'It is what it is': Horsham woman rebuilds her life after devastating diagnosis

And thirty-year-old Chloe Bain is determined to show it is possible to stay positive and enjoy life even after a devastating diagnosis.

"You have to make the most of every day,” said Chloe, who first became ill during the pandemic. “I started getting extreme fatigue and falling asleep all the time – my parents just thought I was bored of their company during lockdown. I then got double vision and headaches.

"I had been referred by my GP for a scan which seemed to be taking a while to come through. I ended up going straight to A&E where I had a scan and it was confirmed to be a brain tumour.”

Chloe was diagnosed in September 2020 with a tumour that could not be removed without doing damage. Instead specialists hit it with 33 rounds of radiotherapy and 12 months of chemotherapy. They made sure it was stable – and sent her off to live her life.

Now she is volunteering as a charity ambassador for The Brian Tumour Charity and has launched a dedicated Instagram account @positivity_pants to share her story and help support those facing similar news and tough treatment.

Chloe says: “Of course learning to live with any nasty diagnosis is challenging but I have found you just have to stay positive and make the most of every day. The treatment was tough and put me in a wheelchair for a while.

"I gained a lot of weight from the steroids and was permanently exhausted, but even at the worst of times my family and friends helped me make every day a party.”

She has now returned part-time to her job as an international events organiser and is planning a series of fundraising activities to help accelerate a cure for brain tumours, with her two sisters Sophie and Ellie and her friends.

Chloe says: “One of the reasons brain tumours seem so scary is because there is little real awareness or understanding about them. Some are also very aggressive with a poor prognosis but what I have learnt through my experience is that every tumour is different and every person reacts differently to treatment.

"Nothing is certain and you have to learn to live with that uncertainty but also you have to focus on your own situation not everyone else’s. As my family and I like to say, ‘It is what it is’.

"You just have to get on with it and make the best of every day – even the bad days. You can still have fun, laugh, and hang out with lovely friends.

“For me, it was being with my friends and family that really helped me to feel normal again, and to believe that I can have a great life after treatment. I am really excited to be going back to work, planning holidays, and resuming my social life.

“The best thing about a challenging diagnosis it how it makes you value every day – even if it is a day lazing around on the sofa, eating tea and toast.”

Chloe is to take part in The Brain Tumour Charity’s Twilight Walk https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chloebain on March 25 through which she hopes to raise £4,000.

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Throughout March the charity is working to raise awareness of the early warning signs of a brain tumour and has launched an online symptoms checker at headsmart.org.uk to help.