CNN Anchor Reflects on Undergoing Brain Surgery for Tumor Removal

By Allison Schonter

CNN anchor and chief national affairs analyst Kasie Hunt is opening up about her recent health scare. On Tuesday, Hunt marked the one-year anniversary since undergoing brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. Hunt first opened up about the operation back in October of last year, when she revealed on Instagram that she "had a delicate but successful surgery to remove a small tumor from my brain that turned out to be benign." At the time, Hunt said she was "now in recovery" and would be "off the air several more weeks," as "brain surgery really takes it out of you!"

In her Tuesday post, Hunt shared with fans that a year after the operation, she is "able to say I am completely healthy and can physically live my life as though it never happened." However, the health scare has left a lasting impact, with Hunt added, "But I can't lead my life like it never did. I have learned so much." Hunt, who was just 36 when she received her diagnosis, went on to reflect on her health journey, writing that "had spend weeks planning what life would look like for my loved ones – my then 2-year-old son – without me in it" by the time the day of her surgery came around.

"It's not an experience I would wish on anyone. But I have to tell you – I am so grateful now to understand the things I was forced to grapple with because of the tumor growing in my head," she continued in the thread, in which she shared a number of images pre- and post-surgery. "Most people aren't forced to grapple with the real possibility they'll be gone when they are still otherwise young and healthy – when they still have most of their expected lives left to live. And so most people don't have the chance to *change* how they live."

Hunt went on to share that "there's a huge difference between intellectually *knowing* your life is fragile and could change in an instant – and actually facing it, sitting with it, and deeply understanding, through that experience, what it is that actually matters to you," adding that when she woke up from surgery, she "learned I was one of the lucky ones: the tumor was benign and the surgery was most likely the hardest part of my journey." Although Hunt did not "go through what others did," she said the experience taught her several lessons, Hunt writing, "the things I learned that my heart can no longer forget are the things so many of us know but often fail to act on in a focused, daily way: The people we love and the health of our bodies matters more than anything else ever can or will."

Hunt explained that throughout her diagnosis and recovery, she often thought about her family, and came to realize "it's those things – showing up, every day, in big but mostly in small ways – for the people I love – that I too often sacrificed in my life without even truly grappling with or understanding what I was giving up. I don't live my life that way any more. I refuse to." The news anchor, who also gave a shot out to the medical staff who treated her, said she was "sharing this today in hopes that maybe someone out there will see it and maybe it will change how they see the world just a little bit.... I wish I had lived this way every day without having to go through this. But I am so grateful to be here, now, with most of my life still ahead of me, understanding something most people don't have the chance to see until it is too late."

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