Walking for brain cancer

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Nicole Ghazag says Walk4BrainCancer is a chance for people to show their support and donate to help find a cure. Photo: Kerrie Brewer.

Nicole Ghazag knew something was wrong when she sat down at her computer.

“I’d be sitting at my computer and all of a sudden I couldn’t type an email,” she says. “I hadn’t been my usual self.”

Nicole was diagnosed with stage 3 anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer.

“Your whole world just crumbles,” she says. “You’ve got the rollercoaster of every single emotion.”

Nicole, the mother of two young sons, underwent surgery in November last year, and 90% of the 4.5-5cm tumour was removed.

“The rest has been blasted by radiation and I’m on chemo currently.”

Nicole, along with her husband and sons, has relocated to Canberra from their farm in Murrumbateman, to be closer to health services.

She says a prognosis of three to five years is simply “not good enough”.

“I want to be there to see my boys get married.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you … and it happened to me.”

Nicole is working hard to encourage people to sign up for and donate to the Walk4BrainCancer, to be held on Sunday 25 November.

“It’s a way for people who feel like being involved to make a difference and have fun at the same time while raising money,” she says.

The walk raises funds for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, an organisation working for brain cancer research, advocacy and awareness in Australia. The foundation has a time critical mission; to increase five-year survival from the current 20% to 50% by 2023.

Nicole says the generosity of the community has been amazing, particularly her friends, family and her and her husband’s employers.

“I want to thank everyone that’s donated to me so far.

“I would just like heaps of people to be able to help … If it happened to someone we know, we’d try to do all we could for that person.

“The brain is the most important part of the body,” she says.

The Cure Brain Cancer Foundation’s Walk4BrainCancer will be held on Sunday 25 November at Stromlo Forest Park from 8.30am. For more information, to register or to donate, visit walk4braincancer.com.au

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