{"id":371039,"date":"2026-07-13T12:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/371039\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T12:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:30:11","slug":"tcu-student-overcomes-brain-surgeries-to-survive-and-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/371039\/","title":{"rendered":"TCU student overcomes brain surgeries to survive and graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TCU<\/p>\n

TCU senior Humberto Rodriguez Lopez hugging Dr. Morcos who preformed three brain surgeries on him.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of UTHealth Houston<\/p>\n

When Humberto Rodriguez Lopez was diagnosed with a rare lesion in his brain at 15, it derailed his tennis game and threatened to steal his plans for TCU and a career in finance. Now, five years and three surgeries later, he reflects on how the experience has changed his outlook on life.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez first noticed his symptoms on the court, experiencing bad headaches, trouble with balance and motor skills. Doctors diagnosed him with a cavernous angioma, a large lesion in his brain stem consisting of two components, one of which had ruptured and was bleeding into his brain.<\/p>\n

He underwent three surgeries and months of rehab from 2021 to 2025. Lopez says the journey taught him to cherish every day and give everything his full effort.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s diagnosis and first surgery<\/p>\n

Lopez was diagnosed in his hometown of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.<\/p>\n

His condition was so rare and specific that he needed a doctor who was an expert in brain surgery. A doctor who attends his church referred him to Dr. Jacques J. Morcos, who was practicing in Miami at the time. Marcos specialized in \u201ccomplex conditions of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cit really sank in whenever I went into Dr. Morco\u2019s office, it wasn\u2019t until that moment that I truly understood that I wasn\u2019t doing great, because he told me that I needed to have a surgery,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Morcos recalled thinking that Lopez was brave when they first met.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m imagining what I would feel if I was 15 or 16 with all of these neurological deficits. He was a very challenging case, and I tried to not make him feel scared or anything, because obviously I recommended surgery to remove this thing,\u201d Morcos said.<\/p>\n

Lopez said the first surgery in 2021 saved his life but also had a big physical impact on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was for sure the scariest one, and it had the most impact in my life.\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI needed physical and occupational therapy, so it was probably around like six or seven months of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Humberto Humberto Rodriguez Lopez recovering from his first surgery in Miami. Courtesy of Lopez\u2019s family. Lopez\u2019s second and third surgeries<\/p>\n

Lopez was focussed on building his life in Fort Worth, hanging out with his fraternity brothers and girlfriend when he recalled getting symptoms again in April 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to hang out with my girlfriend, and I would have this weird headache on top of my eye that wouldn\u2019t go away,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Lopez underwent another brain surgery to remove the second part of his lesion.<\/p>\n

At this time he was focusing on his classes, girlfriend and fraternity. He said needing a second surgery \u201chit hard\u201d because he was exactly where he wanted to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it was good as it gets,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

\"Humberto Humberto Rodriguez Lopez with his friends from TCU. Courtesy of Humberto Rodriguez Lopez. <\/p>\n

So when the symptoms came back he felt hopeless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remembered the first recovery process, and then how long that took, and how hard that was, and I mean that was like the benchmark for me, so I just started to think, like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s probably going to be just as hard, if not harder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At this time Marcos had moved to the Texas Medical Center in Houston where Lopez saw him again.<\/p>\n

An MRI then showed that the second component of the lesion had grown and begun to bleed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a different type of surgery, but it\u2019s also in the brain stem, and I removed that second one, and this time because it wasn\u2019t as bad as the first time when he had come to me, that second recovery was much, much easier,\u201d Marcos said.<\/p>\n

Lopez said the hardest part of this recovery was gaining confidence back in doing everyday things.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike going up the stairs quickly, walking to class, going out with your friends, there\u2019s this feeling like \u2018Oh, I can\u2019t do it anymore.\u2019 Because you\u2019re always thinking like, \u2018Oh, I can\u2019t get hurt, I can\u2019t do this, I can\u2019t do that,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

He knew he didn’t\u2019 want this condition to define him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to be limited by something like this,\u201d Lopez said. \u201dYou don\u2019t get like a halfway recovery. I\u2019m either going to recover and get better, or I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n

He was in Houston recovering for three to four weeks before returning home.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s third and final surgery in November 2025 relieved a buildup of fluid in the brain. He said the procedure put him behind with class finals, but with determination and hard work he recovered and caught up.<\/p>\n

He said he simply wasn\u2019t up for finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe side of my hair shaved, I was wearing a beanie, and I was feeling all scared, because I lost my confidence for everything. I really felt like my chances at a successful future were really, really thin,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

But he knew this wouldn\u2019t stop him forever. He went back to school in the fall and studied hard for his finals and the ones he had missed during recovery. In the end he was able to take them all and pass.<\/p>\n

Lopez said going through this and coming out the other side fully healed made him realize he shouldn\u2019t take anything for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t wake up every day thinking I\u2019ll always have tomorrow. I know how quickly everything can change, so I mean, at the end of the day, I just try to enjoy myself every day, and be happy with myself every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For him that means doing the best he can when any opportunity comes his way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever I do, just have my full effort behind it, no matter what, life has shown me that you can\u2019t be standing in the middle, you\u2019re either in or you\u2019re out,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

Lopez assured us that his story isn\u2019t over yet. This is just the beginning.<\/p>\n

This summer he is interning in New York at a financial service firm and plans to look for a job in that field following his graduation in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s important to know that every great story has its challenges, but the hard bits are really what gives the story its value, like if it was easy, everybody will have a similar story,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Morcos added that it is a beautiful thing to see him recover fully after all these years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis story shows what it means to go through hell, because this is hell, and then come out of it, and go to college, and you know, graduate, and have a girlfriend, and I mean, just, it\u2019s a beautiful thing,\u201d Morcos said.<\/p>\n

Lopez said if he could give young people who are feeling discouraged a word of advice he would tell them that things happen for a reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cBottom line, hard things happen for a reason, and in order to achieve success and be great in your own personal story, you need to overcome adversity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TCU senior Humberto Rodriguez Lopez hugging Dr. Morcos who preformed three brain surgeries on him. Courtesy of UTHealth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-371039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}