Woman in her 20s shares three cancer symptoms she ignored before getting stage four diagnosis
A 32-year-old woman revealed the three main signs that she ignored before being diagnosed with cancer twice in her twenties.
Georgie Swallow is a British content creator that was given devastating news a number of times as a young adult.
Swallow admitted later on that she ignored some tell-tale signs when it came to her health, to the point where she was told bad news by the doctor when she did finally decide to get checked out.
Now, the Brit urges people to get checked out if they experience any of the main symptoms of cancer.
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Before being diagnosed with the disease, Swallow explained the three main symptoms she ignored, writing them off as just being tired and stressed.
Speaking about her experience, the Londoner highlighted what to keep an eye out for.
Exhaustion
She admitted: “I was finding my feet with life and work and relationships and starting to feel like I was building my future. I was very active, social and always on the go.”
But this resulted in her body breaking down, as she also experienced other health issues.
Night sweats
“During this time I was losing weight, having night sweats, constantly exhausted and a never-ending stream of colds and flus but I just thought I was on the go too much and wearing myself out,” the 32-year-old explained.
Itchy legs
Probably the most irritating symptom, she said: “The most prominent symptom that took me to the doctors multiple times was my incredibly itchy legs.
“I would itch until I broke the skin which would keep me up all night. I went to the doctor and they thought it could be stress, allergies or urticaria but no cream or lifestyle change would make it go,” she concluded.
Opening up on how she found out about her condition, she said she needed the doctor telling her that she had stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma for her to slow down.
"After being off work for about two weeks with a serious bout of flu, I went into the office and whilst at my desk discovered a peach sized lump in the side of my neck,” she recalled.
The Brit admitted that she thought that nothing would be seriously wrong with her, 'naively'.
With the worry that she was 'wasting everyone's time' and making them worry for nothing, she explained that the symptoms of lymphoma in particular, are hard to spot.
“This is why lymphoma is diagnosed so late because you can brush the symptoms off so easily as other things.”
As a result of her condition, she would go into an early menopause, describing it like 'being hit by a bus', as having her fertility taken away before being able to have children 'was difficult'.
She explained: “The menopause at any age can be difficult but at 28 I didn’t have anyone my age to talk to about it. None of my friends understood what I was going through, and as supportive as they were, it’s hard to comfort and relate to something you don’t understand.”
Swallow also spoke about the '42 recognised symptoms of menopause' and highlighted the importance of mental health, encouraging women to speak up and find out if they too are experiencing an early menopause.
Georgie Swallow is working in partnership with Boots and Macmillan Cancer Support to raise awareness of early menopause caused by cancer treatment. For more information click here.
Joshua Nair