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...

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 be...

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 throug...

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 be...

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...

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 loca...

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 ag...

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 t...

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....

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 s...

In this episode, Molly Fenton shares her experience of living with an optic pathway glioma affecting her pituitary gland, optic nerve and hypothalamus. Although she was diagnosed at 16, Molly’s symptoms began much earlier—impacting her childhood, education, and overall health in ways that weren’t fully understood at the time. Now 23, Molly speaks openly about what it really means to live with a br...

Naomi was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma — also known as a vestibular schwannoma — in April 2016. But she knew something wasn’t right long before that. It started with a strange feeling in her ear, as though it was full of wax. Later came problems with balance and coordination, numbness down one side of her face, and the feeling that something was changing — even if it wasn’t immediately under...

Anya was diagnosed with a large acoustic neuroma after experiencing persistent headaches. At first, it was thought to be stress. She was working across global time zones in a high-pressure consultancy role, balancing life with a young daughter at home. But an MRI revealed something far more serious — a large tumour located close to her brain stem. Everything changed overnight. Shortly after her di...

Lara shares the story of her daughter Amber, who was diagnosed with a Pilocytic Astrocytoma on 11th May 2010 , when she was just eight months old . What began with a strange movement in Amber’s eye quickly became every parent’s worst nightmare. After an MRI, Lara and Amber’s dad were told that something “not very nice” had been found in their baby’s head. From that moment on, life became a cycle o...

Jenny is 54 and lives in Devon. She was diagnosed with an anaplastic astrocytoma (Grade 3) in 2021. Her first symptom seemed small — while having lunch with her parents, the spoon suddenly felt strange in her mouth. She thought she might have had a stroke. When she visited the GP, she was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy and given steroids. But things didn’t improve. Jenny became increasingly exhausted...

Barbara is 30 years old and based in Poland. She was diagnosed with a hemangioblastoma in March 2025 . Just weeks earlier, she had gotten engaged under the northern lights in Norway and returned home excited to plan her wedding. Then the headaches started. At first, they came every morning. They were consistent, but not alarming enough to make Barbara think it was anything serious. She kept living...

Jo had already faced cancer once. After surviving breast cancer a decade earlier, she believed that chapter of her life was closed. But in 2024, after months of headaches, exhaustion, brain fog and anxiety — symptoms she thought were menopause — everything changed. A seizure at work led to an emergency hospital admission and the devastating news: a Grade 4 Astrocytoma, IDH-mutant , deep within her...

Anne Hubbard is 57 and lives with a Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) meningioma . Her first major symptom was hearing loss in her left ear , which led her to seek help — though for years she’d also experienced headaches, brain fog, and fatigue that she assumed were menopause-related . After seeing an audiologist who ruled out issues with her eardrum and cochlear nerve, Anne was referred through her GP...

Sarah was diagnosed with a Occipital Condylar Meningioma in 2021 while pregnant. Her first symptom was flashing lights — like a migraine aura — while driving home. Because she was pregnant, she went to get checked, and a consultant noticed one pupil was larger than the other. A CT scan followed, and that was when Sarah was diagnosed with a brain tumour. At the time, she had just six weeks left of...

Kathy shares her story of being diagnosed with a sphenoid wing meningioma in 2025 — a diagnosis that came after what felt like “just a few headaches” and migraine episodes. Kathy initially went to her doctor for migraine medication. When it didn’t help, she was referred for a CT scan. Six weeks later, she almost didn’t go — worried she was being “attention seeking” for a headache — but her boyfrie...

Laura Earl shares her story of being diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma) in September 2023 , and having it removed in April 2024 . Her symptoms weren’t the “typical” ones people associate with brain tumours. Laura’s main signs were imbalance and dizziness — to the point she was even falling off a static bike — and later a small patch of facial numbness . She went to the denti...

Sally shares her story of being diagnosed with a grade 2 oligodendroglioma after a seizure in September 2024 . After a night out singing karaoke in London, Sally woke the next morning panicked and gasping — and the next thing she remembers is a paramedic telling her she’d had a seizure. In hospital, she was initially assessed for stroke and meningitis before a CT scan showed lesions , followed by...

Jane Wakefield shares why she and her brother Richard founded Cure GBM after their father was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in 2021. Their dad’s symptoms began in early 2021. After being admitted to hospital in March (initially thought to be a TIA), he had a craniotomy about a week later. The surgery initially went well — but he developed an infection. Despite treatment, he returned...

Sophie Reed lives in Jersey, Channel Islands. She was diagnosed with an astrocytoma (grade 3) after an unprovoked seizure at work in her hair salon. It started with a sudden “vacant” feeling — she knew something was happening, but couldn’t speak or explain it. Within a minute, she collapsed onto a client. Paramedics arrived and she was taken to hospital. After hours of waiting and only blood tests...

Jess Kaye was diagnosed in March 2025 with a Rosette-Forming Glioneuronal Tumour (RGNT) — a rare brain tumour with only a few hundred reported cases worldwide. For years, Jess had mild distortion in her right ear. In the last 12 months, it became more noticeable — sound sensitivity, ringing, distortion when her dog barked or someone yelled near her right side. An ENT referral and hearing tests cam...