A woman has revealed the worryingly harmless sign she had a rare blood cancer.
Jessica Hamersley, from Essex, didn’t think much about a red spot on her left shin that kept reappearing over the course of a year.
The 27-year-old, who dismissed it as eczema, assumed it was simply due to irritation from her scented moisturizer and would go away on its own.
Only after her fiancé urged her to get it checked, fearing it might be related to her birth control pill, did she seek medical attention.
When a second pill failed to clear up the rash, she was referred for an x-ray in October 2023, which revealed the truth was much more serious: she had a mass in her chest.
Jessica Hamersley, from Essex, didn’t think much about a red spot on her left shin that kept reappearing over the course of a year.
The 27-year-old, who dismissed it as eczema, assumed it was simply due to her scented moisturizer and would go away on its own.
It was only after her fiancé urged her to get it checked, fearing it could be related to her birth control pill, that she sought medical attention.
Subsequent biopsies in February found Mrs. Hamersley had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a rare cancer that begins in the white blood cells, and began chemotherapy.
A PET scan in March also showed that the mass in his chest measured more than seven inches and had been “crushing” his heart.
Recalling her ordeal, Mrs Hamersley said: ‘Sometimes I use scented moisturizer and other times with eczema which can cause my skin to become a little inflamed. Honestly at that moment I didn’t think anything serious about it.
“I thought maybe it was a breakout on my leg or that I stopped while I was shaving. You never think about cancer.
‘A rash on my leg literally saved my life.
‘I don’t smoke, I only drink very rarely when I go out. So I was thinking, I’m perfectly healthy, why would I get cancer?
‘I didn’t have a cough, when I saw the chest x-rays I thought, Oh my God, that was sitting in my chest, but I felt fine. It’s really strange.
‘I was so healthy. In fact, I feel worse from the chemo than before. I felt completely healthy with all the tumors.
‘I even remember when I went to the X-ray room I said to the radiologist: “this is really dramatic, sorry for wasting your time.”
‘Usually, many other symptoms can occur with Hodgkin lymphoma. I had nothing.’
Hodgkin lymphoma occurs when infection-fighting white blood cells, called B lymphocytes, multiply abnormally and accumulate in certain parts of the lymph system.
This can cause a painless swelling in a lymph node, usually in the neck, armpit, or groin.
Other symptoms include a persistent cough, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.
Around 2,600 people in the UK are diagnosed each year, meaning it accounts for less than 1 per cent of cancers. In the United States, 8,800 cases are detected per year.
According to Cancer Research UK, almost 85 per cent of people with cancer will survive five years or more after diagnosis.
When a second pill failed to clear up the rash, she was referred for an x-ray in October 2023, which revealed the truth was much more serious: she had a mass in her chest. Pictured is Mrs Hamersley with her fiancé William Webber during treatment.
Subsequent biopsies in February found Hamersley had Hodgkin’s lymphoma (a rare cancer that starts in the white blood cells) and he began chemotherapy. In the photo, with the rash on his leg before the diagnosis.
Ms. Hamersley was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin lymphoma, meaning the lymphoma was in two or more lymph node groups but she did not have typical symptoms.
He also claimed that his consultant at Princess Alexandra Hospital told him the rash on his leg was erythema nodosum, a condition that causes fatty tissue to become inflamed.
It usually goes away on its own, but can sometimes be a sign of something serious, such as an inflammatory bowel condition, such as Crohn’s disease, according to the NHS.
The skin usually heals on its own within 3 to 8 weeks without leaving a scar. But other symptoms, such as joint pain and swelling, can last for several weeks.
Ms Hamersley said: “When I spoke to the specialist about it (the rash), he said it’s a really strange way of your body telling you something is wrong inside you.”
‘I thought maybe it was due to stress… But they said (the dough) was crushing my heart.
“Everything was crazy. I really froze. I was with my partner and I feel like I’ve disconnected, I wasn’t really listening.
“The whole time they were doing tests they said the worst possibility is cancer, so my brain never got there.
Ms. Hamersley was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin lymphoma, meaning the lymphoma was in two or more lymph node groups but she did not have typical symptoms. In the photo, during his treatment.
He also claimed that his consultant at Princess Alexandra Hospital told him the rash on his leg was erythema nodosum, a condition that causes fatty tissue to become inflamed. In the photo, during his treatment.
“I thought they had the wrong scan.”
He added: ‘I cried when they told me I was going to lose my hair. Now it’s growing back, so it doesn’t affect me as much, I’m used to it.
‘But you just go into fight or flight mode and it was just survival. It was just ‘what’s next? What do we do?’
After beginning an aggressive course of chemotherapy in the spring, she was thankfully declared cancer-free in August.
‘It happened very quickly. But my consultant said that if you lose your hair quickly it’s a very good sign that the chemotherapy is working,” Ms Hamersley said.
“I looked horrible being bald, but that’s what I stuck to.” I thought, “My God, it must be working then.”
To celebrate being cancer-free, she’s now vacationing at Disneyworld Orlando with her fiancé, William Webber.
She said: ‘That weight just lifted off of me and my whole family.
‘(Mr Webber) It’s been just incredible. He has been my rock through everything.
‘During chemotherapy, the only thing we talked about was how great it would be if we went to Disney together.
To celebrate being cancer-free, she’s now vacationing at Disneyworld Orlando with her fiancé, William Webber.
Hamersley, who worked in customer service before her diagnosis, is now recovering from her treatment and regaining her stamina before returning to work. Pictured, celebrating after finding out she was cancer-free.
‘I’m going to go celebrate in the happiest place in the world.
‘I’m still very breathless and feel like my joints are still very weak because I have arthritis in my hips and spine from chemotherapy.
“I am very happy that it was detected in time and that the treatment was less than it would have been.” I am very grateful to that family doctor.
Hamersley, who worked in customer service before her diagnosis, is now recovering from her treatment and regaining her stamina before returning to work.
You will still need to have follow-up scans and blood tests every few months to check that the cancer has not returned.
He now urges anyone concerned about their unusual symptoms to seek medical help as soon as possible.
“Life is very short and you don’t realize it until something like this happens,” he added.
‘They never promise you tomorrow and that is such an important quote that I have in my head now.
‘Cancer completely changes your perspective on life. I used to get angry if someone cut me off while driving and now I just think about letting it go.
‘I just let it all happen now. Now it’s never that deep, it’s not that important anymore.