Woman, 21, mistook cancer symptoms for university stress
A young woman who was diagnosed with cancer has opened up about how she thought her symptoms were university stress.
Molly Hunt, from Buckinghamshire, first realised that something was wrong in October 2021 when she experienced stomach pain. You can see how her symptoms developed below:
However, as it came after heavy drinking during the second year of her Geography degree, she dismissed as a hangover or stress until she developed a lump in her neck in February.
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She said it was the size of 'two grapes', and by this point, she had itchy skin, which prompted her to seek medical attention.
Molly was then wrongly diagnosed as a symptom of previously having glandular fever, but she pressed for a thorough investigation and discovered she had stage two Hodgkin lymphoma in June, a type of blood cancer.
She is now having chemotherapy after the cancer left her with an eight centimetre mass in her chest as well as the lump in her neck.
"I was extremely tired," she said of her symptoms. "It would get to 1pm and I'd crash, I'd feel like I was in a dream.
"Sometimes I thought it was a hangover and sometimes I put it down to the workload at uni.
"Even if I went to bed at 10pm sometimes I'd be waking up at 1pm because I was exhausted."
She explained that she eventually stopped partying at uni because it left her with 'a really bad pain in my tummy underneath my diaphragm'.
"I just thought 'oh this is new, my body must not be able to tolerate alcohol as much'," she said.
Molly explained that after the lump in her neck persisted for two weeks, she was referred for cancer tests and an ultrasound, which took another fortnight.
During this time, she discovered yet another lump.
She was then told she'd have to have a biopsy because of its size, and while it took her a month to receive her results, she was eventually diagnosed with cancer.
"My dad was like 'you have cancer, it could be Hodgkin's'. The letter was very vague," she remembered.
"I remember I was uncontrollably crying - it was like I was almost screaming it was horrendous."
Thankfully, the student responded well to chemotherapy, and she is already in remission.
Molly is now in her third round of chemotherapy, with her total now cut from 12 rounds to six, although she may require additional radiation treatment.
Molly added: "I've always struggled with health anxiety. That's how I really found out everything because I'm so in touch with my body and make sure I check for lumps monthly.
"I'm living in my nightmare.
"I went into my third round of chemo in a more positive mindset and I am excited for the future now."
The student is now hoping to use her experience to help raise awareness of lymphoma.
She has set up a GoFundMe for the UK's only charity dedicated to this type of cancer, Lymphoma Action, which you can donate to here.
If you or someone you know has been affected by cancer, support is available from Cancer Research UK.
Emma Guinness