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.