A mum whose symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by doctors as vertigo has been told she has brain cancer. Carrie Howard was given the all-clear from breast cancer when scans from her neck down showed no sign of the disease. The 48-year-old said it felt 'like life could begin again' after undergoing a mastectomy as well as months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But almost two years later she started experiencing headaches and losing her balance. She went to see her GP three times, where a doctor repeatedly gave her medication for vertigo. When she decided to take herself to hospital with her symptoms, she discovered she had a brain tumour. READ MORE: Girl, 14, with rugby ball-sized tumour 'told ovarian cancer was period pain' Carrie - who rang the bell at her clinic for beating triple-negative breast cancer in 2023 - said: "When I rang the bell thinking I had beaten cancer, it felt like a weight lifted and life could begin again. "We thought the chemo had mopped up cancer anywhere else in the body and I was cancer-free. "But the brain tumour was there all along. "It was very hard having to sit the boys down again and say "mummy has to go through more treatment". "If I knew at the time, I would have had a private MRI scan to check my entire body." Carrie's health ordeal began in July 2022 when she noticed a pea-sized lump in her left breast while putting on her pyjamas. An MRI scan from the neck down at Wigan Hospital confirmed she had stage three triple-negative breast cancer - a more aggressive and faster-spreading type compared to others. The cancer was also found in her lymph nodes but doctors said it was treatable and immediately started her on a six-month course of chemotherapy. Carrie, who is mum to Theo, 14, and Ruben, 10, said: "It was a shock. I thought they would run some tests and send me home but they said the chemo would mop it up and rid me of it. "It was brutal – I lost my hair, my eyelashes, my eyebrows – but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and was fighting to beat it." In January 2023, Carrie had a mastectomy on her left breast and radiotherapy. Three months later, another hospital scan from the neck down showed no sign of cancer and she rang the bell to celebrate getting the all-clear. She said: "It felt worth it. We’d put our lives on hold and now it was over." Carrie slowly returned to normality, going back to work, attending football practice with her sons and enjoying a family holiday to Turkey. In December 2024, she started getting headaches, felt as if she was going to fall over and started veering to the right when walking. Her GP prescribed her with vertigo tablets on three separate visits until she took herself back to A&E for further tests in February 2025. Carrie said: "Doctors did an MRI and then took us into a separate room and told us there was a shadow on the scan." Further tests revealed Carrie’s triple-negative breast cancer had moved to her brain before chemotherapy and managed to withstand the treatment. It had progressed from stage three to four. A blood-brain barrier protects the brain from harmful substances in the blood stream, meaning not all chemotherapies are effective. Doctors diagnosed Carrie with stage four metastatic brain cancer and performed a seven-hour surgery to remove a large tumour from her brain. She then underwent targeted radiotherapy to shrink a second, smaller tumour which was trickier to access. Now the family are awaiting results to find out if Carrie really is cancer-free. Husband James Howard, 43, said: "We’re hoping that it’s all been removed and that Carrie gets to ring the bell again. "But we also have an anxiety of whether it will come up somewhere else. Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here . "Carrie still has a lot of fight in her but you can only withstand so much in one go." Her family are also researching alternative treatments and clinical trials in the UK and abroad. Sales manager James said: "Wigan Hospital has only treated two other people who had triple negative cancer that moved to the brain so the data just isn’t there. "We don’t know what comes next so we need to be prepared." Best friend Rebecca van der Lee, 41, has launched a GoFundMe page which has so far raised £17,540 towards Carrie’s treatment and recovery. This includes a fundraising event of live music and karaoke at The Farmers Arms in Bispham, Lancashire, on June 6. Carrie said: "The support has been amazing, it’s just incredible. "Friends are giving support and everyone is rallying together." The family want to raise awareness of breast cancer, secondary cancers and the importance of checking for lumps regularly. Carrie is also calling for full-body scans for patients where cancer has reached the lymph nodes as this often leads to a faster spread. A spokesperson for Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) said: "The well-being and experience of our patients at WWL is paramount and we understand the stress and fear that comes with a cancer diagnosis and treatment. "While current national guidelines do not make recommendations for routine brain imaging unless symptoms are present, we are committed to addressing any concerns Ms Howard may have. "We encourage Ms Howard to contact our patient advice and liaison service for a thorough review of her care." Click here to see the fundraiser.