Farren Buckley felt she was living her best life, full of energy and plans, until a shattering medical diagnosis turned her world completely upside down. The 24-year-old had recently returned to her home in Brisbane, Australia, after 13 exhilarating months living in London, eager to restart her life down under with fresh excitement.
Yet, this promising new chapter was brutally interrupted when the self-described 'fit and healthy' marathon runner received a devastating stage three brain cancer diagnosis. 'I don't think anyone can explain this feeling until you experience it. Being handed what felt like a death sentence at 24 is just indescribable,' Farren told Daily Mail.
The Subtle Signs That Were Overlooked
Looking back, the signs had been present for nearly two years before her diagnosis. Farren experienced intermittent headaches, migraines, fatigue, and pins and needles in her left arm. At the time, she dismissed them as mild issues that only flared up every few months.
The most peculiar symptom was her left arm involuntarily flinging into the air. 'I could always bring my arm down, but for five minutes afterwards, I would have the weirdest sensation in that arm, like it didn't feel like it belonged to me,' she explained. She also had occasional headaches and some double vision but didn't believe it was serious.
As a precaution before her move to the UK, she consulted a GP who advised her to monitor the symptoms and enjoy her life in London, suggesting nothing extremely pressing was the cause. Taking this advice, she spent over a year abroad, where the arm incident happened only a few more times. She was travelling, working, and running, seemingly in perfect health.
A Sudden and Terrifying Turn
After returning to Australia in January 2024, Farren's life felt perfect again. However, just one week after running a half-marathon, everything changed. On April 18, 2024, she woke at 2.30am with the now-familiar strange arm sensation, but this time it didn't stop.
Later that morning at work, she struggled to type and began experiencing stroke-like sensations on her left side. She went to the Emergency Room but felt her concerns were not taken seriously. Classified as a low-priority 'category five' patient, she waited nine hours with twitching and a severe headache.
'I believe they saw me as a young female and thought there's no way anything serious could be wrong,' Farren said. After a blood test, she was nearly sent home, but a resident doctor advocated for a neurology consultation. Despite failing neurological tests, she was discharged with an MRI referral, told she might be seen within six months.
Tragically, the next night, she suffered a five-minute seizure in front of her sister. 'If they had given me an MRI, I could have prevented the seizure and trauma that my sister carries from witnessing it,' Farren stated.
The Long Road of Treatment and Recovery
A subsequent CT scan revealed a tumour the size of a squashed lime in her brain. She immediately underwent an eight-hour craniotomy. Just two weeks post-surgery, she received the official diagnosis: stage three brain cancer.
Her treatment has been gruelling, involving 12 rounds of chemotherapy and 33 rounds of radiation. She has faced immense challenges beyond the illness itself, including losing her job and her hair, being unable to exercise for eight months, and profound changes in her social life and sense of self.
'The hardest part funnily enough wasn't even the cancer. It was... watching everyone move on with their lives while you feel so incredibly stuck and behind for your age,' she shared.
There is hope, however. She has received three consecutive MRIs showing the tumour is shrinking. Yet, she knows her battle is lifelong, requiring scans every three to six months indefinitely.
Farren now finds strength in sharing her journey on social media, particularly TikTok, connecting with other young people facing similar fights. She urges others to trust their instincts: 'You know your body better than anyone else.' Her key advice is to look out for one-sided muscle weakness, vision issues, and ongoing headaches, and to push for answers if you feel dismissed.
Reflecting on her experience, her main regret is not advocating more forcefully for herself when her symptoms were first minimised. Her story is a powerful reminder of the importance of persistence in healthcare, especially for young adults, in the face of a disease that affects around 2,000 Australians each year.
