Beth Abbey might not be out of the woods just yet, but she's got a clear message to send.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
She wants the world to know that brain cancer is not a death sentence.
"When I found out I had it, I sure thought it was," the Corrimal woman said yesterday.
But now the 21-year-old is putting the surgery, stress and fears behind her and looking bravely to a future as a social worker.
"I missed a lot of uni because of all the surgery, but I'm catching up and what I'm really looking forward to is letting people know that brain cancer is not the end of the world."
Ms Abbey had her most recent MRI scan this week and it appears everything is on track.
"Before being diagnosed with the brain tumour I thought a brain cancer diagnosis was a death sentence but after the diagnosis a lot more information was uncovered, which really proves just how little information there is around brain cancer," she said yesterday.
"That lack of information is what needs to be changed."
Ms Abbey was 19, at uni studying social work and just about to set off for World Youth Day in Madrid, when the words "malignant brain tumour" brought her plans to a halt.
"A brain tumour wasn't on my to-do list," she said.
"Around the age of 16 was when I first showed symptoms of something being wrong.
"I fainted into the bathtub, hitting my head, and had to stay in hospital for a minimum of four hours of monitoring, which unveiled nothing because after an hour I began to feel normal again," she said.
"When the fainting became more frequent I was taken in for a routine MRI on the 17th of May 2011 to investigate."
From there her nightmare began - with the first major complex craniotomy to remove her malignant tumour.
"I was in hospital for two months with many unexpected complications along the way."
After asking "why me?" dozens of times and spending weeks after the surgery travelling to Sydney daily for radiotherapy, life slowly started to improve.
"I have dealt with the little bumps of life and am attempting to move on and make a better life for myself."
The September Relay for Life in Wollongong is on her agenda.
"Having a malignant brain tumour myself, I am passionate about the under-publicity of brain cancer and hope that my own participation in the Relay for Life this year as a survivor . . . will help the local community get a better understanding."
Funds boost Sydney treatment research
Years of global underfunding has meant brain cancer is one of the least researched and most lethal types of cancer.
Although just 1600 people are diagnosed with brain cancer in Australia each year, 1200 die from the disease. It is also the No1 cancer killer of people under the age of 39.
To mark Brain Cancer Action Week, the NSW Cancer Council has revealed it has funded $7.4million towards brain cancer research over the past four years, with one current project having the potential to stop brain cancer in its tracks and save lives.
Headed by Dr Megan Chircop at the Children’s Medical Research Institute in Sydney, the research is studying how cells divide and grow in brain cancer tumours.
Her team is developing new anti-cancer treatments aimed at stopping cell division in difficult-to-treat brain tumours. This research has the potential to reduce brain cancer tumours by up to 75per cent and could ultimately outperform existing chemotherapy drugs, with fewer adverse effects.
Although the research is still in its early stages, Dr Chircop hopes these treatments will be in clinical trials in a few years. Toby Dawson from the Cancer Council’s southern regional office said brain cancer had been the forgotten cancer for far too long.
‘‘I am proud that we have taken some serious steps to increase funding and understanding,’’ he said.
