Since then she has documented her story, supported a host of brain tumour charities and recently joined so many others at our March Twilight Walk in London. She has become a source of inspiration through her podcasts, media work and her audio show. This May, Claire launches her new audiobook, A Brain Tumour’s Travel Tale.
Claire said: “Creating the audiobook felt incredibly important to me because so many people recovering from brain tumours struggle with reading due to fatigue, cognitive overload, visual difficulties, or concentration problems.
“It explores diagnosis, emergency brain surgery, invisible disability, identity loss, relationships, neurological fatigue, recovery, grief, humour, and finding purpose after trauma. While the subject matter is serious, the book is filled with warmth, self-awareness, and comedy because sometimes humour is the only thing that gets you through.
Humour runs throughout the book, for Claire this was key to the heart of her writing. “Humour became a survival tool for me. When you live through something frightening and life-changing, people often expect your story to be either tragic or inspirational. Real life is rarely that neat.
“Recovery was messy, awkward, embarrassing, surreal, heartbreaking — and sometimes genuinely funny. Humour gave me a way to process difficult experiences without losing myself completely. I wanted the book to feel honest rather than polished.“
An extract from A Brain Tumour’s Travel Tale
“You look great — you can put it all behind you now and move on with your life.”
And I’d smile politely, thinking: ‘If only you knew I cried because I tripped over a toddler and their mum looked like she wanted to report me to social services.
It’s not that I wasn’t grateful to be alive. Of course I was. But surviving isn’t the same as living. And I was scared.
Scared that the world had moved on while I was still figuring out how to stand up without swaying like a drunk flamingo. Scared that everything — conversations, lights, crowds — felt too fast, too loud, too bright. Scared that I’d become that person — the walking medical file. The “inspiration” no one quite knows what to say to. Scared that the sharp, funny, sings-in-the-shower version of me had been quietly replaced with a glitched-out backup.
And if I’m honest, I was terrified I’d lost me, and no one had noticed I was missing.
Recovery isn’t a return to who you were — it’s a reinvention of who you are. Same name, same face — but a whole new map inside your head.
A hope for the book
Claire says that the ultimate aim of the book is to offer an understanding of living with brain tumour diagnosis: “I hope the audiobook helps people feel less alone in the strange reality of life after a brain tumour. Survival is only part of the story — rebuilding your identity afterwards can be incredibly difficult, isolating, and invisible to others.”
“One of the reasons creating the audiobook mattered so much to me is because recovery can make reading difficult for many people living with neurological conditions. I wanted the story to feel accessible, comforting, honest, and human.
“I hope the book raises awareness that brain tumour recovery doesn’t simply end after surgery. Many survivors continue living with fatigue, cognitive changes, invisible disability, anxiety, grief, and the challenge of rebuilding confidence and identity. If it gives even one person permission to laugh, cry, feel understood, or ask for support, then sharing my story has been worth it.”
A Brain Tumour’s Travel Tale: Cards on the Table, I Pooed Myself is available on audible.
Follow Claire:
- Insta: @BrainTumorAunty
- YouTube: Aunty M Brain Tumours Talk Show
- Website: auntymbraintumours.com
More books about brain tumours
If you’re keen read more about other people’s experiences with brain tumours, check out these books.