Before becoming a father for the first time, actor Mark Ruffalo faced a diagnosis of a brain tumor. Ruffalo shared his experience about having the tumor removed and the process of coming out to his wife of 20 years in an interview with the Smartless podcast, hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Anertt.
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Ruffalo described the moment he discovered the tumor two decades ago, recounting a peculiar dream he had while his wife, Sunrise Coigney, was about to give birth. In the dream, he received the message: “You have a brain tumor and you need to deal with it immediately.” Although he had no symptoms, Ruffalo sought advice from a doctor, influenced by this dream and a feeling of restlessness.
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After examinations, Ruffalo recalled the moment when a nurse called the doctor and they both had a separate conversation. “She came back like a zombie and said, ‘You have a mass behind your left ear the size of a golf ball, and we don’t know what it is. We need to do a biopsy,'” Ruffalo reported. As his wife was about to give birth, the actor chose to keep the preliminary test results secret. A week after the birth of the couple’s son, Ruffalo finally revealed to his wife about the tumor, which, fortunately, was benign and could be removed by surgery.
The surgery, however, was not without risks, with a 20% chance of affecting a nerve on the left side of Ruffalo’s face and a 70% chance of hearing loss in his left ear. After the operation, Ruffalo woke up completely deaf in one ear, a condition that still bothers him. The initial facial paralysis resolved one year after surgery. At the time, the actor recalled thinking, “I can take my audition, but let me keep face and be a father to these kids.” Ruffalo and Coigney are parents to three children: Keen (20 years old), Bella (18) and Odette (16). Mark Ruffalo, known for his roles as the Hulk and for starring in “The 30th,” was recently nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work in “Poor Creatures.”