Doctors told Andrea Fenn that her shoulder pain might be a frozen shoulder, or even a trapped nerve, but her eventual diagnosis would be far more serious.
The mum-of-three from Wigan went to her GP back in May 2021, after experiencing severe pain in her shoulder and spine.
Her GP said it was likely a common shoulder condition but Fenn's pain continued to get worse.
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Eventually, she sought the second opinion of another doctor and after running an MRI scan a lump was found on Fenn's lung.
After months of pain and prescriptions that didn't seem to work, the mother finally had a diagnosis: lung cancer.
Fenn thinks the cancer could have been caught quicker. She told the Manchester Evening News: "I feel like I’ve been fobbed off.
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“I was on the phone to the doctors regularly, at least once or twice a week.
"The pain was excruciating and on one particular day in September, I was literally on my knees clinging to my boyfriend’s waist saying someone has got to help me.
“I was going to bed hoping I wouldn’t wake up. They told me there was nothing else they could prescribe for me painkiller-wise. I called up the next morning and insisted on a second opinion.
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“Cancer never crossed my mind; I presumed it was a problem with my shoulder. If someone had listened to me, I possibly wouldn’t have been stage three.”
Since being diagnosed, Fenn has undergone chemotherapy and immunotherapy, but unfortunately, another lump was found on Fenn's stomach.
A biopsy showed that Fenn now had secondary cancer in her stomach.
She said: “We were shocked because we were told the lump on my stomach was from injections.
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“It’s devastating. I’m trying to keep my chin up and be brave.
“My youngest son doesn’t know the extent. He’s only 11 and he just knows mum has cancer but the two older ones obviously know. It’s crushing; it’s awful."
Now, Fenn's family has launched a GoFundMe campaign, saying: "I would like to try and raise as much money as possible to donate to mum so she can make lots of precious memories with the little time that she has left."
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The mother, who is now stage four, was quick to think of others in her position, saying: “I’m not the only one – there are millions of people with cancer but it’s literally ruined and taken over my life. I’m just trying to do as much as I can while I can. While I feel like pointing fingers, I just don’t have the energy.”
Shola Lee