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Whether You KnowMark Ruffalo As the King of Rom Coms, The Hulk in thewonder Movie Franchise, gold as anOscar-posting Dramatic Actor, One Thing's for Sure: THERE'S NO DENYING HIS TALENT OR VERSATILITY. However, In The Year 2000-Just As His Career Was Taking Off-The Actor SUPPORTED AT SETBACK THAT ALLY HAVE THWARTED THE MANY ACHIEVEMENTS THAT LAY AHEAD. WHILE FILMING WHAT WOULDE BECOME A BREAKOUT ROLE IN HIS CAREER, Ruffalo WAS Diagnosed with a rare Form of Brain Tumor, Which He Says Was "The Size of a Golf Ball" When It Was Found. Read on to Learn The Stranger-Than-Fiction Way He Learned of His Condition, and Why He Now Views The Experience AS A Gift.

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Ruffalo First Learned of His Tumor in 2000, While Shooting The FilmYou can count on me. "I Was Working On A Movie When I HadA DREAM THAT I HAD A BRAIN TUMOR, and IT WAS LIKE NO OTHER DREAM THAT I'D EVER HAD. I Had Become Friendly With The Set Doctor on That Movie Who Was on the Board of the Local Hospital, "TheProjector STAR TOLD THEAcoustic Neuroma Association (ANA) In 2013. "I Went to Her That Morning and I Said, 'Listen, I Had A Really Scary Dream Last Night and You're Probably Going to Think I'M Crazy, Purpose I Think IHave a Brain Tumor and I'd Really Like to get it checked out. ' And She Said, 'Youare Crazy, But You Shouldn't Have to Live With That Fear, So I'll Order You An Mri-Or Cat Scan-Tomorrow. '"

Within An Hour of the Test, His Doctor Returned to Share The Results of the Imaging. "She Came In and She Was White As a Sheet, and She Said, 'You Have A Mass Behind Your Left Ear That's The Size Of Golf Ball. We Don't Know What It Is Exactly, and You'll Need An Mri . ' And i thought, 'Yep.' It's Not a Great Time to Say 'I Knew It,' Goal ... "He Said, Trailing Off.

Looking back, Ruffalo is Grateful for and Haunted by The Dream That Saved His Life. "IT Was So Startling-The Print from The Dream Was That It Had To Be Dealt with ImmediaTely," He Said. "Dying Was My Biggest Fear."

RELATED:Wayne Osmond Says This Was His First Sign of a Brain Tumor.

Ruffalo Was Ultimately Diagnosed with Acoustic Neuroma, Non-Cancerous Tumor Which Can Develop in the Main Nerve Between The Inner Ear and Brain. THE ACTOR SAYS THAT WHILE HE EXPERIENDED NO NOTABLE SYMPTOMS AFTERBeing diagnosed, HE WAS ADVISED TO GET SURGERY QUICKLY AS THE TUMOR WAS RESTING ON FACILE NERVE.AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

IT DOES THE ACTOR GREAT ANGISH TO THINK HIS TUMOR COULD COST HIM HIS LIFE OR CAREER. "When These Things Happen, You Sort Of Remember Your Religion To Little Bit," He Told TheAna. "I Was Praying and Bargaining With God ... I Said, 'Please, Do not Take My Face and Do not Take My Life Be Because Without My Face I Can't Really Support My Family, and With My Life Idefinitively Can not support My Family. "INSTEAD, HE ASKED GOD TO TAKE HIS HAD DOCTORS HAD Informed Him WAS ONE POSSIBLE OUTCOME OF THE SUPERY.

While The Actor Says He Did Experience Temporary Paralysis Following HIS Operation, The Symptoms Resolved in the Months That Followed. However, HEdid Permanently Lose HIS Ability to Hear in His Left Ear. "Be Careful What Bargains You Make," Ruffalo Quipped While Speaking To TheAna. "THOSE ARE THE ONES YOU MAY BE STUCK TO."

thePontoon Star Had Other Complications, Too, Beginning with reacting badly to the anesthesia. "When I Woke Up I Was So Sick-and I Was Not Dead, So That Was Good-But I Was So Sick I Almost Wished I Was." He Also Learned That While The Surgery Had Been A Success, IT Had Not Been Without Obstacles. "My Father Told Me That MyHeart Had Stopped briefly on the operating table, "he explained.

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Despite The Harrowing Nature of His Health Scare, Ruffalo Still Manages to Find The Silver Ling. "I See IT AS KIND OF A GIFT In a Weird Way, "The Actor ToldW magazine In 2011. "Your priorities became very clear. My relationship to act has become very clear. At this point, I thought maybe I did not know I thought I thought I would do it, and so have that kind of harm of me for a little while I made myself understand how much I really liked it and busy, "he added.

Looking back, he says now that transforming bad luck from the bad luck and seeing the best thing has become a recurring theme in his life. Describing his tumor As "the best of the worst" in an interview with 2012, he said, "I did not dart, but I learned a lot about myself ... I learned that I could survive."

RELATED: The cancer survivor twice Kathy Bates warns others never do that .