My name is Julie Crawshay, and I never planned to become a brain cancer advocate. Like most people, I learned the language of glioblastoma the hard way — when my husband Nic was diagnosed with GBM, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Overnight, my world reorganised itself around scans, appointments and a vocabulary I had never wanted to learn.

The moment everything changed

Before the diagnosis, I was a Sydney-based client services professional with more than twenty years of experience in operations and relationship management. I was used to solving problems, finding answers, and staying organised under pressure. None of that prepared me emotionally for a GBM diagnosis — but it did give me a particular set of skills I would lean on heavily in the months that followed.

Turning skills into advocacy

When you cannot control the diagnosis, you look for what you can control. For me, that was information. I researched obsessively, organised everything, and slowly built an understanding of glioblastoma that helped me sit in rooms with specialists and ask better questions. That work eventually became The Neuro Farmacist — an evidence-based resource I created so other families would not have to start from nothing.

Why I keep going

Advocacy, for me, is not abstract. It is the families messaging me at 2am because they cannot find a clear answer. It is the caregivers who feel invisible. It is the belief that good, accessible information is a form of care. You can follow my work on Instagram, and read more about why I created The Neuro Farmacist.

This is my story, but it is really our story — every GBM family's story. And if sharing mine helps even one person feel less alone, then it is worth telling.