Woman, 27, issues warning after common symptoms she dismissed turned out to be cancer
Penelope Lew was just 27-years-old when she was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which affects blood cells key to a healthy immune system.
Ms Lew started noticing subtle symptoms in January, but brushed them off as the result of a busy routine.
'I had extreme fatigue, but I just thought I was a normal person that was tired. I work full time and I have two dogs so I'm walking every day and running a household,' she said.
'I just thought I was tired like any normal adult, but I was getting extremely out of breath. I signed up to personal training sessions because I thought I was so unfit.'
Gradually, she began to notice more peculiar things happening to her body such as problems with breathing and infections under her nails.
That same month she developed a 'rash all over my body', that eventually cleared up.
'I was just ignoring it thinking it was nothing. There was something going on underneath that I was just ignoring, but my body was clearly screaming at me to notice,' she added.
Two months later, she woke up to find her neck was swollen so significantly she 'thought I had an allergic reaction'.
'I had a significant gut feeling that there was something really sinister going on, but I didn't know what it was,' she said.
Around 2,100 people are diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in the UK each year and approximately 311 die from the disease.
It is an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, which is a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body that are responsible for getting rid of waste and fighting infections.
The cells develop abnormally and form swellings near the lymph glands, such as in the neck, armpit and groin.
The damaged cells also lose their infection-fighting properties, making patients more vulnerable to infection.
Hodgkin's lymphoma can develop at any age, but it mostly affects men between 20 and 40 years of age and those over 75.
Ms Lew rushed herself to A&E where several tests including an x-ray, ultrasound, blood withdrawn and a CT scan revealed the heartbreaking diagnosis.
Doctors sat her in a private room and said: 'I'm really sorry, we think you have lymphoma.'
'My best friend was in the room with me and we shed a few tears. I was in complete shock. You're in your 20s, reasonably fit and well—it's just the last thing you expect to hear,' she added.
They had already told her throughout the day that she had a heart murmur and was severely iron deficient.
Two weeks later she had a biopsy and a PET scan, which showed the lymphoma was in her neck; five lumps, the largest which was eight centimeters.
Urgent chemotherapy was booked just five days later, giving the young woman no time to plan for her future.
She shared her grief as she came to terms with the fact she is unlikely to ever be able to have children, as doctors told her there was no time to retrieve or freeze her eggs—a treatment which is commonly offered to young women in similar positions.
Radiation from the gruelling drug therapy can damage eggs in the ovaries, potentially causing early menopause and infertility. Some treatments can also reduce the number of eggs available.
'They told me I had no time for fertility treatment before chemo started, which is offered regularly to young women especially who haven't started a family yet.
'I don't know if I'm going to be able to have children in the future now because I wasn't able to have my eggs retrieved and frozen so that I could be aided in fertility treatment in the future.'
She is currently undergoing chemotherapy once every fortnight for the next six months.
Night sweats, unintentional weight loss, a high temperature, persistent cough and itchy skin are all other, lesser-known symptoms.
For some patients, the collection of abnormal cells happens in the abdomen, inside the body, leading to digestive symptoms like indigestion and abdominal pain.
Persistent tiredness and excessive bleeding can also be signs, as can pain in the lymph glands after drinking alcohol.
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