A Fraserburgh mum of two is putting her best foot forward to raise funds for charity after being diagnosed with a recurring brain tumour following a holiday of a lifetime.
Arlene Lawrence was 19 when she was first diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Stepping off the plane after visiting Las Vegas, she experienced excruciating headaches and pins and needles down her left side.
Floored by the conditions, she visited her GP numerous times without the condition being picked up.
Finding that her vision would go blurry at a moments notice, she visited Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the opticians for years before it was diagnosed correctly.
Ahead of her diagnosis, the now 30-year-old got up to leave on one visit to the GP and fell to the floor, experiencing her first seizure.
She was booked for an appointment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary the following day, where she had an MRI scan.
This scan found that she had a large 8cm tumour on her right frontal lobe.
It was so large that it was pushing her brain to the other side of her head.
After receiving help and advice from The Brain Tumour Charity, she is now taking on the organisation’s flagship challenge for a second time.
The Twilight walk
Brain tumours are the number one cancer killer among people under 40.
Raising funds through this sponsored walk, the mother of two hopes to give other people with the condition the helping hand they need.
With the help of family and friends, she will be walking 94 miles over October.
She said: “I am supporting The Brain Tumour Charity because their aim to find a cure, the fundraising that they do, and the information which they provide is great for people who have been diagnosed as well as their loved ones.
“None of us had really heard about brain tumours before my diagnosis so my mum did lots of research on the charity’s website so she knew everything we would need to know.
“Outside of my close family and friends, I haven’t told many people about my recurrence but I know how important it is to raise awareness that brain tumours can happen to anyone of any age.
“So, by taking part in The Twilight Walk again, I hope to raise as much as I can for an incredible charity so they can continue to help people like me.”
‘I used to have nightmares where I had to tell my loved ones that I was dying’
Surgery a week after diagnosis successfully removed 99% of the tumour.
While she felt much better, her problems with blurred vision persisted.
After one follow-up scan showed that her condition was stable, she wasn’t contacted for another follow-up.
She said: “I did know that something was very wrong, especially when my symptoms got so severe.
“I used to have nightmares where I had to tell my loved ones that I was dying.
“But, then I took some level of comfort in how I thought that there couldn’t be anything wrong with me after so many years of appointments and GP visits.
“I always felt like I was being ignored over all of those years when I went back and forth to the doctor because I was fit and young. My type of brain tumour is more common in older people but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect younger people, like me, too.”
Tumour had returned
In the years which followed, Arlene got a job as a support worker, married Iain and fell pregnant with their first child, Aspen, who was born in November 2017.
After discussing her medical history during the pregnancy she was scheduled for another scan, which confirmed her tumour had returned.
Now on a ‘watch and wait’ treatment programme, the Fraserburgh resident is taking on this walk to help fund research for a cure.