DENVER — Last month we introduced you to Cole Weinman, a man in Denver who grew out his hair during the pandemic to donate to child cancer patients through Wigs For Kids.
We met him in the barber chair for the haircut, which took place just days before his own brain tumor surgery. We followed up with him six weeks after his surgery to check in on his recovery, and we’re thrilled to tell you it’s going very well. So well, in fact, that we caught up with him in the locker room at Big Bear Ice Arena, just minutes before he hit the ice with his beer league hockey team for the first time since his surgery.
“ I mean, I’m here—so that counts for something. I got the clearance to get back to normal today,” Weinman said. “It’s hard to believe that my skull was open six weeks ago, and now I’m about to go play beer league hockey. Pretty good day.”
Weinman was diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma in November 2022, a non-cancerous brain tumor that sits near the vagus and vestibular nerves and can impact functions such as hearing, mood, and balance. He has spent the weeks since his surgery working to rebuild his balance and strength.
“The recovery was a little bit tougher than I imagined,” Weinman said. “I went in with, you know, the can-do attitude. But the first two weeks were just kind of a couple hours with your eyes open and getting really dizzy, then a couple of hours eyes closed, laying down just kind of getting my bearings.”
Now that he has the blessing from his doctors to increase his physical activity, Weinman is excited to start testing his strength and balance on the ice, alongside the teammates who have been his moral support through diagnosis and treatment. While he doesn’t feel “a hundred percent” yet, he said the fact that he is up and walking, and skating—and, getting a few good blocks in as goalie—is a testament to what we all can overcome.
“No matter what happens, it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “I mean, brain tumors are daunting, right? I mean, that almost worst-case scenario for some people, and all things considered—you surround yourself with good folks, and you surround yourself with people that care about you, and you can make your way through pretty much anything.”
