A firework of pain combusted below my right eyebrow. It was so sharp it smashed the breath from my lungs and voice from my throat. If it had lasted only one second longer, I would have screamed. My skull was cracking from the inside.

At 19 years old, Alessandra Wike learns she has a genetic abnormality: a tumor made of bone growing in the center of her sinuses. Each time it’s removed, the tumor grows back bigger than before.

In this collection of poetry, prose and polaroids, Alessandra recounts the last six years of her health journey. Storm Cloud Haze culminates with her third surgery, a craniotomy, requiring sinus, eye and brain surgeons to remove the tumor and reconstruct her skull.

As she shares this strange and terrifying journey, Alessandra meditates on how we think about our bodies, our fears and our lives.