Man who had cancer mistaken for migraine shares signs he knew it was something more serious

A cancer survivor has revealed the signs that made him realise something more serious was going on after medics initially mistook his symptoms for a migraine.

Hamish Graham began experiencing headaches and dizziness during the first Covid lockdown in March 2020 - and as we all remember, doctors appointments were very hard to come by at this point in time.

But further alarm bells then started ringing when the then-23-year-old quickly lost a significant amount of weight, which prompted his family to get him an appointment at a local out-of-hours practice instead.

It was there that Hamish from Littleborough, Greater Manchester, was informed by a doctor that he was most likely just suffering from migraines.

However, something much more sinister was going on.

Hamish Graham pictured with mum Sarah, who pushed medics to conduct further blood tests (MEN Media/Hamish Graham)

The lad only found out that his health was in jeopardy due to his symptoms persisting and the fact that he picked up on something unusual while he and his mum were visiting his grandma.

The ODEON cinema employee explained: "We were going to walk around to my grandma's. We couldn't go inside because of Covid, but we were going to walk around and wave through the window.

"I just felt tired and I couldn't go any further. My mum then tried to get me in for a blood test."

Even though Hamish had been feeling fatigued, his lack of energy for the short walk made him realise it wasn't just severe migraines that he was suffering from.

His mother Sarah, 57, demanded that medics performed further blood tests on him - which subsequently revealed that the young man had leukaemia.

This is a cancer of the blood cells which originates in the bone marrow or lymphatic system.

According to Macmillan Cancer Support, people with leukaemia produce abnormal blood cells which 'behave differently from healthy blood cells', and there are various different types of the disease.

The lad, from Littleborough, was diagnosed with leukaemia (MEN Media/Hamish Graham)

Most forms of the illness develop slowly and the majority of patients have 'no symptoms in the early stages', the charity explained, adding that it is often only discovered after a routine blood test.

Hamish explained that receiving the diagnosis 'felt like déjà vu' - as when he was just seven-years-old, doctors found he had a rare brain tumour, so he had done this dance before.

"It got me down a bit," the cinema worker said.

Mum Sarah, who owns her own travel firm, admitted the news brought back bad memories for the pair of them.

"It was quite traumatic for both of us, "she added: "I think a lot of the stuff from the first battle resurfaced and the stuff we had to deal with, especially being in isolation, brought everything back up.

"One of the good things was that some of the staff that treated Hamish when he was seven were still there."

As a child, he had endured six weeks of radiotherapy and 18 months of chemotherapy - but this time round, he was forced to isolate for six weeks while the pandemic was at it's peak, before beginning a lengthy three-year course of chemo.

But thankfully, all of Hamish's hard work in the hospital paid off, as he was finally given the all-clear last year.

Hamish also beat a rare brain tumour when he was just seven (MEN Media/Hamish Graham)

Discussing his recovery, the 28-year-old said: "I feel okay now and am looking forward to getting back to speed with work. "I still work now, but not as many hours as I used to, but I'm getting there."

Sarah said it had been tough to get Hamish to where he is now, as he had to battle through 'lots of infections' and setbacks while undergoing treatment for his leukaemia.

"The Hickman line that was put in dislodged a few times," the mum added. "He had adverse reactions and had to come off some of the drugs. It wasn’t plain sailing."

The two-time cancer survivor now wants to raise money for the charities that have supported him throughout his life, including the Teenage Cancer Trust and The Christie Teenage and Young Adult Unit.

Hamish has organised a huge event dubbed 'MARVELous night out' which will be hosted at The Edwardian hotel in Manchester on 28 September, where he intends to exceed his previous fundraising best of £38,000.

If you want to support Hamish's efforts in any way, click here.

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.