In high school, I didn’t have much of a social life. I had trouble with insomnia, anxiety, paranoia, depression and apathy. As time went on, it became increasingly disruptive to my life.

Then, when I was 16, I learned that my mental torment wasn’t just teenage anguish -- it was a brain tumor. During a physical, a nurse noticed that my pupils didn’t react to her light, so I was taken to a neurologist for an MRI.

The MRI scan...