The Story of How Cranial Crabbz Came to Be 🦀

Once upon a time, there was a teacher who loved teaching kids every single day. But one day, something felt funny.

“My head hurts,” the teacher said. “But that’s okay—teaching is hard work!”

Then something else happened. Walking felt wobbly, like being on a boat even when standing still.

“That’s weird,” the teacher thought. “Maybe I just need more sleep!”

But the headaches didn’t stop. And the wobbles got worse.

So the teacher went to the doctor. The doctor took special pictures of the inside of the teacher’s head—like a camera that can see through your skin! (It’s called an MRI, and it doesn’t hurt at all.)

And guess what the pictures showed?

There was an uninvited visitor living inside the teacher’s brain. A tumor. A brain tumor.

What’s a Brain Tumor?

A brain tumor is like a lump that grows where it shouldn’t. Your brain is the boss of your whole body—it tells your heart to beat, your legs to walk, and your mouth to smile. When a tumor grows in your brain, it can make things go wonky.

Some tumors are nice visitors. They grow slowly and doctors can help them leave.

Some tumors are mean visitors. They grow fast and don’t want to leave. The teacher had a mean one called glioblastoma. It’s a big word, but it just means a really tough brain tumor.

Going to the Hospital 🏥

On Thanksgiving Day 2023, the teacher found out about the tumor. That’s a hard day to get bad news!

But the teacher didn’t give up. Nope! The teacher said, “Okay, tumor—you picked the WRONG brain to mess with!”

The doctors said, “We need to do surgery to get that tumor OUT of there!”

So on December 3rd, the teacher had TWO brain surgeries on the same day! First, they worked on the tumor. Then they had to fix some blood clots (those are like traffic jams in your blood). It was a LONG day!

Then on December 26th (right after Christmas!), the teacher had the BIG surgery. The doctors opened up part of the skull (that’s the hard bone that protects your brain) and took out as much of the mean tumor as they could. This one is called a craniotomy.

And That’s When Something AMAZING Happened! ✨

After the big surgery on December 26th, the teacher’s head had special staples to hold everything together while it healed. (Staples are like tiny metal clips—they don’t hurt once they’re in!)

The teacher was resting in the hospital bed, and everything was too bright and too loud. So the teacher put on headphones to block out the noise.

And then… click click click.

“What’s that sound?” the teacher wondered.

Click click click.

It was the staples! They were clicking together!

And in that moment, the teacher’s imagination created a CHARACTER. A crabby little dude with attitude, walking back and forth inside the brain like he OWNED the place.

Part Snoop Dogg. Part Mr. Krabs. All sass.

And just like that, Cranial Crabbz was born! 🦀💙

He moved in rent-free and became the teacher’s sidekick for the whole fight.

 

What Happens After Brain Surgery?

After surgery, your body needs time to heal. Here’s what happens:

• Your head might hurt (but medicine helps!)

• You might feel tired (your brain is working HARD to get better!)

• You might need to rest A LOT (that’s your superpower—resting helps you heal!)

• Doctors will check on you with more MRI pictures to make sure everything is okay

The teacher had to do radiation (special beams of light that zap leftover tumor cells) and chemotherapy (medicine that fights cancer). It was hard, but the teacher kept going.

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