26/02/2026
In 2024, I underwent head radiotherapy following a second brain tumour surgery. Today, I’m grateful to be here — healing, growing, and living.
But survivorship has its own journey.
Recently, I’ve experienced a swollen eye — one of the late reactions that can happen even a year after radiotherapy. Sometimes when people look at me, I can see the question in their eyes… or I hear it directly:
“Did something hit your eye?”
No 😄 — this is not from an injury.
It’s a reminder of the treatment my body went through to save my life.
Radiotherapy, especially to the head, can cause delayed side effects. Swelling, sensitivity, skin changes, and fluid retention can appear months — even years — later. These are not always visible in awareness campaigns, but they are very real for survivors.
Healing is not always linear.
Survivorship is not always pretty.
But it is powerful.
So if you see someone with physical changes to their body after cancer treatment, choose compassion over assumption. You may be looking at someone who fought a battle you never saw.
Today, I wear my swollen eye as a badge of survival.
