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.
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.
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"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’.”
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'.
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“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’."
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…’"
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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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Topics: Celebrity, Marvel, Health