Hi Jenny and welcome to Cancer Chat.

I noticed you were hoping to find out whether you would be able to get your driving licence back and drive again since your brain tumour was discovered.

I hope this information about driving with a brain tumour I've found on The Brain Tumour Charity's website as well as the information we have about brain tumours and driving will help shed some light on this for you but if you'd like to speak with one of our cancer nurses about this, they're just a phone call away on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

I hope this helps and you hear back from some of our members who have been in a similar situation soon.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Jenny,

Similar situation here but different. Here's my actual history/timeline...

31 Jan 2018 Admitted to Hospital
02 Feb 2018 Brain tumour diagnosed
20 Feb 2018 Brain surgery to excise tumour
26 Mar 2018 First stereotactic radiotherapy on "shell" of brain tumour
28 Mar 2018 Last stereotactic radiotherapy on "shell" of brain tumour
30 Apr 2018 First post-op MRI brain scan (every 3 months ongoing)
09 May 2018 First post-op doctor update (every 3 months ongoing)
16 Aug 2018 Renewed driving licence anyway (photo expires Sept 2018)
20 Aug 2018 My new driving licence arrived in the post (expires 9/12/2022) but can't use it to drive
29 Mar 2019 One year since last brain treatment, Doc says I'm ok to drive
13 Jun 2019 Did DVLA form for a new driving licence (and surrendered old one)
20 Nov 2019 DVLA finally responded about licence, I filled in the form, copied it and scanned my licence, posted off form and licence
30 Nov 2019 New driving licence came (but expires after 1 year in 2020 not 2022)
16 Sep 2020 Posted off the DVLA form to renew my driving licence
19 Feb 2021 Renewed driving licence came in the post (expires 17/02/2022)
18 Feb 2022 DVLA website says they are falling behind in renewing licences. If I have no reason to expect my licence not to be renewed I can carry on driving legally.
11 Aug 2022 I am phoned by my doctor, they want to check me over to assess my suitability to drive so that my licence can be renewed.

Long story short, if your doctor assesses you as competant to drive then you can apply to DVLA to get your licence back. In a perfect world it would be the same doctor who advised you to stop driving in the first place. There's no dodging the "doctor" route because DVLA will send you a form that needs to be filled in and signed by your doctor. Your new licence will be valid for a year so you'll have to go thru the rigmarole of renewing it every year.

Hope this helps, and good luck. Be patient, DVLA is pretty bent out of shape these days.

Kind regards,
Steve
 

Hi Jenny,

Similar situation here but different. Here's my actual history/timeline...

31 Jan 2018 Admitted to Hospital
02 Feb 2018 Brain tumour diagnosed
20 Feb 2018 Brain surgery to excise tumour
26 Mar 2018 First stereotactic radiotherapy on "shell" of brain tumour
28 Mar 2018 Last stereotactic radiotherapy on "shell" of brain tumour
30 Apr 2018 First post-op MRI brain scan (every 3 months ongoing)
09 May 2018 First post-op doctor update (every 3 months ongoing)
16 Aug 2018 Renewed driving licence anyway (photo expires Sept 2018)
20 Aug 2018 My new driving licence arrived in the post (expires 9/12/2022) but can't use it to drive
29 Mar 2019 One year since last brain treatment, Doc says I'm ok to drive
13 Jun 2019 Did DVLA form for a new driving licence (and surrendered old one)
20 Nov 2019 DVLA finally responded about licence, I filled in the form, copied it and scanned my licence, posted off form and licence
30 Nov 2019 New driving licence came (but expires after 1 year in 2020 not 2022)
16 Sep 2020 Posted off the DVLA form to renew my driving licence
19 Feb 2021 Renewed driving licence came in the post (expires 17/02/2022)
18 Feb 2022 DVLA website says they are falling behind in renewing licences. If I have no reason to expect my licence not to be renewed I can carry on driving legally.
11 Aug 2022 I am phoned by my doctor, they want to check me over to assess my suitability to drive so that my licence can be renewed.

Long story short, if your doctor assesses you as competant to drive then you can apply to DVLA to get your licence back. In a perfect world it would be the same doctor who advised you to stop driving in the first place. There's no dodging the "doctor" route because DVLA will send you a form that needs to be filled in and signed by your doctor. Your new licence will be valid for a year so you'll have to go thru the rigmarole of renewing it every year.

Hope this helps, and good luck. Be patient, DVLA is pretty bent out of shape these days.

Kind regards,
Steve