Mum-of-two Brooke Brown’s shocking cancer diagnosis, months after business opening

Business woman Brooke Brown woke up with a “deformed” face most mornings, little did she know she was living with a sinister disease.

Brooke Brown had unknowingly been living with cancer for at least a year when she was eventually diagnosed a few months after launching her own business.

The mum-of-two was waking up with a “deformed” face and swollen arms and having difficulty breathing before doctors identified the tumour she had in her thyroid was actually cancerous.

“At first I thought it was maybe a food allergy,” artistic director and co-founder of Australian Calisthenics Theatre Company said.

“I was going to food allergists and all sorts of doctors to see what was triggering my body to do such weird things.”

The now 40-year-old even ended up in the emergency room because her entire arm became so swollen they had to lacerate it to relieve the pressure.

Brooke Brown, the owner of Australia Calisthenics Theatre Company, discovered she had thyroid cancer in late 2023 at the same time she was launching her business. Picture: Dean Martin

In April 2023, doctors noticed Ms Brown had a four centimetre tumour in her thyroid after she came across a “thick ring around the bottom of her neck” when she watched videos of herself.

“I thought it looked a little bid odd … I went to my doctors, she sent me off for ultrasounds and that’s when they found the tumour,” the Ingle Farm woman said.

“From there my body started to do some weird and wacky things.”

Since the discovery of the tumour, which doctors assumed was benign, due to a lack of other symptoms, according to Ms Brown, she continued life as normal except she’d wake up with a deformed face and swollen arms, among other symptoms.

Brooke Brown would wake up in the morning with a ‘deformed’ face. Picture: Supplied

Eventually doctors decided to biopsy the tumour and the results came back undetermined so a decision to continue monitoring was chosen.

“I started to not be able to swallow properly or sometimes when I would lie a certain way in bed at night, I could feel it really putting some pressure on my throat and my breathing,” she said.

Ms Brown went back to the doctor and another biopsy returned the same undetermined result.

In February 2024, the doctor decided to remove the tumour, which had grown to five centimetres, for further tests and with that the left side of Ms Brown’s thyroid.

“When they tested it, it came back cancerous,” she said.

Two months later, Ms Brown needed to have the right side of her thyroid removed as well.

Her thyroid diagnosis came only a few months after Ms Brown launch ACTC. Picture: Dean Martin

She said she never thought getting a cancer diagnosis before 40 would happen to her, let alone when she was starting a new business.

Ms Brown began ACTC in November 2023 and received her diagnosis only a few months later.

“We were in the midst of intense rehearsals and I was having surgery to remove my cancer,” she said.

“I was super lucky, the culture at ACTC is so beautiful and I’m surrounded by so many amazing women who I trust and we care for each other.

“I was absolutely supported through my two surgeries in that critical time of launching a start-up and attempting a feat of putting on a stage show at Adelaide Festival Centre.”

Originally published as Mum-of-two Brooke Brown’s shocking cancer diagnosis, months after business opening