Leonie McIntosh thought she just needed new glasses.
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But the cause of her painful headaches proved to be something more sinister.
"I asked the people I worked with what I should do, and they suggested that I go to the emergency department," she said.
"They did a scan, and that's when I found out I had a brain tumour."
It was 2015 and McIntosh was an Indigenous Research Fellow at CSU in Thurgoona, two years into a PhD on early childhood transitions.
The tumour and subsequent treatment, resulting in memory loss, nerve damage and seizures, cost McIntosh both of those things.
"It was a very big shock; everything changed," she said.
"I've had 18 rounds of radiation, and chemotherapy.
"My family is very supportive; my partner is my full-time carer and does so much for me, and I have a little boy who is 7, who keeps me entertained.
"I love nature and as an Indigenous person, I find it good to spend a lot of time by the river."
The Wiradjuri woman has turned to her art in the darker times during her continuing treatment, transforming her radiation mask into a statement about identity and how such a life event changes you.
In other news:
That mask and other works will form an exhibition at the burraja gallery at Gateway Village.
To expand on the opening on Wednesday, close friend Jan Osmotherly has organised an event at La Maison Cafe to raise money for the Albury-Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre Trust Fund.
The pair will be on a panel chaired by well-known media personality and cancer survivor, Julie McCrossin, who will travel from Sydney at her own expense to take part in the event.
Others on the panel will include GenesisCare nursing specialist Naomi Harrison, and Mercy Health palliative nurse Fiona Kilpatrick.
McIntosh, who created 'Wiradjuri Woman' for the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk which was also burnt onto the Possum Skin Cloak for the 2006 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, said she was excited about the exhibition.
"I want to share my story, and hope to raise a lot of money for the cancer centre," she said.
'My Oligog' is short for Oligodendroglioma, the brain tumour McIntosh has been diagnosed with.
The exhibition opens at 5.30pm and the 'Yarn and Feed' event will run from 7pm to 9pm.
Thanks to the support of GenesisCare, all proceeds will go to the Trust Fund for programs provided at the Wellness Centre.
Tickets of $30 cover food and can be purchased at trybooking.com/BBOIQ.