From that first CT scan Cass’ life changed very quickly - she walked out of the CT into an unplanned MRI, from the MRI was told to return to the GP’s surgery that afternoon. The following day she saw a neurosurgeon, and the next week, underwent brain surgery.
Cass was diagnosed with an extensive diffuse astrocytoma—a slow-growing form of a brain tumour.
To date, Cass has been through surgery, 28 months of chemotherapy and many MRI’s and PET scans. The diagnosis and related treatments have been challenging, but steadily, the clouds have parted. Cass has learned that while the future is strikingly different to anything previously imagined, there is still a life to be lived, a family to be loved, children to be taught, and a community to be a part of.
When Cass was unable to work, she committed to helping research and patients in any way she could. Her family and friends participated in fundraising events such as the Walk4Cancer; the City2Surf in Sydney and the Point to Pinnacle in Hobart. With the help of a good friend, Katherine, she designed and sold water bottles, coffee cups and t-shirts to raise money to donate to a brain cancer charity. But Cass still felt there was still more she could do. Hoping to contribute to patients dealing with brain cancer in a different way, she enlisted the help of her friend, Ana to help build The Survivorship Diary.
Together Ana and Cass have built the diary to help patients and their families manage the various stages of treatment and to assist the many questions and challenges patients have as they navigate treatment and learn to live with the disease.
In 2022 Cass took on the challenge of The Big Three Trek. A gruelling 150km walk over three days, from Sydney to Newcastle to raise money for MHF. You can watch Cass chat with channel 9's Emma Lawrence right before they both crossed the finishing line below.