learning the will to survive.

With life returning to a new “normal” for her entire family, Shannon reflects on a quote written on a small plaque on display in her home. The words perfectly describe what she has learned over the past two years: “Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”