Back in the early days of his career, one of actor Mark Ruffalo’s dreams quite literally came true, but unfortunately, he didn’t wake up with a new Maybach in his garage.
Ruffalo had a ‘crazy’ dream back in 2000 in which he was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and when he woke up, was convinced it was a warning.
Ruffalo went to see a doctor, who booked him in for a CAT scan, only to discover that he did in fact have a mass behind his ear.
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Speaking to W Magazine back in 2011, Ruffalo explained: “I had this crazy dream that I had a brain tumour, I just woke up and knew I had a brain tumour.
"There was no way that I didn’t. It was pretty crazy.”
He continued: “So I went to the doctor, and they did the CAT scan and they were like ‘you have a mass behind your left ear and you will need to get it removed. We don’t know what it is exactly, but we think it’s operable’.”
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The Marvel star added: “You just deal with it. You go on. I’m fine now, I only lost my hearing in one ear. I see it as kind of a gift in a weird way. Your priorities become very clear. My relationship to acting became very clear.”
Ruffalo also candidly addressed the experience when speaking to the Acoustic Neuroma Association in 2013, saying: “I went to [the doctor] that morning and I said, 'listen, I had a really scary dream last night and you're probably going to think I'm crazy, but I think I have a brain tumour and I'd really like to get it checked out'.
“And she said, 'you are crazy, but you shouldn't have to live with that fear, so I'll order you an MRI - or CAT scan - tomorrow’."
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Ruffalo went on: “She came in [after the scan] and she was white as a sheet, and she said, 'you have a mass behind your left ear that's the size of a golf ball. We don't know what it is exactly, and you'll need an MRI'.
"And I thought, 'yep, It's not a great time to say I knew it, but…’"
The actor was diagnosed with a non-cancerous tumour called acoustic neuroma and was advised to get surgery quickly because the mass was resting on a facial nerve.
Despite experiencing facial paralysis temporarily after the operation, Ruffalo’s symptoms cleared up, although he permanently lost hearing in his left ear.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week
Aisha Nozari