The neurologist smiled at us like we were overreacting. I am Julie Crawshay, and I will never forget the day I pushed for the scan that revealed my husband's glioblastoma — the day everything changed.

Trusting what I knew

Julie Crawshay supporting the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation
Julie Crawshay supporting the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation

Nic had been having headaches. His speech had started slipping in small, strange ways — words that would not come, sentences that trailed off. I pushed for a scan. We were told he was probably fine. He was not fine. The MRI showed a tumour. Stage 4 glioblastoma.

The hours nobody prepares you for

The moment nobody prepares you for is not the diagnosis itself — devastating as it is — but the hours and days that follow, when you are expected to make enormous decisions while your nervous system is in shock. I remember sitting in the car park afterwards, unable to remember how to start the car.

Why I tell this story

I share this because trusting your instincts matters. You are allowed to push for the scan, to ask the question, to say "something is wrong." That instinct is part of why I now advocate for other families through The Neuro Farmacist. If you want to understand where my advocacy grew from, read my full story.

The day everything changed was also, in a strange way, the day my purpose began.