When Anna Lowvey first noticed a strange black circle in her vision she didn’t think much of it – after all a specialist optometrist told her it was ‘fluid’ that would heal on its own.
Anna was the happiest she had ever been at the time. She was mum to a bubbly toddler, engaged to her partner, saving for a home, and pregnant with her second child.
But three months later on 24 October 2024, she woke up with numbness down the left side of her body, fearing she was having a stroke.
At just 30 years old, the recruitment consultant from the Central Coast would soon receive devastating news – a diagnosis of grade 3 astrocytoma, a 6cm brain tumour that doctors repeatedly failed to detect.
‘They could have picked it up when I went to the optometrist or my GP for headaches but no one told me to get any scans,’ she told FEMAIL.
‘Looking back now and speaking with my oncologist he said it could have been related. I had issues with my vision because the tumour was pressing into my eye.’
Anna’s symptoms – visual disturbances, headaches – were dismissed. Even when she went to the hospital after a seizure, four different doctors assured her she was fine.
‘They were literally about to put it down as a migraine. I was ready to go home,’ she said.
When Anna Lowvey first noticed a strange black circle in her vision, she didn’t think much of it – and a specialist optometrist assured her it would heal on its own
But one doctor – who she credits with saving her life – insisted on an MRI.
‘When they told me I had a brain tumour, I was in complete shock. I hadn’t even thought about brain cancer before. The doctors and nurses were all stunned – they kept saying I looked so healthy,’ she said.
‘I almost went home before that because my numbness episode only lasted 20 minutes. If my mother-in-law hadn’t taken me to the hospital, I would have gone back to work and kept living my life.’
Anna was rushed from Gosford Hospital to Royal North Shore, where neurosurgeons were confident they could remove the tumour.
‘Before surgery, they said they thought it would be low grade, because I was so fit. But it came back high grade. I was diagnosed with grade 3 brain cancer.’
The news shattered her world: ‘I didn’t know if it was terminal. I was literally numb.’
A week after her seizure, on October 31, 2024, Anna underwent emergency brain surgery where doctors were able to remove 95 per cent of the tumour, and described the recovery as ‘brutal’.
‘I had to learn to walk again. I had physiotherapists helping me up the stairs. I had no energy at all. I was in a wheelchair for three days,’ she said.
At just 30 years old, the young mum from the Central Coast would soon receive devastating news – she was diagnosed with a grade 3 astrocytoma
For weeks, she battled excruciating pain – and emotionally, the toll was just as severe.
‘It felt like someone was sitting on my head, crushing it. I’d never experienced that much pain before. And I woke up feeling so scared.
‘It was frustrating because I was quite slow for a few days after. I kept thinking – is this my life forever? Will I have to live in a hospital? When you’re in the hospital for that long, you start to go a bit mental.
‘I still don’t think I’ve fully processed it. Some days, I’m okay. Other days, I can’t believe this is happening to me.’
Anna’s greatest fear is not being there for her two-year-old daughter, Arabella.
‘She needs me so badly. It’s unknown at the moment, what’s going to happen. There’s no way you can raise a child and go through cancer alone, so I’m very grateful for my family and friends.’
Her partner Jake has stepped up to help, taking time off work to care for her and their daughter.
‘I needed radiation to shrink what was left of the rumour. I can’t drive, so Jake takes me to all my appointments. He’s been so supportive. My mother-in-law and my sister have been incredible, too.’
Anna was the happiest she had ever been at the time: she had a bubbly toddler, had just gotten engaged, was saving for a home, and just discovered she was pregnant with her second child
Before her diagnosis, Anna and her fiancé were planning their wedding, buying a house, and preparing to welcome their second child.
‘Our whole lives changed the morning I had that seizure,’ she said.
‘We held on to the hope that it was low grade. If it was, we could have kept the pregnancy. But once they told me it was grade 3 and I needed intense radiation and chemo, we had to make that decision.’
The choice was devastating.
‘Every week, I was getting more pregnant. Nothing happened quickly in the hospital. I had the surgery while I was pregnant, and then later, we knew we couldn’t keep the baby anymore.
‘It was a medical decision. It was me over the baby. There was no other choice,’ she recalled.
Since her surgery, Anna has endured 33 rounds of radiation and is now undergoing chemotherapy.
‘I underestimated how hard it would be,’ she admitted.
‘Radiation was five days a week. It was like a full-time job. I’m now on oral chemo for at least six months, but maybe 12 depending on how my body reacts to it.’
Since her surgery, Anna has endured 33 rounds of radiation and is now undergoing oral chemotherapy
Even now, doctors can’t say how long the cancer had been growing before Anna was diagnosed.
‘The type of tumour I have is slow-growing. Some people trace it back eight years. But because my brain adapted so well, I didn’t have obvious symptoms,’ she explained.
Anna is determined to make the most of every moment with her daughter.
‘You’ve got to live every day like it’s your last,’ she said.
‘Before cancer, I never thought something like this could happen to me. I was just a normal, healthy 30-year-old. I went to Pilates and and exercised and went out to a bar with my friends.
‘I’m not in my usual routine at all now. It’s changed. People tell you all the time that you don’t know what’s around the corner – and it’s so scary.’
Now, she’s prioritising what truly matters – but the fear lingers.
‘I want to be present for my daughter. If I don’t feel like doing something, I won’t. Work isn’t my priority anymore – she is.
‘After my diagnosis, I feel like my whole life is on hold. Everything was looking up for me, and now there’s so much uncertainty.
‘We have had a bit of hope. My tumour is slow growing, which means it reacts better to treatment. There are little things like that we are holding on to.
‘I just want to be here for Arabella’s whole life. And now, I don’t know if I will be.’
A week after her seizure, on October 31, 2024, Anna underwent emergency brain surgery where doctors were able to remove 95 per cent of the tumour
What are symptoms of a brain tumour?
A brain tumour is a lump of abnormal cells growing in your brain, which controls all the parts of your body and its functions and produces your thoughts.
Depending on where it is, a tumour in your brain can affect these functions.
Common symptoms include:
headaches are often the first symptom
seizures
problems with balance and coordination
weakness on one side or part of the body
nausea and vomiting
confusion, drowsiness and fatigue
dizziness or loss of consciousness
changes to your vision, hearing, speech
Source: Healthdirect Australia
