OUT OF THE ROUGH: Brea Olinda golfer Mike Hoskins had to have brain surgery over the summer to keep from becoming paralyzed. Today he's back on the Coyote Hills golf course in Fullerton practicing for his team. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER |
Brain surgery, other adversity don't stop Brea golfer
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Hoskins fights through rough times and maintains a positive approach.
They cut a hole in the back of his skull, trimmed his brain and then seared it. The brain does not push on Mike Hoskins' spinal cord anymore.
After several days of vomiting, attached to a morphine drip, Hoskins left the hospital. The surgery, to treat the chiari malformation of his skull, ended the threat of eventual paralysis. Still, it would be a few weeks before he could play again.
"Coming back to golf was … I missed it. I really missed it a lot," he said, more than six months removed from surgery. A senior, he is the No. 5 golfer in Brea Olinda's six-man lineup.
"If you read the Art of Happiness by the Dali Lama – I don't know why I bring this up, I just know a lot of random facts – he says the key to happiness is reaping what you sow," Hoskins said. "And so, if you hit a good drive down the middle, and you are the sole purpose of that good drive and that good effect, there's nothing happier. … 'Ah, I did that!'
"You just get to lose yourself in the game."
PERSPECTIVE FROM PAIN
The trouble always lodged deep inside his head. But so did the singular outlook and the steadfast way he maintained it.
For most of his life, Hoskins' golf game was beset by doubt. His mind struggled to focus on the ball, the club and the hole. Foremost was the worry that "a nuclear bomb was going to explode," he said, and one bad shot would lead to another.
The anxiety entrenched itself everywhere – in school, around girls, even friends. His description: he had perfected the art of making simple things difficult.
Then, shortly before his junior year, he reached out to lift a bucket of golf balls and felt the sensation for the first time. It would visit again, sometimes at monthly intervals, other times daily. Some nights it would keep him up, crying and screaming. He describes it as someone smashing a baseball bat against the back of his skull.
After multiple scans, doctors diagnosed the chiari malformation in November 2006. Hoskins survived until the July surgery with daily doses of Vicodin – which left him feeling loopy – and by clenching his jaw when the throbs overpowered the drugs.
The pain altered his psyche. Reality was terrifying, so he could not afford over-analysis. He needed distance.
"It seemed to ground him," Hoskins' mother, Julia, said. "All the little things that used to worry him didn't seem so important."
As a junior, Hoskins earned the sixth and final spot in the varsity golf lineup, besting three teammates in early-season competition. He began to concentrate on the ball, visualizing its flight path off his club.
He does not post eye-popping scores the way some of his teammates can. But Wildcats coach Ken Lutz refers to the senior with ADHD – called "Hoppy" by teammates – as the team's "Steady Eddie."
"Mike's figured it out," Lutz said. "I totally trust him. He rarely blows up on me."
TAKING CONTROL
About a month after surgery, Hoskins turned 18 and enrolled in an intensive, four-day seminar by the group People Synergistically Involved (PSI). His parents are PSI veterans.
Hoskins described it as a master class in positive thought. The words "You are what you think" are stripped across his cell phone monitor.
His father, Chris, a two-time league golf champion at Servite, is a commercial real estate developer, with boat and RV storage centers in three states. He is building a second winery, has constructed business parks and owns a call center in Costa Rica. Not yet 43, Chris said he hopes to retire in a few years, dedicate himself to his charity, the Hunger Relief Organization, and become the United States' ambassador to Honduras.
"I've tried to really communicate with Michael that, 'Buddy, you are in control of your life,'" Chris said. "'The good news and the bad news is that everything you've created, all the positive results you've created in your life, are your fault. And all the not-so-positive things – guess what? You get to own that also.' "
Mike plans to attend Fullerton College, before moving on to USC and earning a business degree, because, "Truly, in order to make money, good money, over a million dollars, you have to be your own boss," he said
He enjoys learning – "I think it gives me power" – and speaks of a fascination with the idea that our universe will cease to exist, 14 billion light years from now.
During the buildup to brain surgery, Hoskins often kept calm with fast food, pizza and ice cream. Some time after healing, he was on his way to a friend's pool and began to dread the thought of removing his shirt. He declared, "I'm sick and tired of being fat," and subsequently lost 30 pounds, dieting, swimming, running and going to the gym.
He doesn't party, doesn't smoke and doesn't drink.
"It's my life, and I want to be successful," he said. "Life's hard enough. I don't want to make it any harder."
Where does such a teenager fit?
"He honestly has dealt with that by living at the golf course for years," Julia said.
BACK IN THE SWING
Roughly a month after surgery, Hoskins picked up his clubs and began practicing five days a week. Awkward swings could make the scar sizzle. But after so many days off, he needed to work. He had to recover his swing and reclaim his spot on the varsity team.
Another month passed, and he attempted his first post-surgery round. He shot a 78, affirming that nothing had been lost.
"Once you go, 'Golfing's not that hard,' it's not," Hoskins said. "It really isn't.
"It's easy to say that for me, but … it isn't that hard."
Contact the writer: jkay@ocregister.com
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