Aunty M Brain Tumours Talk Show

This is the final episode of Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

After 30 days of real people sharing their lived experience of brain tumours, this final conversation asks an urgent question:

How do we diagnose brain tumours earlier?

In this special closing episode, Claire speaks with Dr Victoria McBride, a GP who has become a passionate advocate for brain tumour awareness after her own family’s experience.

In 2021, Dr McBride’s nephew Scott was diagnosed with a glioblastoma after repeatedly attending his GP with symptoms that were not recognised as warning signs. By the time he was admitted to hospital, he was critically unwell.

This conversation explores:
• Why brain tumour symptoms are so often missed
• The danger of repeated reassurance without proper follow-up
• How “headache plus” symptoms can be a warning sign
• Why evolving neurological symptoms must not be ignored
• The importance of pattern recognition in primary care
• The barriers GPs face, including time pressure and lack of continuity
• Why earlier diagnosis may not always change prognosis — but can change outcomes
• How earlier detection can reduce disability, trauma and crisis admissions
• The new toolkit is being developed with The Brain Tumour Charity and the Royal College of GPs to support earlier diagnosis

This episode is deeply personal, but it is also practical, hopeful and forward-looking.

It brings together everything this month has shown us:
the missed signs, the delayed diagnoses, the lives changed forever — and the urgent need for better awareness.

After 31 stories, one truth is clear:

People know when something is wrong.
Patients need to be heard.
And earlier diagnosis matters.

Thank you for listening, sharing, and helping amplify these stories throughout Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses delayed diagnosis, glioblastoma, medical trauma, and the impact of missed brain tumour symptoms.

Jaime was diagnosed with an IDH-mutant astrocytoma — but not in the way anyone would expect.

After surviving a traumatic brain injury years earlier, Jaime went through scans and rehabilitation to relearn how to walk, talk and function again. It was only much later, after noticing worsening tremors following the birth of her third baby, that more tests revealed something nobody had ever told her before:

There had been a small mass on her brain all along.

In this honest and uplifting interview, Jaime shares:
• Finding out about her brain tumour completely by accident
• The shock of learning something had been seen on earlier scans
• Living through watch and wait
• Why she pushed for second and third opinions
• Choosing laser ablation surgery
• Being diagnosed with a grade 2 astrocytoma
• Starting Vorasidenib for her IDH-mutant tumour
• Seeing her tumour begin to shrink
• Living with uncertainty while raising three children
• Staying present and finding joy in everyday life Jaime speaks powerfully about advocacy, openness, and making the most of life even when the future feels uncertain.

Her message is clear:

Stand up for yourself. Ask questions. Stay present. Book the trip. Get the tattoo.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses brain tumour diagnosis, prior traumatic brain injury, surgery, scan monitoring, and long-term uncertainty.

Elisabeth was 35 when a sharp pain in her head woke her in the night.

What followed was a terrifying chain of events: repeated trips to hospital, being told it was unlikely to be serious, worsening headaches, vomiting, collapse in A&E, and eventually an MRI that revealed a mass on her brain.

She was alone when she was told.

It later emerged that for eight days, Elisabeth had been living through a brain haemorrhage.

In this powerful and deeply honest interview, Elisabeth shares her journey with glioblastoma — from diagnosis during COVID, to multiple craniotomies, paralysis down her left side, learning to walk again, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, recurrence, and the reality of living far beyond what many people expect from this diagnosis.

Elisabeth speaks openly about:
• Being diagnosed alone during the pandemic
• Her mum fighting to get her transferred to specialist care
• The failed biopsy that led to life-saving surgery
• Learning to walk again after being left paralysed on one side
• Multiple surgeries, radiotherapy and chemotherapy
• The exhaustion of treatment while raising two young children
• Finding humour in the darkest moments — including “Cancer Carpool Karaoke”
• Why she calls the things she looks forward to her “glimmers”
• Support from St Christopher’s Hospice and why hospice care needs reframing
• Fundraising through music and bringing people together
• Choosing to live fully, even in the face of uncertainty

Elisabeth’s story is raw, funny, heartbreaking and full of fight.

Her message is clear:
Speak up. Ask questions. Keep going. Where there’s life, there’s hope.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses glioblastoma, brain haemorrhage, repeated surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, disability, hospice care, and living with a life-limiting diagnosis.

Austen was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2) in February 2025.

After years of worsening balance and hearing issues, he was repeatedly told nothing was wrong — until an MRI revealed multiple tumours.

At first, he was told there were four.

Then eight.

Then seven in his spine.

A total of 15 tumours.

In this honest and down-to-earth interview, Austen shares:
• Being dismissed for years before finally getting answers
• The shock of being diagnosed with a rare genetic condition
• Finding out the full extent of his tumours in an unexpected moment
• Living with hearing loss and balance issues
• Starting lifelong treatment with Avastin
• Making the decision not to have high-risk surgery
• The uncertainty of symptoms — not knowing what is tumour-related
• Fatigue and the reality of daily life with NF2
• Leaving work to prioritise his health
• The mental challenge of not knowing what the future holds

Austen speaks openly about how isolating rare conditions can feel — and why connecting with others who truly understand makes such a difference.

He also shares how something as simple as getting a dog completely changed his life, giving him purpose, routine, and a reason to keep going.

His message is simple:

You can’t let it run your life. Just take it day by day.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses brain tumour diagnosis, chronic illness, lifelong treatment, hearing loss, fatigue, and mental health challenges.

In 2022, Israh was diagnosed with a petroclival meningioma.

But this episode is not only about diagnosis or surgery.

It’s about what comes after.

It’s about the “middle place” so many people in the brain tumour community know well — the place after treatment, where life continues, but uncertainty never fully leaves.

In this thoughtful and deeply honest conversation, Israh speaks about living with the unknown:
• the fear that does not fade with time
• scanxiety and the dread of the next MRI
• the uncertainty of planning ahead
• the fear of needing another, more dangerous operation
• living in a body changed by fatigue
• grieving the person she used to be
• learning to rest, set boundaries, and say no without guilt
• discovering that strength is not always pushing through

Israh shares how her life has changed since surgery. Once constantly busy, energetic and always on the go, she is now learning to live in a different way — with more compassion for herself, more awareness of her limits, and a deeper understanding of what it means to keep going even when fear is present.

Her message is powerful:

You do not need to be fully recovered to live a meaningful life.

Alongside living with this uncertainty, Israh has also spent the month fundraising and showing her support for brain tumour charities, including The Brain Tumour Charity and Brain Tumour Research — raising money, raising awareness, and showing others that even in the unknown, purpose is still possible.

This episode is for anyone living with uncertainty in their health, anyone struggling with scanxiety, fatigue, or fear of the future, and anyone who needs the reminder that it is still possible to keep showing up.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses brain tumour diagnosis, surgery, scanxiety, fear of recurrence, fatigue, and the emotional impact of living with long-term uncertainty.

Shahleen Hussain was diagnosed with a low-grade brain tumour in 2014, when she was just 14 years old.

It began with passing out in school, nosebleeds, and double vision.

What followed was years of hospital appointments, scans, uncertainty, steroid treatment, seizures, and the life-changing reality of living with both a brain tumour and epilepsy from a young age.

Because of where the tumour is located, it is inoperable. Shahleen has lived for years with six-monthly MRI and CT scans, ongoing symptoms, and the fear that one day doctors may tell her it has started growing again.

In this incredibly honest interview, Shahleen shares:
• Being diagnosed as a child
• Her parents being told she had only six months to live
• Missing school and watching her whole family be affected
• Bullying after steroid-related weight gain
• Hair loss, weak teeth, and long-term side effects
• Living with epilepsy caused by the tumour
• The fear and trauma of repeated hospital stays
• The financial strain on her family
• The silence and stigma in parts of her community
• Being told not to talk about illness because it brings “shame”
• Why she is now speaking up publicly for others

Shahleen’s story is not only about survival.

It is about breaking stigma.
It is about challenging harmful beliefs.
It is about making sure no one feels ashamed of a medical condition.

Now 23, Shahleen is using her voice to raise awareness for brain tumours, epilepsy, and the cultural barriers that stop some people from seeking help.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses childhood brain tumour diagnosis, seizures, epilepsy, bullying, medical trauma, and cultural stigma around illness.

Claire was diagnosed with a sphenoid wing meningioma in 2020.

At first, it was a grade 1 tumour. Surgery followed quickly, but doctors could only remove part of it because it was wrapped around her optic nerve.

What followed was years of scans, seizures, repeated regrowth, more surgery, radiotherapy, anxiety between appointments, and the devastating reality of a tumour that became increasingly aggressive.

In this raw and deeply moving interview, Claire shares:
• Her first craniotomy in 2020
• Why surgeons had to leave part of the tumour behind
• Seizures, losing her driving licence, and losing independence
• A second craniotomy and six weeks of radiotherapy
• A third craniotomy when the tumour returned again
• Being told the tumour had “grown back like a train”
• Losing sight in one eye and coming to terms with losing the eye itself
• Undergoing surgery through the eye socket
• Being placed on palliative and end-of-life care
• Hearing a 12-month prognosis — and still being here a year later
• Finding strength through positivity, humour, grounding, and refusing to give up

Claire speaks with extraordinary honesty about what it means to keep going through repeated trauma, life-changing treatment, and a future that once felt impossible to imagine.

And yet through it all, her message is clear:

Do not give up.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this story resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

Christy was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2021, during the middle of the pandemic.

It was discovered almost by accident.

After struggling with body tingling, stress, and the pressure of being a mum and business owner during an incredibly difficult time, she was sent for an MRI as a final step after everything else came back clear.

That scan revealed a meningioma.

Christy found out by reading the results herself online while sitting in her driveway.

The words “mass” and “meningioma” changed everything.

At first, she was reassured that this was something slow-growing, something she might live with for years. She even named the tumour “Ruby” and tried to make peace with it. But follow-up scans showed it was growing faster than expected — and suddenly, doing nothing no longer felt like a safe option.

In this powerful and deeply honest interview, Christy shares:
• Finding out she had a brain tumour through her online medical chart
• The emotional shock of diagnosis
• Watching a “best case scenario” change
• Choosing a craniotomy after multiple opinions
• Telling her children
• The fear before surgery and the relief of waking up afterwards
• The reality of going home just two days after brain surgery
• The medication side effects nobody warned her about
• Struggling to read, think clearly, and feel like herself
• Learning to accept help and be cared for
• Creating her Instagram page, Life With Christy K, to document the emotional side of recovery

Christy’s story is not just about the tumour.

It’s about what happens after.
The invisible recovery.
The emotional fallout.
The loneliness.
And the love that carries you through it.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses brain tumour diagnosis, craniotomy, medication side effects, emotional recovery, and mental health challenges after surgery.

Chelsea was just 19 when she was diagnosed with a pilocytic astrocytoma.

It started with headaches.

At first, she thought it was exams. Then stress. Then dehydration. Then hormones — as she was told repeatedly.

She went to the doctor multiple times.

But nothing changed.

Her symptoms worsened. The headaches became unbearable. She couldn’t walk in a straight line. She struggled to hold her head up. Still, she was dismissed.

Until her mum stepped in.

Chelsea was rushed to A&E, where a scan revealed a satsuma-sized brain tumour.

Within 24 hours, she was in surgery.

In this honest and emotional interview, Chelsea shares:
• Being repeatedly dismissed by doctors
• The symptoms that were missed
• Emergency brain surgery at 19
• Waking up in ICU
• Learning to walk again
• Losing independence during recovery
• The emotional impact of isolation and depression
• Finding support through The Brain Tumour Charity
• Becoming a young ambassador to raise awareness

Chelsea’s story highlights the importance of listening — both to your body and to patients.

Her experience is a powerful reminder that sometimes, people know when something isn’t right.

This episode is part of a 31-day series sharing real brain tumour stories for Brain Tumour Awareness Month 2026.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it. Every story helps raise awareness.

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses brain tumour diagnosis, surgery, recovery challenges and mental health impact.

At 16, Jake was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma — a diagnosis that forced him into survival mode while others his age were just beginning to explore life.

In this episode, Jake shares his deeply personal journey:

• From early misdiagnosis to life-changing discovery

• Undergoing intensive treatment and defying expectations

• Living with ongoing neurological and physical challenges

More than a story of survival, this is a conversation about adaptation, mindset, and rebuilding identity.

Jake also explores how he uses:

• Writing as therapy

• Music as rehabilitation

• Daily wellness practices to manage long-term effects

His book, Keep Moving But Lay Still, reflects his experience with honesty, humour, and raw insight.

This episode highlights an important truth:
Survival is not the end of the story — it’s the beginning of a new way of living.

🎗️ Part of our Brain Tumour Awareness Month series