Home Health Doctors dismissed my symptoms as allergies, then diagnosed me with CANCER when I turned 26: These are the signs you shouldn’t miss this pollen season

Doctors dismissed my symptoms as allergies, then diagnosed me with CANCER when I turned 26: These are the signs you shouldn’t miss this pollen season

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Kelsey Riddle, 32, mistook her early stage two lymphoma symptoms, which included itchy legs, for allergies.

A comedy writer was diagnosed with cancer on her birthday after initially mistaking her symptoms for serious allergies.

Kelsey Riddle, from Austin, Texas, was about to finish graduate school in 2017 when her legs began to itch so much that she scratched them until they bled.

As summer approached and she wrote her thesis, she attributed the itching to allergies and stress.

“I was very exhausted, very stressed, I didn’t feel very well,” said Riddle, now 32. The patient’s history. “If you’ve been to Austin, you’ve probably had some outbreaks, so it’s not unusual.”

But in August, he noticed that a lymph node in the back of his neck had grown to the size of a quarter.

Kelsey Riddle, 32, mistook her early stage two lymphoma symptoms, which included itchy legs, for allergies.

'It was horrible.

‘It was horrible. “I woke up on my birthday to a phone call at 9am,” Ms Riddle said. “I sat there and cried in my bed for a couple of hours.”

As he continued writing his thesis, he noticed that a lymph node the size of a quarter was growing in his neck and moving. Generally, a lymph node moves if it responds to an infection.

Doctors prescribed several rounds of antibiotics, but they all failed, and his GP stated: “If this thing didn’t move, I’d be worried it was cancer.”

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Just a month later, another nodule on her collarbone swelled overnight to the size of an egg.

On the morning of September 22, Ms. Riddle’s 26th birthday, doctors called her to diagnose lymphoma.

‘It was horrible. I woke up on my birthday to a phone call at 9 a.m.,” she said. “I just sat there and cried in my bed for a couple of hours.”

Ms. Riddle was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer that attacks lymph nodes and disease-fighting white blood cells.

The condition affects about 8,500 Americans (most of them under age 30 or ages 50 to 70) each year and is responsible for just under 1,000 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.

The overall five-year survival rate is about 75 percent.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is really a relief,’ because lymphomas are usually quite treatable,” Ms. Riddle said.

Ms. Riddle underwent chemotherapy and radiation for her lymphoma.

He has been cancer-free since 2019.

Ms. Riddle underwent chemotherapy and radiation for her lymphoma. She is cancer free as of 2019.

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“Don’t feel trapped in this situation where someone won’t listen to you defend yourself,” Ms. Riddle said.

He received a litany of biopsies and scans to confirm staging before beginning treatment.

‘Something about having a machine analyze me for about an hour and tell me my life chances. It was very difficult for me to handle,” she said.

‘I remember leaving the PET scan upset and just collapsing in my dad’s van and having a disturbing conversation with him. He was always the one who had the answers for me and this time he didn’t.’

“It was one of those things where I think we were so emotionally exhausted that we just collapsed.”

That November, Ms. Riddle began ABVD chemotherapy, a regimen designed specifically for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which she said improved her symptoms “almost immediately.”

‘I was very lucky not to have an allergic reaction or anything like the chemotherapy itself.

‘My initial reaction was quite mild. I lost a little hair. After that, I ended up shaving anyway,” she said.

‘I felt slightly ill, but the itching in my legs resolved immediately. “I think it was possibly also because my immune system was being suppressed.”

‘It was very crazy. I immediately felt better after my first round.”

He also reported almost no nausea or side effects from the treatment. “It was actually pretty amazing.”

Chemotherapy lasted about four months, followed by a month of radiation. In July 2019, scans found no evidence of remaining cancer and Riddle has remained in remission since then.

Ms Riddle is now encouraging other young cancer patients to “take a more active role” in their care and speak up if doctors make them feel dismissed.

“Don’t feel trapped in this situation where someone won’t listen to you defend yourself,” he said.

‘If you really feel strongly about something, at least tell your doctor. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions.

“If you have a doctor who makes you feel stupid or ridiculous for asking these questions and you have the ability to find a new doctor, find a new doctor because you don’t have to deal with that.”

What is lymphoma?

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph nodes, which are the body’s disease-fighting network.

This network is made up of the spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes and thymus.

There are several types of lymphoma, but two main types: non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin.

Both have much better prognoses than many types of cancer.

WHAT IS HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA?

Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in the white blood cells. It is named after Thomas Hodgkin, an English doctor who first identified the disease in 1832.

It affects around 2,000 people each year in the United Kingdom and 8,500 a year in the United States.

Hodgkin lymphoma is most common between ages 20 and 24 and between ages 75 and 79.

Five-year survival rates:

Survival rates are much more favorable than most other cancers.

  • Stage 1: 90%
  • Stage 2: 90%
  • Stage 3: 80%
  • Stage 4: 65%

Symptoms include:

  • A painless swelling in the armpits, neck and groin.
  • Heavy sweating at night
  • Extreme weight loss
  • Itching
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Cough

Risk factor’s:

  • Reduced immunity
  • A family history of the condition.
  • Smokers
  • Those who are overweight

Treatment:

  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiotherapy
  • steroids
  • Stem cell or bone marrow transplants

WHAT IS NON-HODGKIN LYMPHOMA?

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can occur anywhere in the body, but it is usually first noticed in the lymph nodes around the neck of sufferers.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma affects around 14,000 new people each year in the UK. In the United States, more than 80,000 people are diagnosed annually.

It is more common in men than women and is commonly diagnosed when the patient is 20 years old or after 55 years of age.

Five-year survival rates:

Survival can vary widely with NHL.

The overall five-year survival rate is 70 percent and the chance of living 10 years is about 60 percent.

Symptoms include:

  • Painless swelling in the neck, armpit or groin.
  • Heavy sweating at night
  • Unexplained weight loss of more than one-tenth of a person’s body
  • Itching

Risk factor’s:

  • More than 75
  • Have a weak immune system.
  • Suffer from celiac disease
  • Have a family history of the condition.
  • You have had other types of cancer.

Treatment:

It depends on the amount and location of the body affected by non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Therapy usually includes chemotherapy.

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