đź“ş Watch the full episode on YouTubeÂ
“Don’t stop until you’re heard. Push for answers. And don’t Google everything.”
In this powerful episode of The Aunty M Brain Tumours Talk Show, Claire Kelly opens up about her diagnosis of a sphenoid wing meningioma. This inoperable brain tumour changed her life forever.
Claire shares the moment her cousin, a paramedic, spotted something unusual above her eye—a swelling that would later reveal a brain tumour. From the delays of diagnosis during COVID lockdowns to undergoing embolization, craniotomies, radiotherapy, and now facing tumour regrowth, Claire’s story is an emotional, raw account of what it means to live with a brain tumour.
She speaks honestly about seizures, the impact on her mental health, and how therapy, nature, her two beloved dogs, and her best friend Suzanne have kept her going. Now, navigating the possibility of clinical trials, Claire continues to fight with honesty, vulnerability, and strength.
Claire Kelly: “It Was Just a Swelling… Until They Found a Meningioma”
When Claire Kelly sat down for tea with her cousin in early 2020, she never imagined that a small swelling above her eye would lead to life-altering news. Diagnosed with a sphenoid wing meningioma during the height of the pandemic, Claire’s life was thrown into a world of appointments, delays, scans, and eventually, brain surgery.
Her tumour—wrapped around her optic nerve—was inoperable in full, and although some was removed, it quickly grew back. Claire has experienced seizures, undergone radiotherapy with extreme anxiety, and now lives with the knowledge that treatment options are limited.
Yet, in the midst of all this, Claire shows us what it means to live. She shares how walking in nature, hugging trees, working out when she can, and talking through trauma in therapy sessions has been her form of healing.
She credits her best friend Suzanne, who moved in during lockdown and has never left her side. Her two dogs have also been her therapy, giving her comfort and reason to get up each day.
Now exploring clinical trials, Claire shares her advice with others:
“Don’t stop until you’re heard. Push for answers. And don’t Google everything.”
This is not a story wrapped in platitudes—this is the truth of brain tumour life. And Claire tells it with grace, grit, and authenticity.
đź“ş Watch the full episode on YouTubeÂ
More Sphenoid Wing Meningioma Stories
Podcast: My Sphenoid Wing Meningioma Removal Left me with Hemiplegia
I was Diagnosed with a Sphenoid Wing Meningioma
