A woman diagnosed with stage four cancer has shared the hidden symptoms that were initially dismissed by doctors.
Unfortunately, it feels all too common that we hear about someone’s health being overlooked or ignored and for Zoe Gardner-Lawson, it meant being told she had a urine infection while she actually had bowel cancer.
The 36-year-old was prescribed with five days’ worth of antibiotics by the GP over the phone after suddenly feeling a constant dull pain in her lower back in August 2024.
Zoe Gardner-Lawson was sadly diagnosed with bowel cancer (SWNS)
Before this started, the mum-of-three felt ‘fit and healthy’ but the pain wasn’t budging and she was prescribed two further doses across one month.
“There was just no change – and by my third dose, I’d really deteriorated,” Zoe said. “I was basically bedridden – I felt so unwell, and the back pain had spread to my abdomen, too.”
Still with this pain and no answers, the Berkshire woman was back at the GP in September when they advised her to go straight to A&E.
Doctors there checked her symptoms and after a physical examination, concluded it may be kidney stones. But a CT scan confirmed this wasn’t the case and she was referred for blood tests.
Checked for creatine reactive protein, Zoe explained: “They were rising, until they reached 364n/mol – a normal range for women is 52.9n/mol and 91.9n/mol. A general surgeon came to see me, and he said it looked like I had fluid build-up on my abdomen.”
The mum-of-three’s symptoms were initially dismissed (SWNS)
Zoe ‘threw her toys out the pram’ at this point and demanded a full-body CT.
Following two months of this pain symptom coming on suddenly, it was eventually found she had a lime-sized tumour on her bowel causing a perforation, and had spread to her liver, peritoneum and stomach lymph nodes.
A consultant told her she could’ve been living with the tumour for up to four years before it was removed in an emergency surgery in early October.
A biopsy revealed it was a cancerous blastoma – one of the most aggressive forms of cancer – and Zoe was told she’d need to triple her chemo dosage per round.
She’s now on her fifth round of chemotherapy with it being pretty ‘hardcore’ and says her prognosis isn’t certain just yet.
“The plan is, once I’ve had my sixth round of chemo, they’re hoping I’ll have responded well,” she added. “All being well, I’ll need to be booked in for a second surgery – to remove remaining stomach lymph nodes and two tumours on my liver.”
Zoe had a lime-sized tumour on her bowel causing a perforation, and had spread to her liver, peritoneum and stomach lymph nodes (SWNS)
With her pain symptoms initially dismissed, Zoe wants the minimum age for bowel cancer screenings to drop to ‘at least’ 30.
“If my disease was caught earlier, it would’ve been easier to treat… I think the minimum age for testing needs to reduce,” she said.
Zoe has a GoFundMe to fund her alternative treatment and alleviate financial worries.
The NHS lists the main symptoms of bowel cancer as: changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you; needing to poo more or less often than usual for you; blood in your poo, which may look red or black; bleeding from your bottom; often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet; tummy pain; a lump in your tummy; bloating; losing weight without trying; feeling very tired for no reason.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
A man has shared the pre-cancer symptoms he noticed before being diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 19.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a rare type of cancer which develops in the white blood cells (lymphocytes) of the body’s lymphatic system, which is a system of thin tubes and glands which run throughout the body.
According to the NHS, around 2,100 people are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma each year.
Hodgkin lymphoma develops in the body’s lymphatic system (Getty Stock Images)
What are the symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma?
The NHS states that common symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma include: night sweats, unintentional weight loss, a high temperature, a persistent cough and itching of the skin all over the body.
Fatigue, increased risk of infection and excessive bleeding can also occur in some cases.
Symptoms will vary from person to person, with US TikTok user Aaron Delgado recently sharing the pre-cancer symptoms he experienced and urged people to get themselves checked out if they have any concerns about their health.
Swollen lymph nodes
The ‘most obvious’ symptom for Aaron was the presence of a swollen lymph node on the side of his neck.
In cases of Hodgkin lymphoma, a swollen lymph node occurs when there is a build-up of affected lymphocytes in one of your glands. These are typically painless and can occur in the armpit, neck or groin.
It’s important to note that not all swollen lymph nodes are automatically cancerous, as common illnesses such as colds, flu and throat infections can also cause this symptom.
“It’s always good to get it checked out,” he added.
Tiredness and fatigue
Another symptoms Aaron noticed was increased tiredness and fatigue. “I was definitely getting more tired after playing [sports] like basketball or football, running around or just hitting the gym,” he said.
“It wasn’t very noticeable at first but once the cancer kept building through my body it became more and more noticeable.”
Chest tightness
Another pre-cancerous symptom Aaron noticed was chest tightness, which typically occurs if the cancer is present in your chest.
“I had two [tumours] in mine and it was putting strain on my chest while I was sleeping and doing daily activities,” he explained.
“I felt that one for sure because I just knew that something was wrong. I think that also played into why I was getting more tired from doing normal things.”
Aaron shared his symptoms in order to raise awareness about the cancer (TikTok/aarond_2)
Blood cell count
The last point which Aaron raised was in regards to cancer showing up in blood tests and how this wasn’t personally the case for him.
“Most people think, especially with blood cancer, that your white blood cell count and your red blood cell count has to be really weird and wonky in order for it to be blood cancer… that’s just not the case,” he said.
“When I was being tested for a year my blood was completely normal.”
A man has revealed what symptoms he experienced before being diagnosed with stage four cancer at the age of 21.
Jay Shew explained that he had been ‘brushing off’ some of the warning signs that his health wasn’t in full working order before they became impossible to ignore.
The lad from Sydney, Australia, has taken to social media to share his story in the hopes of educating others on what to look out for while also encouraging people to get checked out by a doctor ASAP.
He was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma – which is the most advanced stage of the disease – a few months after his symptoms first began in August 2023.
According to Cancer Research UK, this is a type of blood cancer which develops in the lymphatic system and affects white blood cells called lymphocytes.
Jay revealed what cancer symptoms he experienced before his diagnosis (TikTok/@jayshew)
The charity explains: “When you have Hodgkin lymphoma, some of your white blood cells (B lymphocytes) become abnormal and multiply. You then have more lymphocytes than usual, but they can’t fight infections as well as they should.
“The cells can then clump together usually within lymph nodes or other parts of the lymphatic system to form tumours. This can cause problems in the lymphatic system and the part of the body where they are growing.”
A sign of Hodgkin’s lymphoma can sometimes emerge when you drink alcohol, experts at Harvard found.
So what symptoms did Jay notice that he initially dismissed?
In a TikTok video, he explained that the first red flag about his health arose after he got a routine blood test last summer.
“I didn’t have any symptoms at the time, I was just living normal everyday…A couple of days later, my results come back,” the social media user said.
“She calls me and she says, ‘Your calcium is high’. I don’t think much of it, I left it. But when your calcium is high, it means that your bones are fighting off a disease. I didn’t know that.”
A couple of months later, he explained that his friends and family began to notice a drastic change in his appearance – but at the time, he couldn’t see it himself.
He is now in recovery after finishing his treatment this year (TikTok/@jayshew)
Jay continued: “I start to drop a lot of weight and I legit like go white. I turned like a ghost, I was so pale. I didn’t notice.
“I looked in the mirror and I was like, ‘I’m fine? I don’t look skinny, I don’t look pale’. I couldn’t see it.
“During this time, I did have cancer symptoms, but I didn’t know they were cancer symptoms.”
The Aussie also recalled how he experienced excruciating pain in his lower back that made it feel as though it was ‘breaking’, which often disturbed his sleep – however, he thought he simply had a disc issue.
As well as this, he’d often wake up to sodden sheets after intense night sweats, while he was also ‘really, really tired’ everyday.
“One morning, I woke up and I thought I pissed the bed – that’s how bad it was,” Jay said. “I looked at my shirt and I was like, ‘This is sweat?’
“Another symptom was, I was very, very tired and I could not move. I’d wake up and a couple hours later I’d be back in bed having a nap.”
Jay said that he also lost a significant amount of weight during this time, adding: “Since I got the blood test up until [then], I was having every single cancer symptom, I just didn’t realise it.”
Other signs also included a recurring rash on different parts of his body as well as ‘dry skin’.
Jay then began to experience chest pain ‘like he’d never had it before’ as well as a ‘really bad cough’, which he initially thought was down to a chest infection.
After visiting his GP and receiving a course of antibiotics, he recalled feeling ‘brand new’ – but three days later, he got sick again, only this time it was a lot worse.
His doctor then advised him to get a CT scan at the hospital, which is where he later received the news that he was suffering from stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Jay is now thankfully in recovery after finishing his treatment in July this year, which has only spurred his mission to inform as many people as he can about cancer symptoms even more.
He told social media users in the comment section that he was ‘well and healthy now’ while thanking them for their kind comments about his journey.
“I’m glad I’m better now and at the moment, I’m just trying my best to maintain good health and of course convince other people to get themselves checked up before it’s too late,” he wrote.
A 32-year-old woman revealed the three main signs that she ignored before being diagnosed with cancer twice in her twenties.
Georgie Swallow is a British content creator that was given devastating news a number of times as a young adult.
Swallow admitted later on that she ignored some tell-tale signs when it came to her health, to the point where she was told bad news by the doctor when she did finally decide to get checked out.
Now, the Brit urges people to get checked out if they experience any of the main symptoms of cancer.
Before being diagnosed with the disease, Swallow explained the three main symptoms she ignored, writing them off as just being tired and stressed.
Speaking about her experience, the Londoner highlighted what to keep an eye out for.
Georgie Swallow was 28 when she received her devastating diagnosis (Cover Images)
Exhaustion
She admitted: “I was finding my feet with life and work and relationships and starting to feel like I was building my future. I was very active, social and always on the go.”
But this resulted in her body breaking down, as she also experienced other health issues.
Night sweats
“During this time I was losing weight, having night sweats, constantly exhausted and a never-ending stream of colds and flus but I just thought I was on the go too much and wearing myself out,” the 32-year-old explained.
Itchy legs
Probably the most irritating symptom, she said: “The most prominent symptom that took me to the doctors multiple times was my incredibly itchy legs.
“I would itch until I broke the skin which would keep me up all night. I went to the doctor and they thought it could be stress, allergies or urticaria but no cream or lifestyle change would make it go,” she concluded.
Opening up on how she found out about her condition, she said she needed the doctor telling her that she had stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma for her to slow down.
“After being off work for about two weeks with a serious bout of flu, I went into the office and whilst at my desk discovered a peach sized lump in the side of my neck,” she recalled.
The Brit admitted that she thought that nothing would be seriously wrong with her, ‘naively’.
She revealed the three main symptoms that she ignored (Cover Images)
With the worry that she was ‘wasting everyone’s time’ and making them worry for nothing, she explained that the symptoms of lymphoma in particular, are hard to spot.
“This is why lymphoma is diagnosed so late because you can brush the symptoms off so easily as other things.”
As a result of her condition, she would go into an early menopause, describing it like ‘being hit by a bus’, as having her fertility taken away before being able to have children ‘was difficult’.
She explained: “The menopause at any age can be difficult but at 28 I didn’t have anyone my age to talk to about it. None of my friends understood what I was going through, and as supportive as they were, it’s hard to comfort and relate to something you don’t understand.”
Swallow also spoke about the ’42 recognised symptoms of menopause’ and highlighted the importance of mental health, encouraging women to speak up and find out if they too are experiencing an early menopause.
Georgie Swallow is working in partnership with Boots and Macmillan Cancer Support to raise awareness of early menopause caused by cancer treatment. For more information click here.
A woman who was diagnosed with incurable cancer at the age of 20 has shared the sobering reality of her symptoms and condition.
New Zealand-based content creator Dominique McShain created her platform after learning that she had incurable colorectal cancer which had metastasised to her liver with the goal of raising awareness about the condition amongst younger people.
According to Cancer Research UK, colorectal cancer (also referred to as bowel cancer) is where tumours begin to grow in either the large bowel (colon) and back passage (rectum).
Bowel cancer is where tumours begin to grow in either the large bowel and back passage (Getty Stock Images)
Around 44,100 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year with survival rates depending on how early a person is diagnosed.
There are particular concerns about the rise in cases amongst younger people, with recent research suggesting that early-onset bowel cancer rates are rising globally. Speaking about the findings in a statement, lead author Hyuna Sung said (via The Guardian): “The increase in early-onset colorectal cancer is a global phenomenon.
“Previous studies have shown this rise in predominately high-income western countries, but now it is documented in various economies and regions worldwide.”
In one of her posts titled ‘Do I look sick?’, Dominique revealed what it was like to live with cancer on a day-to-day basis as well as highlighting the fact that a person with an incurable or terminal illness may not always look how we’d imagine a ‘sick‘ person to be.
Dominique McShain made the post to change people’s perceptions on what a ‘sick’ person would look like (TikTok/@dominiquemcshain)
Sharing two photos of herself from August 2023 and February 2024, the 21-year-old asked if she looked ‘unwell’ in the photos before revealing that she’d had cancer at the time without realising.
“Here is me just a few days after being told I had incurable cancer,” she wrote on the next post, adding: “Four tumours in my liver, one in my colon and spreading to my lymph nodes already. I still look pretty ‘normal’ though.”
Read More: Woman diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 25 reveals unusual symptom all young people should know
She then went on to share images from the following months showing her beginning chemotherapy, losing her hair and beginning to try out wearing wigs.
Dominique explained why she makes posts about her cancer (TikTok/@dominiquemcshain)
“What’s the point of this post,” Dominique added in final slide, before explaining that she wanted to highlight to young people that you can look ‘healthy’ while still having a serious illness.
“If you suspect anything, go get checked!” she wrote.
She then went on to list some of the more common symptoms which occur with the cancer, which include fevers, unexplained pain, weight-loss and abnormal lumps.
Guidance from the NHS also adds that specific symptoms for colorectal cancer include changes to your bowel habits, bloating, a lump in your stomach, fatigue and abdominal pain.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
