"Hours away from death": the migraine of the woman turns out to be a brain tumor

Renae Cleary was suffering from headaches caused by what she thought were just very bad migraines.

He had been told that migraines were common in his family. But when she went to see her doctor "just to be safe," she was suddenly transported to the hospital for life-saving surgery.

The doctors found that the 38-year-old woman had a 2.2-cm tumor in the brain and that, if they had not picked it up in time, she would be dead within 24 hours.

"I thought I was going to die just before we went and had the tumor," Cleary said 7 News.

"I remember having a headache and feeling uncomfortable, and then I was in the hospital for a brain tumor.

But Cleary did not expect the diagnosis to be melanoma.

"I had been diagnosed with [stage four] melanoma, without known primary source, "she said.

"I had my skin tests, I did them every year, I never expected them to appear."

"It scares me, it's scary, you learn to look for it, a mole that changes will hurt or bleed but sometimes it does not happen."

The doctors had no idea how melanoma had started where it started, saying there was no sign of growth.

Cleary had 19 staples in his head and had to sit still during his three weeks in the hospital.

And when she finally came home, she was not allowed to cook, clean, drive or lift anything over 200g.

A combination of drugs now keeps the Perth woman alive.

But the cost of life-saving drugs has depleted her and her husband's savings, forcing them to sell their home.

Generous foreigners have since funded through crowdfunding to help buy life-saving medicines.

"There are no words to be honest, it saved us," she said.

More than 7600 Australian dollars (8170 dollars) have been collected so far.