BRAIN cancer has shadowed Cathy Kennedy's life for more than a decade.
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But the Wodonga occupational therapist sees herself as more fortunate than others battling the affliction.
"I'm one of the lucky ones that has got a low-grade tumour and yes I will need more surgeries, but it's like a car service, that's the way I see it – I go and get a tune-up," Mrs Kennedy said.
![Top cause: Cathy Kennedy wants people to be in the Albury Walk4BrainCancer being held alongside the Murray River. Picture: ELENOR TEDENBORG Top cause: Cathy Kennedy wants people to be in the Albury Walk4BrainCancer being held alongside the Murray River. Picture: ELENOR TEDENBORG](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/6f9a5135-47a3-4547-af42-fffc3bd930f2.jpg/r0_416_4801_2784_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"For most people, they are not that lucky, they're diagnosed and they pass away in two or four years."
Mrs Kennedy was 29 when she was found to have brain cancer after a seizure when she was 23 weeks pregnant with her daughter Ashlee 12½ years ago.
She had a tumour removed from her left frontal lobe when Ashlee was two and then had another tumour taken out in March after a seizure in June last year.
Every six months Mrs Kennedy has an MRI and is on anti-seizure medication.
"When I feel good it's just right at the back of my mind and I can push it away," Mrs Kennedy said.
"When I get a headache or get really tired, it's very anxiety-producing."
Nevertheless, Mrs Kennedy is fighting for more funding for brain cancer research and is thrilled the Border will host its first Walk4BrainCancer in Albury this Sunday.
"I think there's a real lack of awareness in the community about what brain cancer is," she said.
Brain cancer is more costly than other cancers, but gets less than five per cent of public research funding.
![Ready to walk: Joan Cummins with her daughter Cathy Kennedy on the path at Padman Park which will form part of the Walk4BrainCancer. Ready to walk: Joan Cummins with her daughter Cathy Kennedy on the path at Padman Park which will form part of the Walk4BrainCancer.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/a536191b-e316-4c85-a741-c781d4238698.jpg/r0_0_2699_4043_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While 90 per cent survive breast cancer, only 20 per cent beat brain cancer.
The Albury walk aims to raise $30,000, with Mrs Kennedy hoping to generate $4000 via her team which includes her husband Aaron, son Mitchell, 14, Ashlee, 11, and mum Joan Cummins.
Holbrook-raised Canberra-based Cure Brain Cancer Foundation fundraising co-ordinator Amanda Fintan suggested a walk in Albury to complement others across Australia in November.
The 3km walk exits Hovell Tree Park at 10.30am Sunday with registration from 9am.
More detail is at www.walk4braincancer.com.au/events/12/walk4braincancer-albury.