A mum says doctors thought she could have 'parasitic worms' in her neck, only to be given a devastating diagnosis later on.
Francesca Knee-Wright, from Brighton, had only given birth to her second child three months before she noticed a 'very small' lump on her neck.
Putting it down to her body changing after pregnancy, the 34-year-old said she gave her GP a call only to be told the lump was 'probably just a gland' and to ring back in a couple of weeks.
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After a few weeks passed, Francesca found two more lumps so went to the doctors to get them checked out.
At first, she said her doctor thought the lumps in her neck could be 'parasitic worms', passed on from her two adopted 'street cats' from Spain. These worms are essentially parasites that infect the large intestine.
However, Francesca was left stunned when an ultrasound revealed a total of nine lumps in her neck and she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in August.
According to the NHS, Hodgkin's lymphoma is a relatively aggressive form of blood cancer that can quickly spread through the body.
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"I went to the gym a lot and had a baby and thought my body was going through so much change. It was hard for me to know what is normal with the baby," the mother-of-two said.
"I lost quite a lot of weight, but I didn't know if it was because I just had a baby and was breastfeeding or if I was doing really well at the gym.
"I didn't know it meant I was ill. You just think it could be anything, you don’t think it’s going to be cancer.
"If I hadn't found another one I would have definitely forgotten about it. Life is busy, and it was a very small lump."
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Francesca added: "It can be intimidating to question a doctor's authority. I'm lucky that I'm the kind of person to say, 'I think I need to see someone in person about this'.
"You just never know. I would hate for someone to be in the same position as me and just forget about it. I'm happy to speak up for myself and speak up for things that don't feel right.
"I had to stop breastfeeding my baby much earlier than I intended to. It completely changed how I wanted to parent my children.
"They said that my hair would fall so suddenly and I was scared my kids would go to hug me and a strand from my hair would fall out.
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"Can you imagine the trauma of my kids hugging me and my hair suddenly falling?
"As a mum I can't imagine what it would be like for my child to go through something like that, losing all their hair and navigating life."
Francesca decided to 'take back control' by shaving her hair before it fell out due to chemotherapy in order to raise funds for UK-based charity Little Princess Trust.
You can donate to her GoFundMe 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.
Anish Vij