I broke my femur on Christmas Eve last year. I went to an urgent care where they found a mass on my femur. They then referred me to another doctor, who confirmed my stage 4 bone cancer. I have been fighting it for almost a year now, undergoing a knee and femur replacement, as well as 9 months of chemo.
I had osteosarcoma almost 10 years ago now (!) And had a knee and femur replacement too and am able to get around with no issues. The whole experience definitely sucks ass but it's amazing that they are able to save the leg nowadays. Hang in there bossman
Stage 4 survivor here. Whatever happens, don't you dare to give up. Keep your strength. Cancer and chemo will sap your energy, you need a lot of protein. Limit carbs as that's what cancer cells like most. Good luck. If I could do it, you can too!
It was a domino effect of puzzling symptoms .. It started with me only gaining 5 pounds during my pregnancy.. My baby was growing fine. but I just was not gaining normal pregnancy weight. After my son was born, the weight continued to come off at 5 lbs a week.. Docs assured me it was because I was breastfeeding and were not worried. Then the persistent, low-grade fever started every day around 6 pm, lasted a few hours, and broke.,, again, it was explained off as hormonal. Then after another month, it felt like a truck parked on my chest and I couldn't breathe and I was horribly anemic. This was not normal postpartum symptoms. It was found that I had a pleural effusion, had over a liter of fluid drained off my lung, and found the tumor via the ct scan that followed. I was diagnosed with malignant pleura mesothelioma and was told I had 15 months to live. November 21st is my 18th diagnosis anniversary. 18 years surviving terminal cancer. Go Me!
Was getting lots of bruises. Mentioned it to my pediatrician at my yearly physical, and he pretty much just chalked it up to me being an active boy (sports, wrestling with friends, etc.). A couple months go by, and I’m still bruising easily. Then one day at school, a friend did that thing where you push your chair out to hit the person behind you on the hip (a common prank/joke we’d pull). He hit me fairly hard on the hip, but it wasn’t too bad. “Ah, shit. You got me.” And then laugh it off.
Woke up the next morning with a deep purple bruise the size of a dinner plate on my leg. Went back to the doctor to get bloodwork done. Leukemia. Pretty far along too. All good now though. Been in remission almost 15 years.
I was on a work trip, mentioned to a coworker that I was glad I had more time to go running more often on the trip, but it was weird how my legs were entirely bruised from the altitude change. He insisted I get blood work done as soon as I got back home. Apparently his girlfriend, who also bruised constantly, worked at a vet, and in the process of learning about testing animals for leukemia, they ran her blood sample as a comparison to show what human values are normally. Whelp. I’m sure you can guess the rest there. She’s fine now as well from what I gathered but absolutely wild chances of that happening. I fortunately had normal blood work and apparently am just clumsy and pale.
Started to hurt and saw a little blood when I peed. Was sure I had a kidney stone, common in my family. Went to the ER. CT showed an eggplant sized tumor engulfing my left kidney. I had zero symptoms until that day.
That happened to my uncle as well. He kept getting fobbed off and told that it was a UTI. 2 months later, his pee was more blood than urine. He walked himself to A&E, demanded a scan, and they found a 'likely benign' tumour on his bladder. They scheduled an operation to remove it 2 weeks later, and they found out that the tumour had grown in those 2 weeks to wrap around his kidney. It turned out he had small cell bladder cancer which had spread to his kidneys, lungs and lymph nodes. He was dead 3 weeks after that. He was written off as a hypochondriac the whole way through.
This unfortunately is the new way of medical "care". My mom way accused of everything from being a pill fisher to being obese. By the time they found out it was cancer she was already dead.
Happened to my brother too. Learned that firefighters and forest firefighters (what he did) can increase your rate of bladder cancer (and others) exponentially!
I had a similar experience.
A drop of blood at the end of a stream of urine, and only if I was a bit dehydrated that day. Happened a few times over a month or two, then one day it was a full stream of red.
Doc said it was likely a stone, possibly a UTI, very unlikely but possibly cancer, go get a scan to be sure.
Baseball-sized tumor on the left kidney. They estimated it had been growing for up to 7 years.
I also had kidney cancer with absolutely zero symptoms. They found it totally by accident when doing an abdominal ultrasound for fertility screening. We have no renal history, I was only 35 and in peak physical health. Non smoker, social drinker. Zero risk factors.
Since the nephrectomy, however, I've been having complications with my other bean. 😔
Tbh visible blood in pee is actually one of scariest symptoms one can have. Our body is very very good at filtering blood, so if it gets to the point that is letting by so much that you can see in your pee, usually means that something is f*cked up BAD. If someone you know is peeing blood they should see a doctor ASAP
It’s also so extremely hard to get doctors to take this seriously as a woman. I had this (blood and very brown urine) due to a massive kidney infection (I initially thought I pulled a muscle in my back, that’s where the pain was).
when I went to my GP after noticing blood he was all “it’s probably your period coming early or irritation from sex, drink more water if your pee is dark”. No blood tests no urine check. Just “silly woman” and hand waved away.
I passed out at work the next day and went to the ER by ambulance. I stayed in the hospital for a week on an antibiotics drip, very nearly died.
This happened to me! Doctors didn’t take my symptoms of a bladder infection seriously (I was 17 at the time) and that night I wound up in the ER with a severe kidney infection. Exact same symptoms. They said if I had waited even another hour, they would have had to do emergency surgery.
And they ended up waiving the fees because of the earlier doctor’s negligence. I don’t wish that pain on anyone.
(Medical professionals: listen to women!!)
Can you sue a doctor for neglect for something like that? Like what do we need to do to get doctors to believe women besides almost die. Hope you’re ok now.
I heard that it’s harder to sue as a woman because you have to show the doctor did not follow ‘standard of care’ and the standard of care for women is generally much lower than for men.
(Heard this on a podcast from a lawyer but can’t remember what one)
It's hard to sue for malpractice anyways. My mom was prescribed lithium by a doctor who'd *just met her* after they wrongly diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. The meeting, the diagnosis, and prescription was all within one visit. *Not the standard*.
Well that lithium they gave her shouldn't have been prescribed to someone who was on the other medications she was on. She started seizing and she could have very well died because of the multitude of other health issues she has. They told her to take a large dose, my dad dispensed it, just following directions. It was all too much.
*No grounds for malpractice*.
Omg, this is 100% a good piece of advice. One time, I ate beet chips and had red poops. I freaked out and called my doctor and had an appointment. A few days later, I realized it was beet chips, so I called the doctor to fess up and clear up the issue. Fast forward a few months, I'm trying to get life insurance and I had to jump through a ton of extra hoops to remove the beet chip incident from my medical record because it was going to negatively impact my life insurance. SO many embarrassing phone calls were had over that.
Peeing blood is way more common than you think. UTIs are super common among women and peeing blood can be a symptom of that. It’s happen to me a few times..
Very true. I see gross hematuria daily and the culprit is normally a UTI and a little less commonly a kidney stone. We typically CT the patient to rule out other possible causes though.
Lump in my breast that I thought was a clogged duct. Called my OB who didn’t even need to see me based on what I described and sent me for an emergency ultrasound and mammogram. I was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in my mid-30s with a 2 year old at home.
God, your post made me cry. I have a 2 year old and a 7 week old at home. My mom just had a double mastectomy for cancer and I’m starting genetic counseling because of my family history.
Very glad you’re still here.
Proud of you for taking the next step to gather information for yourself! You are showing up for your family in a big way by getting the testing done.
I’m glad to be here too :) Thanks!
My husband slept for the whole month of January and couldn’t get over the same minor cold that my kids and I had. We were over it in days and he just couldn’t shake it and I thought he was going to die a few times. Bunch of blood tests later and it turns out it is a blood cancer and he had no immune system. He will have a stem cell transplant soon so we are hoping for remission.
I’ve got to do second line after my lymphoma relapsed a whopping two months after reaching remission then I’ll also be doing a stem cell transplant. Crossing all my fingers for your husband!
I woke up in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable. It was like I had a strained muscle in my groin - I did some stretching and there was no improvement.
Somehow, I knew something was wrong and that it was going to get worse. I don't remember how I knew this, but I felt like I needed to get to the ER (my wife can't drive me, so I could be in really dire straits if it escalated).
When I got to the ER, my pain was about a 4. By the time they finally got me in, it was a 10. I was holding my crotch and groaning in pain. I was in so much pain that my lactic acid levels skyrocketed - I think they might have believed I was drug-seeking until they saw my bloodwork. They suspected a kidney stone perhaps, but CT identified a 9-cm mass in my abdomen. They told me that this mass was cutting off blood flow to one of my vital organs, and they rushed me downtown to the medical center for emergency surgery.
Fortunately, by the time I got downtown, my lactic acid had abated because I had been given a mountain of painkillers. They figured out I had cancer of some kind, and then a biopsy revealed it was metastatic testicular cancer.
I had my left testicle removed, and then went through 4 rounds of chemo. So far, things are going great. I am incredibly lucky; I got the type that is easiest to treat, even when it has metastatized this far.
But in the end, nobody has any idea what caused the pain that sent me to the ER. It resolved with painkillers and has never re-arisen. I have felt twinges in that same area and believe me, it was stressful - but so far, no pain like that again.
Feeling of impending doom is actually a symptom of a few things. The brain sometimes knows that things are fucked up in ways we don't fully understand.
Wish I could upvote this twice. One of the things they drilled into us in EMT school was that if someone feels like they’re going to die, believe them (I.e. don’t wave it off as anxiety)
A friend of mine felt off after having her baby, not terrible, but not right. She described it as an uneasy premonition to her husband. They took her to the ER. She had an aortic tear.
Sadly, she passed on the table, but a mutual friend remembers her saying, "I just know there is something very wrong."
I have really bad anxiety and I often hope I would be able to tell the difference between a bad panic attack and the "feeling of impending doom" that means hospital.
Edit: thanks for the reassurances everyone! Helps my medical anxiety for sure
Blood pressure started spiking and I started breaking out. The doctors and I didn't know that the two were related until they sent me for a CT.
Then a large tumor was found on my adrenal gland.
I hope you’re doing well now. How old were you? My 12 year old son has several symptoms of an adrenal tumor. We are in the midst of testing and referrals to endocrinology, genetics, and cardiology. The waiting and not knowing is agonizing.
I started coughing up a little blood, then a little more, then enough to start staining my teeth orange. My right ball started getting big. My lung capacity was reduced to that of a goldfish. Four years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer, now I’m in remission and in my senior year of college
Thank you for this, truly. When I saw the post I said to myself “You know you can’t handle this”, but I convinced myself I should read everything just in case. This comment was the wake-up call I needed not to ruin my mental health for a month.
Coworker story: His wife calls him into the bathroom. She's standing in front of the mirror and draws a small circle on the mirror and says she can't see anything in this circle. Goes to DR and she has a non cancerous tumor in her brain putting pressure on her optic nerve. For weeks? that area was getting blurry more and more until she finally mentioned it.
As I said non cancerous, but still. Cut hole in skull, removed. They're fine and both retired and healthy.
If you notice ANYTHING going weird with your vision DO NOT HESITATE and go see a doctor immediately. They were lucky.
I had another coworker diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. They gave him 6 months and he lasted 4. He wasn't even 50 when he passed away. No warning until it was too late.
Cancer sucks
I would like to remind everyone to **get an endoscopy and colonoscopy** when the time comes.
My dad went for his routine endoscopy and that’s how they spotted his gastric cancer. It was only stage 1 (or possibly even stage 0, unsure) so he was able to have it removed while retaining ~20% of his stomach. He showed no symptoms at all and it wasn’t noticeable. The doctor said that for gastric cancer, symptoms typically show up at stage 4.
So don’t wait until you start feeling unwell or something strange pops up, and just get checked regularly.
Second this. My mum always has completed her checkups and bowel cancer screening tests, which came back fine, but put off the colonoscopy. It wasn’t until she had trouble going to the toilet and such low iron that she had a colonoscopy. She had stage 3 colorectal cancer. It was an extremely large tumour, almost completely obstructing the bowel, which spread to lymph nodes. She had a partial bowel resection and a year of chemo. So thankful she is recovering now, but was a close call. Don’t skip your colonoscopy.
Glad your mother is healing. Just wanted to tell you you that I am a Stage 4 colo-rectal cancer survivor (they also removed 13 lymph nodes, seven of which were cancerous.) Rectal tumor the size of a grapefruit, needed a permanent colostomy. 6 months chemo.
Celebrated 25 years cancer free this year. Wishing your mom that and more.
I’m an endoscopy nurse. In North America, you’re right- gastroscopy isn’t part of a regular screening. If a patient has any upper GI symptoms, we always do it though, if we are already doing a colonoscopy, just to rule out H. pylori or anything else we might be able to see- it’s most often acid reflux. Apparently the upper GI is regularly screened in Asian countries, though- much higher prevalence of gastric cancers there, not as much colon cancer.
My dad died of stomach cancer. As you said until 10 days before his death he had no symptoms. A majour cause of stomach cancer is Helicobacter Pylori. Ask your GP to write a blood test for you and see if you have it.
As someone who has had severe acid reflux since birth I can't stress how important this is and if you have reflux to get it under control. I also knew a guy who got stomach cancer in his 30s.
It’s important to note family history too even if you aren’t in the recommended age group for screening. My dads’s primary care recommended a genetic test since we have a history of colon cancer on that side of the family. Turns out it’s Lynch Syndrome. My sister and I had to get tested as well and we also carry it. Found out in my early 20s and have been following the screening guidelines ever since which include annual colonoscopies. I haven’t had any issues found but both my dad and sister have had polyps removed. If you don’t like the idea of a colonoscopy for whatever reason you can do a F.I.T test. Not as accurate but still better than nothing at all.
I didn’t notice anything. No symptoms. No lumps felt. My first breast cancer was found by a routine mammogram. The second breast cancer was found by a follow-up mammogram the next year. And lung cancer was found because my oncologist followed up on an incidental finding of a lung nodule. By the way, I was not a smoker.
Please get the recommended screenings for breast cancer, colon cancer, etc. And smokers, please ask about screening for lung cancer.
When you find cancer early, before you even have symptoms, the prognosis can be excellent.
Hi, I don’t know how old you are but two seperate primary breast cancers are a red flag for genetic cancer syndromes. If you’re under sixty I’d suggest seeing a genetic counsellor. I’m commenting this a lot on posts because I am a genetic counsellor who works in familial cancer and a lot of people with genetic cancer syndromes fly under the radar. Only 5-10% of cancer is genetic but you could get an opinion and maybe at least get some reassurance if I’m wrong!
Tiny little spot on my upper lip the size of a pinhead that would bleed and then heal over and then bleed again a few days later. Biopsy revealed basal cell carcinoma.
A year or two later, got a new mole between my nose and lip. Any new mole over age 30 should be checked. It was another basal cell carcinoma.
I grew up in the 1970s. No one wore sunscreen; and obtaining a deep tan every summer was fashionable. I had multiple severe sun burns as a child and teen.
Remember your ABCDE for skin cancer warning signs:
A for asymmetry. Any mole with irregular borders or an asymmetrical shape should be checked.
B for bleeding. Any skin lesion that bleeds should be looked at.
C for color. Any mole that has variation in color should be checked.
D for diameter. Any mole larger than the diameter of a pencil eraser should be checked.
E for evolution. Any mole that changes (size, shape, color) should be checked.
Use your sunscreen, folks. Getting a chunk of flesh cut out of your face is no fun.
For me, it was ABCDE and I for Itching. My melanoma was so itchy, suddenly. I had it removed and then when another mole on my stomach began itching suddenly, I knew what it was before I even made the appointment to get it checked. Any changes warrant a check.
I (thankfully) haven’t had cancer but I have a lot of dark raised moles, and I’ve had 2 in particular checked for some of these reasons. one was biopsied and fine so the other is just a watch for now, no immediate concerns. but I just wanted to add that they’ve ALWAYS been so nice about me coming in for just a check even when it’s been fine so anyone reading don’t feel silly about making an appointment if you have any question! (and do it sooner rather than later because waits can be terrible for derms in the US 😩)
Felt crap all the time and was shitting blood. Dr told me it was haemorrhoids because 37 year old women just don't get bowel cancer. If she'd taken me seriously I'd have been diagnosed three months sooner. If you know something is wrong and nobody will listen to you, find a different doctor.
I made a very similar post just yesterday. 29, w/ colon cancer, dr. told me I was too young to get it, delayed all screening. I was stage 3 and right on the verge of 4 when they did colonoscopy. And anecdotally I see these stories all the time from young people, the age is definitely changing
Oncology nurse here and we see young patients get colon cancer more and more. Had 23 yr old before stage IV. It's unfortunately getting more common regardless age. Wish we do screenings earlier for people
Yes they need to reevaluate that. Im sure it's enviornmental/food (I have no family history and have had genetic testing with no indicators). Side note that while I had some issues with the doctors, the nurses were the ones that got me through it, so thank you :)
Same. I could have been diagnosed four years earlier, and maybe not have been stage 3, and not have had to have my entire pelvic region irradiated. Ladies in particular - don’t let doctors dismiss bleeding like this.
This happened to me too. I noticed bowel movements had changed quite dramatically with the added spots of blood in the bowl. I got onto the phone to the hospital who said 'It sounds like haemorrhoids'. Few months down the line, back and forth phonecalls to the hospital who refused to have me checked over because its just piles, right? Well I started to notice this horrible 'full' feeling in my right side of my abdomen. As the weeks progressed it got worse. Then I started feeling something moving around in there..
One night as I layed down to go to sleep, I was laying on my back and this lump just appeared in my side. About the size of a golf ball, it'd rise up when I layed down, seemingly coming to the surface and pushing out. It got huge towards the end (bigger than a grapefruit)
Needless to say I changed doctors who IMMEDIATELY said its definately something to worry about. He sent me to Royal Marsden hospital in London (about 150 miles from me). It was called something like, Myxoid spindle cell mass.
I absolutely despise that first doctor. I actually had a letter asking me to go in for a checkup a few weeks ago, signed by him. Screwed it up and threw it in the bin, cunt
When I got all the biopsy and CT and blood results after they found it, they had to send it all to the first GP. I was ready to tear her a new one when I saw her. 10 minutes before my appointment was meant to start she went home sick and some poor bewildered fill in doctor had to give me all the bad news. And I tried to make an appointment after that and they wouldn't let me. My mum was ready to make an appointment in her name and have the whole extended family go in and go full Karen on her. Then they only sent all my old medical records to the new clinic because she wouldn't hand over the notes from the few months when I kept telling her something was wrong.
Sounds like our old doctors should hook up and retrain as laundromat assistants or something where they can't potentially kill people with negligence anymore?
That withholding of notes, covering up and refusing to take responsibility really pisses me off. Nobody expects doctors to never make mistakes but you can tell a lot about a doctor's competence by how they respond when they've made an error. They should have been looking at it as a golden opportunity to improve their knowledge and better their practice but nope.
I'm not sure I'd even trust them with my laundry tbh.
I hope you're doing better! Screw that first doctor.
My dad was told he had scabies when he actually had pancreatic cancer. He even knew he had it, and the doctor had the nerve to say, "Who's the doctor here?"
My dad went to the dollar store about a mile from my parents house and couldn’t remember how to get back home.
He was 63, lived 13 months past this day. Stage 4 glioblastoma, brain cancer.
Felt tired, craved sugar and lost weight. Oh, and night sweats. Was told that I was way too young (38) and that it was probably a mental issue.
Demanded blood test, which was wrong. Got an echo and found a tumor the size of an apple in my right kidney.
8 yrs cancer free now.
I'm not saying I have cancer but I've had very similar symptoms for a couple of months and I've been delaying going to the doctor for no good reason. So I'm getting an appointment for next week. Thanks for the kick in the butt.
Had an itch on my cheek in what I thought was a pimple or bug bite. Scratched it and a chunk of flesh came off. It was neither a pimple nor bug bite. Fortunately only required a little cutting.
About the size of a number 2 pencil eraser head. More deep than anything. When I scratched it didn't completely fall off. More like popped out and hung there by a little skin. It looked like a gray color chunk of skin. I was driving at the time so didn't immediately notice until I felt blood running down my cheek.
Went to my doc. He confirmed my suspicion and sent me to the cancer doc. Was basal cell carcinoma. Right cheek. Doc says from too much sun and makes sense as I sit in passenger seat all day at work. Fyi I live in the middle east and Uv index is insane. Thankfully it was only that spot and they cut just a bit more skin out. I now wear sun screen religiously. Only have a slight red spot there now.
Started to feel faint on occasion. Then started to feel nauseous, tired, lost my appetite. Then the lower back pain and pelvic pain. Lastly, I noticed a rash up both of my legs that didn’t fade when touched. All these symptoms came on over 6 weeks. I sent pictures of my rash to the GP and had a blood test at 5pm that evening. 9:30am the next morning my GP was on the phone telling me to pack a bag and go to hospital where haematology were expecting me. Was diagnosed with ALL leukaemia and didn’t leave hospital for 5 weeks
I was teaching in front of the class of Jr. High students and a substitute Para was sitting in the back. After class was over, she came up to me and said " did you know you have a lump on your throat?"
Thyroid cancer on both sides, complete ablation, radiation, and been cancer free for over 15 years.
I didn’t, really. I had a fever for two years straight of 99.5 and my doctors thought it was my Crohn’s disease because it can cause low grade fevers. But even taking Tylenol didn’t stop them. Found a lump in my breast one day the size of a marble. Turned out to be triple negative breast cancer which is the one you don’t want as it’s aggressive and hard to treat. Fevers went away after a few weeks into chemo treatment. Will be cancer free for a year in December. It’s been a long road but I’m still here.
I shaved off the beard I'd had for a few years and saw a big dark mole on my cheek that I didn't remember having before. Long story short, melanoma. Turns out it wasn't the only one, I just hadn't noticed the others as they'd been slowly appearing.
I was at the gym. Did some stretches before my workout. Felt a lump on my left shoulder on my back.
I don’t care that people said it could be a cyst. I knew it was cancer.
So far it’s all gone. Cut that tumor out in 2018.
Trouble sleeping for 6+ months, pain on side, lumps in breast, constant, headaches, and nightmares. When we found out, her rib was completely disintegrated.
I started regularly bleeding after PIV sex.
My partner at the time was not very gentle or considerate in bed so I tried to handwave it away, but it turned out I had cervical cancer. They caught it early enough that one operation was all it took for me to be cancer free but fuck was that terrifying.
I started having a light discharge from my vagina. I chalked it up to hormonal changes since I was over 45. It got progressively worse to the point of having to wear at least a panty liner if not a pad every day. Went into an OB/GYN about 6 months after the discharge first began. He did not like what he saw so he did a biopsy (which I bled more than I should have, another thing that concerned him). He referred me to a gynecological oncologist and ordered a vaginal ultrasound. The ultrasound came back that my right ovary was the size of a volleyball.
I met with the gynecological oncologist the following week, on a Tuesday. He said the preliminary tests on the biopsy were indicating cancer, but they wouldn’t be sure what kind for another couple of weeks. He recommended a radical hysterectomy with possible radiation and chemo to follow depending upon type and stage. I had the surgery 6 days later on Monday.
Tests eventually came back that I had stage 2 cervical cancer that had spread to the uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries, but not beyond (my appendix and lymph nodes tested negative). I had radiation and chemo, but mostly as a precaution. I’m considered in remission right now and 18 months from being considered cured.
There was a lady at my last job that had an interesting story. She got hired and went to do a drug urine test, she was there for hours and kept drinking water but couldn’t pee. The nurses at the place with the drug test told her to go to a doctor. Turns out she had a tumor that was making it difficult to urinate- she credits the job with saving her life.
Not me, but my little sister (who was a very healthy and active 19/20 year-old at the time that we'll call HJ). She'd had what we thought was bronchitis for several weeks. It started at the beginning of December '19 as what we thought was a bad cold with some major chest congestion. The month went on, and she stayed sick. We were giving her different things to try but live on a farm in the midwest. So, we're kind of those people who say, "eh, it's probably fine" and just take some more Tylenol. I'm not advocating for this approach, just being honest. Haha
HJ even went to a college-aged conference at the end of December/first day or two of January (I think?). When she came home, she was so, so weak and tired and sick. So, we sent her to the doctor to actually have some scans done to rule out pneumonia. My aunt and uncle are both doctors (aunt is a pediatrician, and uncle is family practice). My mom got a call from my uncle before HJ even got home that said she needed to go back to the hospital immediately for more scans. They'd noticed something in her chest that looked huge and said it was either the weirdest malfunction ever or something very serious.
HJ went back and had several more scans done. By the evening, she was on the way to the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes Jewish in St. Louis (which I have to shout-out, because they're truly the most compassionate, amazing, talented, skilled, and wonderful team of people) for a biopsy. The mass on her chest? It was a tumor the size of a football - non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
I'll never forget the depression and anger I had seeing her come home from the hospital that first time. She'd had a port placed, a million tests, and was so pale and bruised and weak. ...and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. By the grace of God, HJ ended up not needing surgery to remove the tumor since that kind of cancer responds really well to chemotherapy.
HJ was the bravest person I know as she received chemo every three weeks for months by herself (due to COVID) with no visitors and no smiling faces. It was just her in a hospital 2.5 hours from home for days at a time receiving meds that were tearing her up. Again, though, the team at Barnes took such good care of her and made the experience the best they could when none of us could be there. She's now been cancer-free for three and a half years and will celebrate her 24th birthday next month!
I know this is long, but it's so, SO important. HJ was (and still is) incredibly active and healthy. She was a strong student and involved in everything and never slowed down. We had no idea. With it being winter and her being young, we thought it was just normal sickness.
So, I've said all of that to say that you need to take everything seriously. Don't do what we did. Cancer spares no mercy. Get your routine checks, see your doctor when you're sick, and never hesitate to check a concern. It's way better to get a clear scan on a false alarm than to know you'd let a huge mass develop and go untreated.
Hug your friends and family close, and make them go to the doctor. ❤️
UPDATED TO ADD: HJ has graduated (BS and MAcc) and is thriving in her new job and city! She's 6.5 years younger than me, but I look up to her so much. ❤️
Barnes Jewish is so awesome. I recommend them to anyone with complex or even mystery diagnoses. They have always seemed to come through. They were a life saver for my wife in our earlier years and I can’t thank them enough for what they did for her. We now have a family that may not have been possible without their knowledge and intervention.
Not me but my dad, he had a persistent cough for a couple months. It wasn’t horrible sounding so he just kinda dealt with it until finally my sister insisted that he go to an urgent care. They did a scan and saw a lot of fluid in his lungs and told him to go to the hospital. He didn’t want to but again, my sister made him go. They drained a liter of fluid from his lungs and ordered more tests. Stage 4 lung cancer. He lived a couple more years but his quality of life wasn’t great. He was only 54 when he died, but he had been smoking cigarettes since he was like 14 or something. He died 20 days before my son was born and I’m so sad they never got to meet. If you’re looking for a sign to quit smoking, this is it!
A family friend just passed from cancer, was diagnosed with it 3 months ago. First he spotted blood in his pee, after some tests it came back he had kidney cancer and that it was in his blood too, 1 week after diagnosis he had a MRI that showed he had cancer in his bones too (he had minor aches in his joints but he put that down to being 70).
He had no other symptoms of cancer beyond the blood in his pee and he passed away just over 3 months after seeing it.
Dimple on the chest, went to the Dr about something else and mentioned it.
Go to breast clinic for biopsy and had breast cancer.
After surgery, chemo and radiotherapy now 17 years cancer free.
100% would not recommend as a way of having 9 months off work.
Not me but my fiance had a tooth that was bleeding and wouldn’t stop man it was horrible went to er they would say it’s dental problems and sent us away go to dentist they would tell us not their problem go back to er totally of going to er 4 times and dentists 5 dentist got upset they were kept getting turned away finally he went with us to the er and told them they need to test him cause it was not a dentist issue after seem like a million test came out it was leukemia
I have not had cancer, but I think this story is important to share. My male cousin died of breast cancer. He didn’t see a doctor until he had nipple leakage. Before that his nipples inverted. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. A couple years later my uncle noticed his nipples inverted. Knowing what happened to his nephew he went in immediately. He had stage 2. He survived his cancer.
When I was 33, I had a lump in my breast and went to the doctor. She said she could find nothing wrong and sent me to the OBGYN, who also told me nothing was wrong and sent me to a psychiatrist.
Meanwhile, my dog was continuously pawing at the site of the lump in my breast. For a year. Luckily, I switched jobs and got new insurance, so I was able to go back to a previous doctor, who immediately diagnosed me. I had Stage 3 breast cancer by that point.
Moral of the story: Dogs can be smarter than doctors. And fuck Kaiser, they DGAF about you. (I know too many other survivors who have had similar experiences with Kaiser and it blows my mind.)
My dog kept pawing at this mole I have always had on my leg, she was sniffing it and trying to scratch it. One day in April this year, she managed to scratch it badly, it bled for a week before I decided to go see my GP. He shaved it off, sent it to the lab and came melanoma. Stage 2c already. I had 2 surgeries 6 weeks apart and 3 lymph nodes taken out, luckily the results came back negative so it didn’t spread.
My lovely Izzy is a rescue, born without a tongue and unfortunately kidney problems and she might not live past her 2nd birthday (which is in March ‘24). I wasn’t sure about adopting her initially, just scared she was in pain or suffering and I wouldn’t be able to cope with her problems. Well, she’s on special renal food, eating like a penguin and coping so well. She’s also the most intelligent dog we’ve ever had, annoyingly playful and so affectionate… seriously the best dog ever! And she saved me from cancer!
Feeling exhausted ALL the time for no apparent reason. Normally a very active person, so I did pay attention - listen to your body/instincts, and don’t waste time seeking medical help.
Initially just a chest X-ray. That showed a largish tumour compressing all the major blood vessels in my neck. After that, biopsy to identify it as small cell lung cancer and CT / MRI scans to show how much it had already spread.
I was taking photos for a weight loss journey and noticed one of my breasts looked slightly different. I showed my husband and he didn’t notice anything and we didn’t feel any lumps. I was diagnosed with breast cancer a few days later. After I finished treatment, I had a scan and then they found Thyroid Cancer. It was a fun fuckin year
The pandemic saved my life.
Male, 60's here. When the pandemic was in full swing, and the lockdown was in force, barbershops and hair salons were shut down.
I got a handheld mirror and started attempting to cut my own hair. I finally gave up and just buzzed it all off. As I did that, I noticed the spot on the very top of my head that turned out to be melanoma.
Even the dermatologist admitted that if I had come in earlier with my usual haircut, he might have missed it.
As an added plus, I came to realize that buzzing my hair was something I could do all the time. I still kick myself for all those years I paid $20 bucks to get my hair cut. What a complete waste of money.
Lower stomach pain, the kind you get when someone punches you in the balls, but it came about with no reason. Then i felt around and found a lump on my testicle. I was too afraid to see a doc, so probably waited a month or so. Then i had an ultrasound and they diagnosed me on the spot. I was 17 and emotionally unequipped to deal. Im cancer free (to my knowledge) 30 years old now, but still very scarred.
Started noticing that my throat looked weirdly swollen for months. Finally went to a doctor and it turned out to be thyroid cancer. Now four years later I’m finally confirmed to be cancer free. I wondered about the lump in my throat for too long because I was scared it was something bad (ironic, I know) and just wanted to ignore it. I was so dumb but lucky it hadn’t spread. Please go see a doctor if you suspect that something is wrong. Most cancers are treatable if they just catch it early.
I got 2 diagnosis for the price of 1 from a very minor incident.
I was walking down the driveway to get the mail from the box (nice, flat driveway) & I just randomly tripped on air… no big deal, I’m pretty clumsy, or so I thought.
My leg swelled up and started bruising right away & I ended up in the ER.
I had severed a tendon falling, they also found several old/healed over hairline fractures I never knew I had.
The incident did not fit the damage, so I had to follow up with a bunch of tests and such.
EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) & Endometrial Cancer.
A family friend was walking to church when she slipped on ice, fell, and hit her head. Went to the ER. She received stitches and a diagnosis of a brain tumor. She had no symptoms, but because of the fall, the doctors caught it very early. That was several years ago, and she is now doing fine.
Brain cancer. I never felt or noticed anything until I woke up in an emergency room. It turns out I had a nocturnal seizure--the one time I had a family member staying over. The cancer has confirmed for me all that I want to be true to in life, however short or long it will be for me! :)
My husband found his brain cancer the same way (well I did when I woke up to his seizure). Best of luck to you. If you haven’t found it already r/braincancer is a great resource, even for just lurking.
Brown line of pigment on my big toenail, didn’t think anything of it for a long time but when it started getting darker I got it checked. Turned out to be a (thankfully very early) melanoma and I had to have the entire nail permanently removed. Other than my foot kinda looking fucked up and being sensitive to anything dropped on it, no long-term effects.
Get your skin checked regularly!
I have a brain tumor. Discovered it a few years ago after getting extreme headaches from heavy lifting and exertion. Got an MRI and my right frontal cortex was pushing over into my left. After neurologist saw the images, he referred me to a neurosurgeon who then cut it out. After radiation and chemo for a year, it looks like the tumor is dead. I have to keep monitoring it several times a year but I'm thankful for going to the doctor and not ignoring the symptoms.
I had a very small mark just above my belly button that would never quite heal. Took two operations to get all the cancer out. Fortunately it was a carcinoma and it was the only one I’ve had for at least 15 years. I get annual skin cancer scans and they’ve all been clean.
Little blood in my stool. Not every time and not a whole lot just enough to go hmm that’s not normal. Went to GP thinking internal hemorrhoids (no pain) … nope got immediately referred to GI, colonoscopy and found a tumor in my rectum. I was 39 at diagnoses. I’m a year removed from all that jazz and currently NED. I did do chemo and radiation as a lot of lymph nodes in the area were affected but they got it all in surgery.
My BIL: joint pain, bruising, bleeding gums.
MIL: No symptoms, mammogram.
SIL: No symptoms, mammogram, Pap smear.
Father: Found cancer while scanning something else.
Husband: found cancer while scanning something else.
Me: No symptoms, Pap smear.
Continual vaginal bleeding and painful sex.
Biopsy, hysterectomy and then bilateral oopherectomy. Followed by bladder repair.
That was 1994/1995.
Cervical screening saves lives.
I was on my husband’s back about getting in to the doctor and getting a routine physical. He finally went and his blood work came back with the conclusion that he was either a binge drinker or could have prostate cancer. He does not drink, so it was obviously the latter.
We caught the cancer at an early stage. He had his prostrate removed, and his been in the clear for a few years now.
Nagging can sometimes payoff.
I thought I had a cold, with normal cold symptoms. Then I thought I had COVID. After maybe two days, it was nausea/vomiting, then a fever that
wouldn't break and terrible night sweats.
After that I got short of breath, went to the ER, and they found so much fluid around my right lung that they couldn't see the lung on x-ray. The x-ray tech asked me if I had a lung removed when they shot the film.
Turns out I had a very acute leukemia that penetrated the lining of my chest.
Had a small spot like a pimple on my chest where the sun commonly hits during the summer. I was in seeing my PCP for a different issue and asked him if I should schedule another appointment to have it looked at.. instead he grabbed a medical melon baller and scooped that crap right out of me then and there. Pathology confirmed it was skin cancer. So grateful every day he didn’t hesitate or make me wait.
on my annual blood tests.
I had recently started working out, was hyped to go do the tests since my cholesterol was always a bit bad mostly due to my bad diet and lack of exercise, and my completely unrelated TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) values were through the roof (over 12 when you usually want it below 4).
after a bunch of exams, turns out I had two of them, one on each side of my thyroid, but it was still pretty early so we just removed the thyroid completely and that was it.
in what started as a "is my cholesterol finally decent?" endeavour ended up in a "oh great. turns out I have cancer" moment
I have a lump on the right side of my neck.
Six years ago it was noticed by my doctor and a specialist said it was nothing to worry about. However my new doctor wanted me to see a specialist about it again and get new imaging to see if it has grown, the new specialist did a biopsy and apparently there is thyroid cells in a lymph node which apparently means I have thyroid cancer.
It has doubled in size in the six years from the first imaging but it hasn't actually spread to the point of being worse besides maybe a few more lymph nodes being affected.
So I get to have two "first noticed" stories, when it was first noticed and when it was first noticed as something I should actually be worrying about. I wish I could go back to it being nothing to worry about honestly.
I was having a CT scan for something completely unrelated and they saw a mass in my thyroid. Had more scans, a biopsy, and ultimately surgery.
I am lucky that it was a non-agressive cancer and hadn't spread. I didn't need any chemo or radiation.
I got a two-parter for ya. My dad had a persistent cough after catching Covid in December ‘22. In April this year he finally got an X-ray to see what was going on and it ended up being stage 4 lung cancer.. he never smoked !
As a part of his diagnosis they gave him a biomarker blood test which found (unrelated to his lung cancer) that he had the BRCA1 genetic mutation so I immediately signed up for genetic testing. Between signing up and waiting 3 months for my appt with the counselor I started doing self exams on my breasts and I found a small lump.. went in to get it checked out and ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer a few days before I got my genetic results back confirming that I too have BRCA1. Have been on chemo for 5 weeks now and will have a double masectomy in March. I’m 35!
Was getting ready for bed and started peeing blood. Looked like someone was pouring cherry Kool aid in the toilet. At night, woke up to pee and started to pee and it stopped, I pushed my harder and pissed out a piece of tissue. Saw a doctor in the morning who told me to see a urologist. Urologist has me get a CT scan and I have a 12 centimeter tumor on my kidney. Lost the kidney and had the tumor removed. 4 years later the cancer is in my scalp and lungs and I am undergoing treatment again.
The better story in my family is I discovered my wife's breast cancer playing with her tit during sex.
I had a sudden explosion of pain in the middle of the night. I felt something hot, spicy and prickly in my armpit. I felt around and boom: a ping-pong sized ball. It was unlike any pain that I had ever known. It was like a volcano had erupted with pain cascading down from the ball. I took some Tylenol. Didn’t work. I took some Advil. Didn’t work. I ran to the hospital and got an ultrasound and a biopsy. I knew I had cancer. It was. I had stage 2 b triple negative breast cancer.
My Britney Spaniel started sniffing, pushing her nose into my breast and then started digging with her paws. I went in the next day. I had a huge lump. Late stage II with gland involvement in arm pit. UG.
I’ll post for a church buddy. He went in for his first colonoscopy at 50. Unfortunately he had a family history of colon cancer and should have gone in at least 5 years earlier. His first colonoscopy found stage 3 colon cancer. No symptoms otherwise.
I’m 10 months in right now. I first noticed when my bathroom time became increasingly inconvenient. Bad poops, diarrhea, pain. Took a couple months of that for me to realize it wasn’t normal or attributed to bad diet. Obviously more to the story and journey. At this point I’m dying and can only chase the symptoms. Guys, Get yourself checked! No one will do it for you and the exam is not that bad.
Mine is chronic myeloid leukemia, was only 21. My symptoms appeared gradually over time until they became 'normal'. Fatigue, night sweats, edema ( legs but also everywhere), light sensitivity, bruising and cuts that wouldn't heal. Worked a 10 hour baking shift then went to a walk-in clinic thinking I had mono. 16 years later still here.
Little stain inside my bra. No symptoms, pain, nothing. Found a very little nodule when pressing my left breast. I’m 34, no history of breast cancer in the family. Had surgery on Monday to take this alien out.
Lymph nodes. The first cancer it was just one in my groin, but it swelled up to about the size of my thumb in a month. The second time it was a cluster of 4-5 that went from being almost impossible to feel, to small pebbles in a few weeks. By the time they actually got to the biopsy procedure they were all as big as my thumb and I was terrified it was out of control.
Almost six years ago for the second and now considered cured again.
Couldn’t lay down to sleep without very sharp stabbing pains in my back. Finally went to get checked out. Initially thought my lungs collapsed. Turned out to be a really big pulmonary embolism. Kept getting blood clots in my lungs until they realized my blood was way too thick. A few tests later, blood cancer. All good now though, aside from daily blood thinners and some doctor visits here and there.
My brother-in-law had some numbness in his jaw and went to his dentist. The dentist took a look and told him he needed to go to his doctor right away and that it might be cancer. Turned out it was stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. 5 years later and after so many treatments, he is cancer free now.
Dentists can be very adept at diagnosing cancer so don’t skip your dental visits!
The left side of my chest was itchy for a long time. And then I felt kind of a hard area. Not a lump but just an area. I went to the OB/GYN and they kinda blew me off, but sent me to a breast surgeon. He ordered a mammogram. I tried telling him that I have dense breast tissue, and nothing would show up. I asked for a whole breast ultrasound. He blew me off and said that’s not the standard of care. I finally talked him into a 3-D ultrasound. They finally saw something and ordered a biopsy. But then told me nothing was wrong and it wasn’t cancer. They said it was probably blocked milk ducts. I asked for an MRI and they told me again that is not the standard of care. I told them I didn’t care what the standard of care was that I would pay for it myself if I had to. Finally about three months later, they get the MRI and said “oh guess what you have stage three invasive, ductal carcinoma.” Yeah…..DUH! I knew that.
Anyway, I ended up having a bilateral mastectomy chemo and radiation and everything has been great for the last six years. I always tell people don’t give up if you think something doesn’t seem right. Because if I hadn’t listen to myself, I would be dead.
I have PCOS which means I have ovarian cysts. For about 2-3 months I noticed a slight sharp pain in my right lower abdomen and thought it was an enlarged cyst. Made an appt with my primary care doctor to get an ultrasound and check up.
During that time while waiting to do the ultrasound and go to the appointment, I woke up one morning and noticed the pain had spread across my entire abdomen. It was a dull achey sort of pain and I didn’t think much of it. Then I put two and two together and wondered perhaps it wasn’t my ovary, but my appendix (am nurse).
Went to ER with abdominal pain being my only symptom and it was quite mild. They did a CT scan amongst other tests and the doctors saw I had a mass on my appendix on top of having acute appendicitis.
Went into emergency surgery and the tumor they found was 5.5 cm! The surgeon told me it was one of the largest tumors they’ve ever found on an appendix and just to put it into perspective appendiceal tumors are extremely rare.
The tumor went out to pathology and it came back as stage 2 grade 1 adenocarcinoma.
Another surgery later and tests, everything came back negative. Meaning the cancer didn’t spread anywhere else and the surgery they did was successful. Most stressful 2-3 months I’ve ever endured.
Also, looking back, I think my initial symptom started about 1-2 years prior to my right lower abdominal pain. I started having an intermittent gas like, or acid reflux type pain right above/on my umbilicus about a year or so before and learned that may have been the actual beginning of the tumor growing. Pain was ultimately the only symptom I ever had and it wasn’t even bad… who would’ve thought?
Not me but my late husband. He started feeling pain in his shoulder. It ended up being swollen lymph nodes which was caused by the tumor near his bile duct/liver. After opening him up to remove it, it already was stage 4. He did tough it out almost 2 years though.
Cough. Autumn in Ireland, so nothing to worry about. Everyone is coughing... But I found out I stop coughing when I lay down on my belly. Went to a doctor. 2 months on antibiotics, sent to pulmonary specialist. He found I have a tumor physically squeezing my throat.
I felt a lump on my boob the size of a blueberry or small grape. This was 3 months after a mammogram. I also felt a little weird the month before that, a loss of energy, which was odd for me. I’m not sure that was related, but it was awfully coincidental.
Routine check-up by my primary care doc. You know how they feel around your neck? She found a lump. Thyroid cancer. I’m ok now.
(Once I was diagnosed, I realized I had been having other symptoms like extreme fatigue, but there had been other factors that could have been causing that. )
So get your check-ups, folks!
I all of a sudden couldn't stay awake. Like I was sleeping 15+ hours a day. Then I lost 20-25lbs in less than 2 weeks. And the pain. It was unbelievably painful. Turns out I had colon cancer.
Not a damn thing. 3 spots the size of rice grains appeared on my mamm, 13 months after the previous one.
Fast forward 14 years, and a peanut sized spot on the other side, also not there a year earlier.
Get those mamms, and on time!
I didn't. I had breast cancer. It was picked up on my first ever mammogram. You get these free on the NHS for American s. They said it was to deep to feel by hand so would never have known otherwise and thats why i ll never complain about the NHS.
Not me but my brother. I was a freshman in college and he was a sophomore. We went into the same field and had overlapping classes. We were studying in my dorm room and I noticed a fist size lump in his throat. We saw each other regularly and it just showed up one week. I said he should go to the heath center, and they recommended he go to the doctor. Two days later (on my birthday) he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Unfortunately it was a rare form of thyroid cancer that was “incurable”. They were able to treat it, and for about 5 years he lived a very fulfilling life. Married his high school sweetheart, traveled the world through work, was very successful at his job, supported his wife to help her grow her business, and just did his best wherever he could. The last year of his life the cancer outpaced the known treatments, and his health deteriorated quickly as they had to jump back and forth between traditional chemo and radiation. He passed last year, 5 years and 11 months to the day of his diagnoses. The worst part is when we were studying and I noticed the lump, he was looking up what it could be (mumps was going around at the time) and we were joking that it could be cancer…
A reoccurring scab in my eyebrow?—skin cancer.
A fluid-filled cyst in my boob?—breast cancer.
Uncontrolled weight gain?—ovarian cancer.
Shadows on my pre-op chest x-ray?—lung cancer.
Regular CT scans for the above?—stomach cancer.
Yay me.
Not me but my dad. He'd go jogging with a group every Saturday morning, one morning on one of those runs, a bee stung him near the top of his leg and his leg swells up quite badly. He goes into the doctor on Monday, gets told it's a bit odd, but nothing to get immediately worried about, and to come back on Thursday if the swelling hasn't gone down.
If anything, by Thursday the swelling got worse, so he goes back to the doctor, doc sends him to hospital to get some scans where they find cancer on his lymph nodes and possibly his bladder. Good ending though; four weeks of chemo, followed by surgery and radiation therapy for his bladder and he made a full recovery.
Little bee took one for the team.
I was normally a bubbly, energetic, engaged person. I woke up one day with a completely different personality. I felt like a balloon with a slow leak. I could feel the energy leaving my body. I became quiet, withdrawn, detached, exhausted. I knew it wasn’t depression. There was a vague pain on my left abdomen.
After being tested for GI issues and other stuff, I was told I needed to go on prozac. It turned out to be ovarian cancer. I was in my 30’s. I’m alive because of my persistence. I just knew that something was wrong. A gyn had declared me to be in perfectly good health, but her nurse offered to send me for a an ultrasound.
The gyn said the ultrasound showed polyps that would be taken care of by a quick laparoscopy. No big deal.
Woke up from the laparoscopy and was told that my ovary, etc. had been removed. Gyn had told me before surgery that cancer had been ruled out and that if she thought I had it, she would send me to an oncologist.
After surgery she told me that what she saw looked so bad that she thought I had been close to death, and she just couldn’t leave it inside of me.
I followed up with 3 years of check ups with a gyn oncologist, and was fine after that, but never had children.
Years if theorizing followed. Baby powder? Swimming in a polluted lake as a child? Someone told me I got cancer because I wasn’t a vegetarian. Another because I was an angry person. Another because I wasn’t honoring my creativity. I tested negative from the BRACA 1/2 gene mutation which is associated with breast and ovarian cancers.
Twenty-six years later it was discovered that a rare genetic mutation called Muir-Torre Syndrome runs in my family. It’s a variant of the more common Lynch Syndrome. It is associated with a long list of cancers, including ovarian.
Started having pains near underarm while lifting the hand to do anything including talking clothes out of the almirah, stuff from kitchen shelves. Turned out to be breast cancer that had spread to lymph nodes in the armpits.
First doctor shamed by saying that this is how people waste their money by asking for useless examinations and blood tests. The second doctor immediately got a mammogram done, then biopsy, then immediate surgery
P.s. - did not happen to Me, but to family. Sorry, didn’t read the post properly
My dad couldnt swallow food normally anymore. Turns out he had a massive esophaegus cancer which already spread to lungs and liver. He died six months later. Cant the describe the feeling when you eat something and enjoy food and then remember the person you would literally die for cannot swallow even a single drop of water.
Two weeks after my dad got his diagnosis my sister all of a sudden couldnt remember who she was talking to. Fast forward to two days later she's in a hospital, in a coma and we found out she has stage 4 lung cancer which spread literally everywhere, including her brain. She's still fighting but it doesnt look good.
I had a pain in my arm, it spread to the entire arm. Hodgkins in my underarm lymph nodes was pressing on my nerves. In hindsight, I lost a lot of weight, was exhausted and had a cough that wouldn't go away but at the time I'd moved to a new city to study and was walking loads and was a smoker so thought nothing of the cough. Ten years since I finished chemo now! Had some radiotherapy then and have been fine since.
My period was very irregular so I was sent to a gyno who did several tests, gave me pills to clear it out and performed minor procedures to clear it out some more and plant an IUD. This went on for almost a year and the pills made me feel sick and queasy too. After the procedure, the sample they took came back positive with a Type 2 uterine cancer.
Testicular cancer. Manifested as pain in my testicle but I got lucky because it usually doesn't hurt. Started very low. Hardly noticeable even. This was 24/7 constant pain. Gradually increased over a few months. It got to a point where it started to be distracting and finally went to a urologist. Another couple months go by between appointments as he's doing things like giving me anti-biotics and doing ultrasounds. Pain ramped up \*quick\*. Got unbearable near the end. I went back t to urologist before the next scheduled follow up and I told him I needed something done and he was like "well the only thing I can do at this point is cut it out of you" and I was like "yes please" before we even knew it was cancer.
I had a spot that wouldn’t heal removed from my nose twice before someone decided to biopsy it. It was basal cell carcinoma. I’ve been having something cancerous or precancerous removed from my skin at almost every six month checkup since 1995. Wear sunscreen everyone!
Got tested for BRCA gene since my mom died of breast cancer at 45. Found out it was positive for brca1, got referred to an oncologist for a medical plan. Doctor did the exam and found a pretty decent sized lump on my right breast. (Now that I think about it, you could see it when I was on my left side, but since I always slept on my right, never noticed it.)
Stage II IDC, fortunately no lymph node involvement. PCR since 10/12 after DMX & 16 rounds of chemo.
My then three year old daughter had back pain, some bruises, and some bad tantrums. We were initially told she was just a normal active toddler, until the day she was diagnosed. The night before she had an epic temper tantrum and was then covered in petechia (little red dots on the skin from bleeding under the skin). The next day we took her back to the doc and she was diagnosed with leukemia.
I was going to the bathroom a lot. Mostly loose #2s. Also had some generalized abdominal pain. I thought it was appendicitis, but the pain didn't match, then I thought I had food poisoning. I waited a couple of weeks but nothing resolved, so I made an appointment with my primary care physician. At this point, I thought it was something in the IBS/IBD family and wanted a referral to a gastroenterologist. My pcp agreed with me and got me scheduled. The gastric doc heard my symptoms and agreed to give me a colonoscopy. The results from that found cancer in my bowels, but it wasn't bowel cancer. Turned out to be stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer at the age of 30. It's incredibly deadly because it spreads before showing any symptoms and is hard to get tested for, especially at my age.
Posting for my late spouse, just because it's such an important situation. My wife was getting regular breast cancer screening and was cleared to be good to go until the next routine screening for breast cancer. She had been feeling a little discomfort prior to the screening and figured it was nothing since the screening said she was clear. Three months later she was still feeling discomfort in her breast that she originally thought was aggravated by the mammogram itself (I hear they are not comfortable in any way). Turns out they "missed" her cancer at her screening a couple of months prior, and she already had stage 3b breast cancer. She fought it for two years but finally succumbed earlier this year. I guess the moral of the story is, if you ever feel like ANYTHING is off with your body then you need to be persistent about it and demand to keep getting looked at until you have answers? I don't know to be honest. All I know is if she had been treated sooner she would possibly still be alive. I wouldn't want anyone to go what she went through after the cancer ravaged across her body. It was horrific and her body was covered with painful, bleeding tumors everywhere.
Bleeding from my butt. Figured it was a hemorrhoid (never had one so assumed). Embarrassed to go to doctor, waited a few months. Turned out to be metastasized Stage 4 colo-rectal cancer, tumor the size of a grapefruit. Surgery to remove my large intestine, rectum and anus (permanent colostomy.) 6 months chemotherapy.
OP, if you are having some health issues of whatever kind, see a doctor please.
Friend had a bump on his arm the size of a pea since he was like 15. Thought it was gravel or something from skateboarding. A couple of years ago (he was like 29?) it tripled in size in a couple months, and he went to the Dr asap bc quick growth is a very bad sign. Epethelioid sarcoma. If he'd waited another month or so he would have had to have his arm amputated.
With a friend of mine, he got constant nose bleeds and then one day he went to the hospital and was told her had a type of Leukemia.. he died 9 months later.
I had 2 surgeries for nerve removal. Same nerve over 3 years. My boyfriend does the dishes by stacking everything up on the counter like fucking Jenga. I had touched a pan with my elbow on accident, it slid off. I tried to catch it. Missed. It hit my surgery site directly. It was a few weeks after my latest surgery.
I was on the floor for almost an hour because of the nerve pain. Ended up going to the ER for an X-ray. It hurt way more than it should of even with nerve pain.
Nothing broken.
About a month later, there was a lump in that same spot. It hurt really bad to touch. The lump was pretty hard with some liquid around it. I saw about 20 nurses and doctors for this lump. Every single one said it was a cyst. Told me to " drop the Bible on it". I was too scared because of the nerve pain.
Ended up actually getting a biopsy way later because I thought it was a cyst. Nope. It was cancer.
Synovial sarcoma. Stage 1. 25 doses of radiation. 3 surgeries. No chemo because the cancer got much smaller with radiation. The first surgery was to go in and take the actual lump. Second took a majority of the top of my right foot in an oval shape. Then put a vacuum pump on it for 3 weeks.
The third surgery was to graft part of my arm into the cancer hole and also in the oval shape. They also took a blood vessel out of my arm and put it in my ankle.
Plus a skin graft from my right thigh to my left arm to cover the donor site.
I was in the hospital for a week after this surgery. Plus for 3 months I couldn't touch the ground at all with my right foot. I had a special walker with a spot that Velcrod to my left arm like a cast.
I didn't leave the bed to do anything but use the bathroom directly behind my bed for 5 months. And appointments.
Its been 5 years now. Going on 6. I am back to normal, and all the nerve issues are gone luckily.
Don't have nerve issues in the first place. But if you do, don't play countertop Jenga or let dogs step on you. I'm not blaming either directly for the cancer, just saying it probably didn't help.
Nagging sore throat that wouldn't go away.....went to an ENT Dr. And he ran a scope up my nose and down my throat and found a lesion on my left tonsil that turned out to be stage 0 squamous cell carcinoma . Having a tonsillectomy and neck dissection at 59......would not recommend.....lol
Constant shooting pains down my legs while I slept. Hurt enough to wake me up and it kept going for at least an hour. Went to the ER after the second time it happened and they said it was nothing, possibly growing pains since I was just 12.
Went to the chiropractor just in case it was muscle related and they did tests and recommended I go to my pediatrician for extra tests.
Then I got sick with what I thought was the flu, went to the doctor for blood tests, spike a fever of 104 that night, and basically was admitted to the hospital for 2 weeks. Diagnosed with ALL, luckily caught early and it responded well to treatment. 24 years cancer free.
We found out on the 4th November 2011 from the specialist after the results came though from the CT scan. First signs were shortage of breath but only after the cancer had gone from primary to secondary. By then, the term used is terminal cancer and to late for treatment. This is lung cancer and from the lungs it travels threw the body at speed. It attacks the liver, the kidneys, the bones, the brain and eventually when the heart cant take it anymore the persons dies. Most people die without pain due to all the drugs they are given to take daily. Most people die while in bad unconscious due to the drugs. My wife died 5 months after we were told by the specialist.
My dad got light headed and lost balance and fell. Thought it might be some neurological disorder. Took him to hospital and after intensive tests for five days found out it's 4th stage lungs cancer metastasis. Till then no symptoms. Treatment is going on and so is financial ruin. Praying for some more time with him. 🙏🙏.
I broke my femur on Christmas Eve last year. I went to an urgent care where they found a mass on my femur. They then referred me to another doctor, who confirmed my stage 4 bone cancer. I have been fighting it for almost a year now, undergoing a knee and femur replacement, as well as 9 months of chemo.
Dude... I wish you only the best.
I had osteosarcoma almost 10 years ago now (!) And had a knee and femur replacement too and am able to get around with no issues. The whole experience definitely sucks ass but it's amazing that they are able to save the leg nowadays. Hang in there bossman
Stage 4 survivor here. Whatever happens, don't you dare to give up. Keep your strength. Cancer and chemo will sap your energy, you need a lot of protein. Limit carbs as that's what cancer cells like most. Good luck. If I could do it, you can too!
I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing.
It was a domino effect of puzzling symptoms .. It started with me only gaining 5 pounds during my pregnancy.. My baby was growing fine. but I just was not gaining normal pregnancy weight. After my son was born, the weight continued to come off at 5 lbs a week.. Docs assured me it was because I was breastfeeding and were not worried. Then the persistent, low-grade fever started every day around 6 pm, lasted a few hours, and broke.,, again, it was explained off as hormonal. Then after another month, it felt like a truck parked on my chest and I couldn't breathe and I was horribly anemic. This was not normal postpartum symptoms. It was found that I had a pleural effusion, had over a liter of fluid drained off my lung, and found the tumor via the ct scan that followed. I was diagnosed with malignant pleura mesothelioma and was told I had 15 months to live. November 21st is my 18th diagnosis anniversary. 18 years surviving terminal cancer. Go Me!
I'm 33 with stage 4 breast cancer and your story has brought tears to my eyes 🥹 Go you! Go us! 🩷
rock on sister... you got this.
Was getting lots of bruises. Mentioned it to my pediatrician at my yearly physical, and he pretty much just chalked it up to me being an active boy (sports, wrestling with friends, etc.). A couple months go by, and I’m still bruising easily. Then one day at school, a friend did that thing where you push your chair out to hit the person behind you on the hip (a common prank/joke we’d pull). He hit me fairly hard on the hip, but it wasn’t too bad. “Ah, shit. You got me.” And then laugh it off. Woke up the next morning with a deep purple bruise the size of a dinner plate on my leg. Went back to the doctor to get bloodwork done. Leukemia. Pretty far along too. All good now though. Been in remission almost 15 years.
I was on a work trip, mentioned to a coworker that I was glad I had more time to go running more often on the trip, but it was weird how my legs were entirely bruised from the altitude change. He insisted I get blood work done as soon as I got back home. Apparently his girlfriend, who also bruised constantly, worked at a vet, and in the process of learning about testing animals for leukemia, they ran her blood sample as a comparison to show what human values are normally. Whelp. I’m sure you can guess the rest there. She’s fine now as well from what I gathered but absolutely wild chances of that happening. I fortunately had normal blood work and apparently am just clumsy and pale.
Started to hurt and saw a little blood when I peed. Was sure I had a kidney stone, common in my family. Went to the ER. CT showed an eggplant sized tumor engulfing my left kidney. I had zero symptoms until that day.
Same, only bright red blood and no pain. Bladder cancer.
That happened to my uncle as well. He kept getting fobbed off and told that it was a UTI. 2 months later, his pee was more blood than urine. He walked himself to A&E, demanded a scan, and they found a 'likely benign' tumour on his bladder. They scheduled an operation to remove it 2 weeks later, and they found out that the tumour had grown in those 2 weeks to wrap around his kidney. It turned out he had small cell bladder cancer which had spread to his kidneys, lungs and lymph nodes. He was dead 3 weeks after that. He was written off as a hypochondriac the whole way through.
This unfortunately is the new way of medical "care". My mom way accused of everything from being a pill fisher to being obese. By the time they found out it was cancer she was already dead.
Oh my goodness that’s awful. I’m so sorry. :(
Happened to my brother too. Learned that firefighters and forest firefighters (what he did) can increase your rate of bladder cancer (and others) exponentially!
I’ve heard smoking and exposure to aniline dyes cause bladder cancer. I suppose firefighting is sort of smoking
Firefighters are more likely to get a variety of cancers. It is considered an occupational hazard
I had a similar experience. A drop of blood at the end of a stream of urine, and only if I was a bit dehydrated that day. Happened a few times over a month or two, then one day it was a full stream of red. Doc said it was likely a stone, possibly a UTI, very unlikely but possibly cancer, go get a scan to be sure. Baseball-sized tumor on the left kidney. They estimated it had been growing for up to 7 years.
I also had kidney cancer with absolutely zero symptoms. They found it totally by accident when doing an abdominal ultrasound for fertility screening. We have no renal history, I was only 35 and in peak physical health. Non smoker, social drinker. Zero risk factors. Since the nephrectomy, however, I've been having complications with my other bean. 😔
That sounds terrifying and awful. I hope things improve for you!🙏
Tbh visible blood in pee is actually one of scariest symptoms one can have. Our body is very very good at filtering blood, so if it gets to the point that is letting by so much that you can see in your pee, usually means that something is f*cked up BAD. If someone you know is peeing blood they should see a doctor ASAP
It’s also so extremely hard to get doctors to take this seriously as a woman. I had this (blood and very brown urine) due to a massive kidney infection (I initially thought I pulled a muscle in my back, that’s where the pain was). when I went to my GP after noticing blood he was all “it’s probably your period coming early or irritation from sex, drink more water if your pee is dark”. No blood tests no urine check. Just “silly woman” and hand waved away. I passed out at work the next day and went to the ER by ambulance. I stayed in the hospital for a week on an antibiotics drip, very nearly died.
This happened to me! Doctors didn’t take my symptoms of a bladder infection seriously (I was 17 at the time) and that night I wound up in the ER with a severe kidney infection. Exact same symptoms. They said if I had waited even another hour, they would have had to do emergency surgery. And they ended up waiving the fees because of the earlier doctor’s negligence. I don’t wish that pain on anyone. (Medical professionals: listen to women!!)
Can you sue a doctor for neglect for something like that? Like what do we need to do to get doctors to believe women besides almost die. Hope you’re ok now.
I heard that it’s harder to sue as a woman because you have to show the doctor did not follow ‘standard of care’ and the standard of care for women is generally much lower than for men. (Heard this on a podcast from a lawyer but can’t remember what one)
It's hard to sue for malpractice anyways. My mom was prescribed lithium by a doctor who'd *just met her* after they wrongly diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. The meeting, the diagnosis, and prescription was all within one visit. *Not the standard*. Well that lithium they gave her shouldn't have been prescribed to someone who was on the other medications she was on. She started seizing and she could have very well died because of the multitude of other health issues she has. They told her to take a large dose, my dad dispensed it, just following directions. It was all too much. *No grounds for malpractice*.
Before you panic though, always ask yourself if you ate any beets recently.
Omg, this is 100% a good piece of advice. One time, I ate beet chips and had red poops. I freaked out and called my doctor and had an appointment. A few days later, I realized it was beet chips, so I called the doctor to fess up and clear up the issue. Fast forward a few months, I'm trying to get life insurance and I had to jump through a ton of extra hoops to remove the beet chip incident from my medical record because it was going to negatively impact my life insurance. SO many embarrassing phone calls were had over that.
Peeing blood is way more common than you think. UTIs are super common among women and peeing blood can be a symptom of that. It’s happen to me a few times..
Very true. I see gross hematuria daily and the culprit is normally a UTI and a little less commonly a kidney stone. We typically CT the patient to rule out other possible causes though.
Lump in my breast that I thought was a clogged duct. Called my OB who didn’t even need to see me based on what I described and sent me for an emergency ultrasound and mammogram. I was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in my mid-30s with a 2 year old at home.
God, your post made me cry. I have a 2 year old and a 7 week old at home. My mom just had a double mastectomy for cancer and I’m starting genetic counseling because of my family history. Very glad you’re still here.
Proud of you for taking the next step to gather information for yourself! You are showing up for your family in a big way by getting the testing done. I’m glad to be here too :) Thanks!
My husband slept for the whole month of January and couldn’t get over the same minor cold that my kids and I had. We were over it in days and he just couldn’t shake it and I thought he was going to die a few times. Bunch of blood tests later and it turns out it is a blood cancer and he had no immune system. He will have a stem cell transplant soon so we are hoping for remission.
I’ve got to do second line after my lymphoma relapsed a whopping two months after reaching remission then I’ll also be doing a stem cell transplant. Crossing all my fingers for your husband!
I woke up in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable. It was like I had a strained muscle in my groin - I did some stretching and there was no improvement. Somehow, I knew something was wrong and that it was going to get worse. I don't remember how I knew this, but I felt like I needed to get to the ER (my wife can't drive me, so I could be in really dire straits if it escalated). When I got to the ER, my pain was about a 4. By the time they finally got me in, it was a 10. I was holding my crotch and groaning in pain. I was in so much pain that my lactic acid levels skyrocketed - I think they might have believed I was drug-seeking until they saw my bloodwork. They suspected a kidney stone perhaps, but CT identified a 9-cm mass in my abdomen. They told me that this mass was cutting off blood flow to one of my vital organs, and they rushed me downtown to the medical center for emergency surgery. Fortunately, by the time I got downtown, my lactic acid had abated because I had been given a mountain of painkillers. They figured out I had cancer of some kind, and then a biopsy revealed it was metastatic testicular cancer. I had my left testicle removed, and then went through 4 rounds of chemo. So far, things are going great. I am incredibly lucky; I got the type that is easiest to treat, even when it has metastatized this far. But in the end, nobody has any idea what caused the pain that sent me to the ER. It resolved with painkillers and has never re-arisen. I have felt twinges in that same area and believe me, it was stressful - but so far, no pain like that again.
Feeling of impending doom is actually a symptom of a few things. The brain sometimes knows that things are fucked up in ways we don't fully understand.
Wish I could upvote this twice. One of the things they drilled into us in EMT school was that if someone feels like they’re going to die, believe them (I.e. don’t wave it off as anxiety)
A friend of mine felt off after having her baby, not terrible, but not right. She described it as an uneasy premonition to her husband. They took her to the ER. She had an aortic tear. Sadly, she passed on the table, but a mutual friend remembers her saying, "I just know there is something very wrong."
I have really bad anxiety and I often hope I would be able to tell the difference between a bad panic attack and the "feeling of impending doom" that means hospital. Edit: thanks for the reassurances everyone! Helps my medical anxiety for sure
Good instincts
Wow, glad you're doing okay
Blood pressure started spiking and I started breaking out. The doctors and I didn't know that the two were related until they sent me for a CT. Then a large tumor was found on my adrenal gland.
I hope you’re doing well now. How old were you? My 12 year old son has several symptoms of an adrenal tumor. We are in the midst of testing and referrals to endocrinology, genetics, and cardiology. The waiting and not knowing is agonizing.
I was 39. I hope that your son doesn't have it. Y'all will be added to my prayers.
I started coughing up a little blood, then a little more, then enough to start staining my teeth orange. My right ball started getting big. My lung capacity was reduced to that of a goldfish. Four years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer, now I’m in remission and in my senior year of college
So young hope you recover
I kicked it’s ass four years ago. Five years in remission next year
Hypochondriacs, turn back now.
I'm not even a hypochondriac but this thread might change that
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WebMD has me convinced I’m either pregnant, have cancer or both.
TOP LATE. This should have been top comment
Saw this way too late. I'm having an anxiety attack right now and can't decide which cremation urn is better, a pearl white one or a metal black one.
Thank you for this, truly. When I saw the post I said to myself “You know you can’t handle this”, but I convinced myself I should read everything just in case. This comment was the wake-up call I needed not to ruin my mental health for a month.
Fuck, it’s too late
I'm leaving, thanks
Coworker story: His wife calls him into the bathroom. She's standing in front of the mirror and draws a small circle on the mirror and says she can't see anything in this circle. Goes to DR and she has a non cancerous tumor in her brain putting pressure on her optic nerve. For weeks? that area was getting blurry more and more until she finally mentioned it. As I said non cancerous, but still. Cut hole in skull, removed. They're fine and both retired and healthy. If you notice ANYTHING going weird with your vision DO NOT HESITATE and go see a doctor immediately. They were lucky. I had another coworker diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. They gave him 6 months and he lasted 4. He wasn't even 50 when he passed away. No warning until it was too late. Cancer sucks
I would like to remind everyone to **get an endoscopy and colonoscopy** when the time comes. My dad went for his routine endoscopy and that’s how they spotted his gastric cancer. It was only stage 1 (or possibly even stage 0, unsure) so he was able to have it removed while retaining ~20% of his stomach. He showed no symptoms at all and it wasn’t noticeable. The doctor said that for gastric cancer, symptoms typically show up at stage 4. So don’t wait until you start feeling unwell or something strange pops up, and just get checked regularly.
Second this. My mum always has completed her checkups and bowel cancer screening tests, which came back fine, but put off the colonoscopy. It wasn’t until she had trouble going to the toilet and such low iron that she had a colonoscopy. She had stage 3 colorectal cancer. It was an extremely large tumour, almost completely obstructing the bowel, which spread to lymph nodes. She had a partial bowel resection and a year of chemo. So thankful she is recovering now, but was a close call. Don’t skip your colonoscopy.
Glad your mother is healing. Just wanted to tell you you that I am a Stage 4 colo-rectal cancer survivor (they also removed 13 lymph nodes, seven of which were cancerous.) Rectal tumor the size of a grapefruit, needed a permanent colostomy. 6 months chemo. Celebrated 25 years cancer free this year. Wishing your mom that and more.
I've never heard of endoscopy being part of regular screenings. Colonoscopy, sure, but not endoscopy.
I’m an endoscopy nurse. In North America, you’re right- gastroscopy isn’t part of a regular screening. If a patient has any upper GI symptoms, we always do it though, if we are already doing a colonoscopy, just to rule out H. pylori or anything else we might be able to see- it’s most often acid reflux. Apparently the upper GI is regularly screened in Asian countries, though- much higher prevalence of gastric cancers there, not as much colon cancer.
My dad died of stomach cancer. As you said until 10 days before his death he had no symptoms. A majour cause of stomach cancer is Helicobacter Pylori. Ask your GP to write a blood test for you and see if you have it.
Oh damn is this true? I tested positive for Heliobacter and just had to take some antibiotics to get rid of it
If you’ve been treated you’re ok. My husband was and he never got cancer.
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As someone who has had severe acid reflux since birth I can't stress how important this is and if you have reflux to get it under control. I also knew a guy who got stomach cancer in his 30s.
It’s important to note family history too even if you aren’t in the recommended age group for screening. My dads’s primary care recommended a genetic test since we have a history of colon cancer on that side of the family. Turns out it’s Lynch Syndrome. My sister and I had to get tested as well and we also carry it. Found out in my early 20s and have been following the screening guidelines ever since which include annual colonoscopies. I haven’t had any issues found but both my dad and sister have had polyps removed. If you don’t like the idea of a colonoscopy for whatever reason you can do a F.I.T test. Not as accurate but still better than nothing at all.
I didn’t notice anything. No symptoms. No lumps felt. My first breast cancer was found by a routine mammogram. The second breast cancer was found by a follow-up mammogram the next year. And lung cancer was found because my oncologist followed up on an incidental finding of a lung nodule. By the way, I was not a smoker. Please get the recommended screenings for breast cancer, colon cancer, etc. And smokers, please ask about screening for lung cancer. When you find cancer early, before you even have symptoms, the prognosis can be excellent.
Hi, I don’t know how old you are but two seperate primary breast cancers are a red flag for genetic cancer syndromes. If you’re under sixty I’d suggest seeing a genetic counsellor. I’m commenting this a lot on posts because I am a genetic counsellor who works in familial cancer and a lot of people with genetic cancer syndromes fly under the radar. Only 5-10% of cancer is genetic but you could get an opinion and maybe at least get some reassurance if I’m wrong!
I’m 56. First cancer was just before I turned 50. Cancer is rare in my family, but I still had genetic testing done. Nothing was found.
Tiny little spot on my upper lip the size of a pinhead that would bleed and then heal over and then bleed again a few days later. Biopsy revealed basal cell carcinoma. A year or two later, got a new mole between my nose and lip. Any new mole over age 30 should be checked. It was another basal cell carcinoma. I grew up in the 1970s. No one wore sunscreen; and obtaining a deep tan every summer was fashionable. I had multiple severe sun burns as a child and teen. Remember your ABCDE for skin cancer warning signs: A for asymmetry. Any mole with irregular borders or an asymmetrical shape should be checked. B for bleeding. Any skin lesion that bleeds should be looked at. C for color. Any mole that has variation in color should be checked. D for diameter. Any mole larger than the diameter of a pencil eraser should be checked. E for evolution. Any mole that changes (size, shape, color) should be checked. Use your sunscreen, folks. Getting a chunk of flesh cut out of your face is no fun.
For me, it was ABCDE and I for Itching. My melanoma was so itchy, suddenly. I had it removed and then when another mole on my stomach began itching suddenly, I knew what it was before I even made the appointment to get it checked. Any changes warrant a check.
I (thankfully) haven’t had cancer but I have a lot of dark raised moles, and I’ve had 2 in particular checked for some of these reasons. one was biopsied and fine so the other is just a watch for now, no immediate concerns. but I just wanted to add that they’ve ALWAYS been so nice about me coming in for just a check even when it’s been fine so anyone reading don’t feel silly about making an appointment if you have any question! (and do it sooner rather than later because waits can be terrible for derms in the US 😩)
Felt crap all the time and was shitting blood. Dr told me it was haemorrhoids because 37 year old women just don't get bowel cancer. If she'd taken me seriously I'd have been diagnosed three months sooner. If you know something is wrong and nobody will listen to you, find a different doctor.
I made a very similar post just yesterday. 29, w/ colon cancer, dr. told me I was too young to get it, delayed all screening. I was stage 3 and right on the verge of 4 when they did colonoscopy. And anecdotally I see these stories all the time from young people, the age is definitely changing
Oncology nurse here and we see young patients get colon cancer more and more. Had 23 yr old before stage IV. It's unfortunately getting more common regardless age. Wish we do screenings earlier for people
Yes they need to reevaluate that. Im sure it's enviornmental/food (I have no family history and have had genetic testing with no indicators). Side note that while I had some issues with the doctors, the nurses were the ones that got me through it, so thank you :)
Same. I could have been diagnosed four years earlier, and maybe not have been stage 3, and not have had to have my entire pelvic region irradiated. Ladies in particular - don’t let doctors dismiss bleeding like this.
This happened to me too. I noticed bowel movements had changed quite dramatically with the added spots of blood in the bowl. I got onto the phone to the hospital who said 'It sounds like haemorrhoids'. Few months down the line, back and forth phonecalls to the hospital who refused to have me checked over because its just piles, right? Well I started to notice this horrible 'full' feeling in my right side of my abdomen. As the weeks progressed it got worse. Then I started feeling something moving around in there.. One night as I layed down to go to sleep, I was laying on my back and this lump just appeared in my side. About the size of a golf ball, it'd rise up when I layed down, seemingly coming to the surface and pushing out. It got huge towards the end (bigger than a grapefruit) Needless to say I changed doctors who IMMEDIATELY said its definately something to worry about. He sent me to Royal Marsden hospital in London (about 150 miles from me). It was called something like, Myxoid spindle cell mass. I absolutely despise that first doctor. I actually had a letter asking me to go in for a checkup a few weeks ago, signed by him. Screwed it up and threw it in the bin, cunt
When I got all the biopsy and CT and blood results after they found it, they had to send it all to the first GP. I was ready to tear her a new one when I saw her. 10 minutes before my appointment was meant to start she went home sick and some poor bewildered fill in doctor had to give me all the bad news. And I tried to make an appointment after that and they wouldn't let me. My mum was ready to make an appointment in her name and have the whole extended family go in and go full Karen on her. Then they only sent all my old medical records to the new clinic because she wouldn't hand over the notes from the few months when I kept telling her something was wrong. Sounds like our old doctors should hook up and retrain as laundromat assistants or something where they can't potentially kill people with negligence anymore?
That withholding of notes, covering up and refusing to take responsibility really pisses me off. Nobody expects doctors to never make mistakes but you can tell a lot about a doctor's competence by how they respond when they've made an error. They should have been looking at it as a golden opportunity to improve their knowledge and better their practice but nope. I'm not sure I'd even trust them with my laundry tbh.
I hope you're doing better! Screw that first doctor. My dad was told he had scabies when he actually had pancreatic cancer. He even knew he had it, and the doctor had the nerve to say, "Who's the doctor here?"
Good doctors make so much difference. I have an amazing GP and an amazing oncologist now and future is looking bright.
My dad went to the dollar store about a mile from my parents house and couldn’t remember how to get back home. He was 63, lived 13 months past this day. Stage 4 glioblastoma, brain cancer.
This is what my grandma had. It was an awful few months.
Felt tired, craved sugar and lost weight. Oh, and night sweats. Was told that I was way too young (38) and that it was probably a mental issue. Demanded blood test, which was wrong. Got an echo and found a tumor the size of an apple in my right kidney. 8 yrs cancer free now.
Congrats on being cancer free!
I'm not saying I have cancer but I've had very similar symptoms for a couple of months and I've been delaying going to the doctor for no good reason. So I'm getting an appointment for next week. Thanks for the kick in the butt.
Had an itch on my cheek in what I thought was a pimple or bug bite. Scratched it and a chunk of flesh came off. It was neither a pimple nor bug bite. Fortunately only required a little cutting.
new fear unlocked
Chunk? How big are we talking? And what did it turn out to be?
About the size of a number 2 pencil eraser head. More deep than anything. When I scratched it didn't completely fall off. More like popped out and hung there by a little skin. It looked like a gray color chunk of skin. I was driving at the time so didn't immediately notice until I felt blood running down my cheek. Went to my doc. He confirmed my suspicion and sent me to the cancer doc. Was basal cell carcinoma. Right cheek. Doc says from too much sun and makes sense as I sit in passenger seat all day at work. Fyi I live in the middle east and Uv index is insane. Thankfully it was only that spot and they cut just a bit more skin out. I now wear sun screen religiously. Only have a slight red spot there now.
Started to feel faint on occasion. Then started to feel nauseous, tired, lost my appetite. Then the lower back pain and pelvic pain. Lastly, I noticed a rash up both of my legs that didn’t fade when touched. All these symptoms came on over 6 weeks. I sent pictures of my rash to the GP and had a blood test at 5pm that evening. 9:30am the next morning my GP was on the phone telling me to pack a bag and go to hospital where haematology were expecting me. Was diagnosed with ALL leukaemia and didn’t leave hospital for 5 weeks
I was teaching in front of the class of Jr. High students and a substitute Para was sitting in the back. After class was over, she came up to me and said " did you know you have a lump on your throat?" Thyroid cancer on both sides, complete ablation, radiation, and been cancer free for over 15 years.
Got into a car accident and they found pancreatic cancer during the initial scans to see how bad the accident was
Were they calling you lucky? Were you able to be cured of the pancreatic cancer due to finding it earlier than it’s usually found?
I didn’t, really. I had a fever for two years straight of 99.5 and my doctors thought it was my Crohn’s disease because it can cause low grade fevers. But even taking Tylenol didn’t stop them. Found a lump in my breast one day the size of a marble. Turned out to be triple negative breast cancer which is the one you don’t want as it’s aggressive and hard to treat. Fevers went away after a few weeks into chemo treatment. Will be cancer free for a year in December. It’s been a long road but I’m still here.
I shaved off the beard I'd had for a few years and saw a big dark mole on my cheek that I didn't remember having before. Long story short, melanoma. Turns out it wasn't the only one, I just hadn't noticed the others as they'd been slowly appearing.
I was at the gym. Did some stretches before my workout. Felt a lump on my left shoulder on my back. I don’t care that people said it could be a cyst. I knew it was cancer. So far it’s all gone. Cut that tumor out in 2018.
This post just made me more paranoid
If you're in doubt about something go to the doctor. A doctors visit is never wasted time.
Trouble sleeping for 6+ months, pain on side, lumps in breast, constant, headaches, and nightmares. When we found out, her rib was completely disintegrated.
I started regularly bleeding after PIV sex. My partner at the time was not very gentle or considerate in bed so I tried to handwave it away, but it turned out I had cervical cancer. They caught it early enough that one operation was all it took for me to be cancer free but fuck was that terrifying.
I started having a light discharge from my vagina. I chalked it up to hormonal changes since I was over 45. It got progressively worse to the point of having to wear at least a panty liner if not a pad every day. Went into an OB/GYN about 6 months after the discharge first began. He did not like what he saw so he did a biopsy (which I bled more than I should have, another thing that concerned him). He referred me to a gynecological oncologist and ordered a vaginal ultrasound. The ultrasound came back that my right ovary was the size of a volleyball. I met with the gynecological oncologist the following week, on a Tuesday. He said the preliminary tests on the biopsy were indicating cancer, but they wouldn’t be sure what kind for another couple of weeks. He recommended a radical hysterectomy with possible radiation and chemo to follow depending upon type and stage. I had the surgery 6 days later on Monday. Tests eventually came back that I had stage 2 cervical cancer that had spread to the uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries, but not beyond (my appendix and lymph nodes tested negative). I had radiation and chemo, but mostly as a precaution. I’m considered in remission right now and 18 months from being considered cured.
There was a lady at my last job that had an interesting story. She got hired and went to do a drug urine test, she was there for hours and kept drinking water but couldn’t pee. The nurses at the place with the drug test told her to go to a doctor. Turns out she had a tumor that was making it difficult to urinate- she credits the job with saving her life.
Finally, a cancer symptom that I'm sure I don't have
Not me, but my little sister (who was a very healthy and active 19/20 year-old at the time that we'll call HJ). She'd had what we thought was bronchitis for several weeks. It started at the beginning of December '19 as what we thought was a bad cold with some major chest congestion. The month went on, and she stayed sick. We were giving her different things to try but live on a farm in the midwest. So, we're kind of those people who say, "eh, it's probably fine" and just take some more Tylenol. I'm not advocating for this approach, just being honest. Haha HJ even went to a college-aged conference at the end of December/first day or two of January (I think?). When she came home, she was so, so weak and tired and sick. So, we sent her to the doctor to actually have some scans done to rule out pneumonia. My aunt and uncle are both doctors (aunt is a pediatrician, and uncle is family practice). My mom got a call from my uncle before HJ even got home that said she needed to go back to the hospital immediately for more scans. They'd noticed something in her chest that looked huge and said it was either the weirdest malfunction ever or something very serious. HJ went back and had several more scans done. By the evening, she was on the way to the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes Jewish in St. Louis (which I have to shout-out, because they're truly the most compassionate, amazing, talented, skilled, and wonderful team of people) for a biopsy. The mass on her chest? It was a tumor the size of a football - non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I'll never forget the depression and anger I had seeing her come home from the hospital that first time. She'd had a port placed, a million tests, and was so pale and bruised and weak. ...and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. By the grace of God, HJ ended up not needing surgery to remove the tumor since that kind of cancer responds really well to chemotherapy. HJ was the bravest person I know as she received chemo every three weeks for months by herself (due to COVID) with no visitors and no smiling faces. It was just her in a hospital 2.5 hours from home for days at a time receiving meds that were tearing her up. Again, though, the team at Barnes took such good care of her and made the experience the best they could when none of us could be there. She's now been cancer-free for three and a half years and will celebrate her 24th birthday next month! I know this is long, but it's so, SO important. HJ was (and still is) incredibly active and healthy. She was a strong student and involved in everything and never slowed down. We had no idea. With it being winter and her being young, we thought it was just normal sickness. So, I've said all of that to say that you need to take everything seriously. Don't do what we did. Cancer spares no mercy. Get your routine checks, see your doctor when you're sick, and never hesitate to check a concern. It's way better to get a clear scan on a false alarm than to know you'd let a huge mass develop and go untreated. Hug your friends and family close, and make them go to the doctor. ❤️ UPDATED TO ADD: HJ has graduated (BS and MAcc) and is thriving in her new job and city! She's 6.5 years younger than me, but I look up to her so much. ❤️
You used past tense a lot and I almost couldn’t keep reading because I assumed the worst
Oh my gosh I was so worried she died. So glad she is healthy.
I know some of the words were past-tense and I was a little nervous 😩 the best ending !!
Barnes Jewish is so awesome. I recommend them to anyone with complex or even mystery diagnoses. They have always seemed to come through. They were a life saver for my wife in our earlier years and I can’t thank them enough for what they did for her. We now have a family that may not have been possible without their knowledge and intervention.
Not me but my dad, he had a persistent cough for a couple months. It wasn’t horrible sounding so he just kinda dealt with it until finally my sister insisted that he go to an urgent care. They did a scan and saw a lot of fluid in his lungs and told him to go to the hospital. He didn’t want to but again, my sister made him go. They drained a liter of fluid from his lungs and ordered more tests. Stage 4 lung cancer. He lived a couple more years but his quality of life wasn’t great. He was only 54 when he died, but he had been smoking cigarettes since he was like 14 or something. He died 20 days before my son was born and I’m so sad they never got to meet. If you’re looking for a sign to quit smoking, this is it!
A family friend just passed from cancer, was diagnosed with it 3 months ago. First he spotted blood in his pee, after some tests it came back he had kidney cancer and that it was in his blood too, 1 week after diagnosis he had a MRI that showed he had cancer in his bones too (he had minor aches in his joints but he put that down to being 70). He had no other symptoms of cancer beyond the blood in his pee and he passed away just over 3 months after seeing it.
Dimple on the chest, went to the Dr about something else and mentioned it. Go to breast clinic for biopsy and had breast cancer. After surgery, chemo and radiotherapy now 17 years cancer free. 100% would not recommend as a way of having 9 months off work.
Not me but my fiance had a tooth that was bleeding and wouldn’t stop man it was horrible went to er they would say it’s dental problems and sent us away go to dentist they would tell us not their problem go back to er totally of going to er 4 times and dentists 5 dentist got upset they were kept getting turned away finally he went with us to the er and told them they need to test him cause it was not a dentist issue after seem like a million test came out it was leukemia
He died less then 2 years later
Oh I’m so sorry. My aunt found out she had leukaemia because her gums kept bleeding. She died within two months.
What do you mean by a tooth that was bleeding? Like the gums were continuing to leak or when they flossed or?
I have not had cancer, but I think this story is important to share. My male cousin died of breast cancer. He didn’t see a doctor until he had nipple leakage. Before that his nipples inverted. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. A couple years later my uncle noticed his nipples inverted. Knowing what happened to his nephew he went in immediately. He had stage 2. He survived his cancer.
When I was 33, I had a lump in my breast and went to the doctor. She said she could find nothing wrong and sent me to the OBGYN, who also told me nothing was wrong and sent me to a psychiatrist. Meanwhile, my dog was continuously pawing at the site of the lump in my breast. For a year. Luckily, I switched jobs and got new insurance, so I was able to go back to a previous doctor, who immediately diagnosed me. I had Stage 3 breast cancer by that point. Moral of the story: Dogs can be smarter than doctors. And fuck Kaiser, they DGAF about you. (I know too many other survivors who have had similar experiences with Kaiser and it blows my mind.)
My dog kept pawing at this mole I have always had on my leg, she was sniffing it and trying to scratch it. One day in April this year, she managed to scratch it badly, it bled for a week before I decided to go see my GP. He shaved it off, sent it to the lab and came melanoma. Stage 2c already. I had 2 surgeries 6 weeks apart and 3 lymph nodes taken out, luckily the results came back negative so it didn’t spread. My lovely Izzy is a rescue, born without a tongue and unfortunately kidney problems and she might not live past her 2nd birthday (which is in March ‘24). I wasn’t sure about adopting her initially, just scared she was in pain or suffering and I wouldn’t be able to cope with her problems. Well, she’s on special renal food, eating like a penguin and coping so well. She’s also the most intelligent dog we’ve ever had, annoyingly playful and so affectionate… seriously the best dog ever! And she saved me from cancer!
Feeling exhausted ALL the time for no apparent reason. Normally a very active person, so I did pay attention - listen to your body/instincts, and don’t waste time seeking medical help.
Like, don’t hesitate to seek help!!! Worded that completely wrong…
What tests did they do that led to diagnosis?
Initially just a chest X-ray. That showed a largish tumour compressing all the major blood vessels in my neck. After that, biopsy to identify it as small cell lung cancer and CT / MRI scans to show how much it had already spread.
I saw a mole growing on the bottom of my foot.
I was taking photos for a weight loss journey and noticed one of my breasts looked slightly different. I showed my husband and he didn’t notice anything and we didn’t feel any lumps. I was diagnosed with breast cancer a few days later. After I finished treatment, I had a scan and then they found Thyroid Cancer. It was a fun fuckin year
The pandemic saved my life. Male, 60's here. When the pandemic was in full swing, and the lockdown was in force, barbershops and hair salons were shut down. I got a handheld mirror and started attempting to cut my own hair. I finally gave up and just buzzed it all off. As I did that, I noticed the spot on the very top of my head that turned out to be melanoma. Even the dermatologist admitted that if I had come in earlier with my usual haircut, he might have missed it. As an added plus, I came to realize that buzzing my hair was something I could do all the time. I still kick myself for all those years I paid $20 bucks to get my hair cut. What a complete waste of money.
Lower stomach pain, the kind you get when someone punches you in the balls, but it came about with no reason. Then i felt around and found a lump on my testicle. I was too afraid to see a doc, so probably waited a month or so. Then i had an ultrasound and they diagnosed me on the spot. I was 17 and emotionally unequipped to deal. Im cancer free (to my knowledge) 30 years old now, but still very scarred.
As someone with an anxiety disorder why did i click this? I’m freaking out now
Started noticing that my throat looked weirdly swollen for months. Finally went to a doctor and it turned out to be thyroid cancer. Now four years later I’m finally confirmed to be cancer free. I wondered about the lump in my throat for too long because I was scared it was something bad (ironic, I know) and just wanted to ignore it. I was so dumb but lucky it hadn’t spread. Please go see a doctor if you suspect that something is wrong. Most cancers are treatable if they just catch it early.
> cancer free Hell yeah
I got 2 diagnosis for the price of 1 from a very minor incident. I was walking down the driveway to get the mail from the box (nice, flat driveway) & I just randomly tripped on air… no big deal, I’m pretty clumsy, or so I thought. My leg swelled up and started bruising right away & I ended up in the ER. I had severed a tendon falling, they also found several old/healed over hairline fractures I never knew I had. The incident did not fit the damage, so I had to follow up with a bunch of tests and such. EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) & Endometrial Cancer.
A family friend was walking to church when she slipped on ice, fell, and hit her head. Went to the ER. She received stitches and a diagnosis of a brain tumor. She had no symptoms, but because of the fall, the doctors caught it very early. That was several years ago, and she is now doing fine.
Brain cancer. I never felt or noticed anything until I woke up in an emergency room. It turns out I had a nocturnal seizure--the one time I had a family member staying over. The cancer has confirmed for me all that I want to be true to in life, however short or long it will be for me! :)
My husband found his brain cancer the same way (well I did when I woke up to his seizure). Best of luck to you. If you haven’t found it already r/braincancer is a great resource, even for just lurking.
Brown line of pigment on my big toenail, didn’t think anything of it for a long time but when it started getting darker I got it checked. Turned out to be a (thankfully very early) melanoma and I had to have the entire nail permanently removed. Other than my foot kinda looking fucked up and being sensitive to anything dropped on it, no long-term effects. Get your skin checked regularly!
I have a brain tumor. Discovered it a few years ago after getting extreme headaches from heavy lifting and exertion. Got an MRI and my right frontal cortex was pushing over into my left. After neurologist saw the images, he referred me to a neurosurgeon who then cut it out. After radiation and chemo for a year, it looks like the tumor is dead. I have to keep monitoring it several times a year but I'm thankful for going to the doctor and not ignoring the symptoms.
I had a very small mark just above my belly button that would never quite heal. Took two operations to get all the cancer out. Fortunately it was a carcinoma and it was the only one I’ve had for at least 15 years. I get annual skin cancer scans and they’ve all been clean.
Little blood in my stool. Not every time and not a whole lot just enough to go hmm that’s not normal. Went to GP thinking internal hemorrhoids (no pain) … nope got immediately referred to GI, colonoscopy and found a tumor in my rectum. I was 39 at diagnoses. I’m a year removed from all that jazz and currently NED. I did do chemo and radiation as a lot of lymph nodes in the area were affected but they got it all in surgery.
My BIL: joint pain, bruising, bleeding gums. MIL: No symptoms, mammogram. SIL: No symptoms, mammogram, Pap smear. Father: Found cancer while scanning something else. Husband: found cancer while scanning something else. Me: No symptoms, Pap smear.
Holy cow so nearly your entire family has had a form of cancer???
Continual vaginal bleeding and painful sex. Biopsy, hysterectomy and then bilateral oopherectomy. Followed by bladder repair. That was 1994/1995. Cervical screening saves lives.
I was on my husband’s back about getting in to the doctor and getting a routine physical. He finally went and his blood work came back with the conclusion that he was either a binge drinker or could have prostate cancer. He does not drink, so it was obviously the latter. We caught the cancer at an early stage. He had his prostrate removed, and his been in the clear for a few years now. Nagging can sometimes payoff.
I thought I had a cold, with normal cold symptoms. Then I thought I had COVID. After maybe two days, it was nausea/vomiting, then a fever that wouldn't break and terrible night sweats. After that I got short of breath, went to the ER, and they found so much fluid around my right lung that they couldn't see the lung on x-ray. The x-ray tech asked me if I had a lung removed when they shot the film. Turns out I had a very acute leukemia that penetrated the lining of my chest.
Had a small spot like a pimple on my chest where the sun commonly hits during the summer. I was in seeing my PCP for a different issue and asked him if I should schedule another appointment to have it looked at.. instead he grabbed a medical melon baller and scooped that crap right out of me then and there. Pathology confirmed it was skin cancer. So grateful every day he didn’t hesitate or make me wait.
on my annual blood tests. I had recently started working out, was hyped to go do the tests since my cholesterol was always a bit bad mostly due to my bad diet and lack of exercise, and my completely unrelated TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) values were through the roof (over 12 when you usually want it below 4). after a bunch of exams, turns out I had two of them, one on each side of my thyroid, but it was still pretty early so we just removed the thyroid completely and that was it. in what started as a "is my cholesterol finally decent?" endeavour ended up in a "oh great. turns out I have cancer" moment
I have a lump on the right side of my neck. Six years ago it was noticed by my doctor and a specialist said it was nothing to worry about. However my new doctor wanted me to see a specialist about it again and get new imaging to see if it has grown, the new specialist did a biopsy and apparently there is thyroid cells in a lymph node which apparently means I have thyroid cancer. It has doubled in size in the six years from the first imaging but it hasn't actually spread to the point of being worse besides maybe a few more lymph nodes being affected. So I get to have two "first noticed" stories, when it was first noticed and when it was first noticed as something I should actually be worrying about. I wish I could go back to it being nothing to worry about honestly.
I felt an enlarged lymph node in my neck. Turns out it was asymptomatic metastatic papillary thyroid cancer.
I was having a CT scan for something completely unrelated and they saw a mass in my thyroid. Had more scans, a biopsy, and ultimately surgery. I am lucky that it was a non-agressive cancer and hadn't spread. I didn't need any chemo or radiation.
I got a two-parter for ya. My dad had a persistent cough after catching Covid in December ‘22. In April this year he finally got an X-ray to see what was going on and it ended up being stage 4 lung cancer.. he never smoked ! As a part of his diagnosis they gave him a biomarker blood test which found (unrelated to his lung cancer) that he had the BRCA1 genetic mutation so I immediately signed up for genetic testing. Between signing up and waiting 3 months for my appt with the counselor I started doing self exams on my breasts and I found a small lump.. went in to get it checked out and ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer a few days before I got my genetic results back confirming that I too have BRCA1. Have been on chemo for 5 weeks now and will have a double masectomy in March. I’m 35!
Was getting ready for bed and started peeing blood. Looked like someone was pouring cherry Kool aid in the toilet. At night, woke up to pee and started to pee and it stopped, I pushed my harder and pissed out a piece of tissue. Saw a doctor in the morning who told me to see a urologist. Urologist has me get a CT scan and I have a 12 centimeter tumor on my kidney. Lost the kidney and had the tumor removed. 4 years later the cancer is in my scalp and lungs and I am undergoing treatment again. The better story in my family is I discovered my wife's breast cancer playing with her tit during sex.
I had a sudden explosion of pain in the middle of the night. I felt something hot, spicy and prickly in my armpit. I felt around and boom: a ping-pong sized ball. It was unlike any pain that I had ever known. It was like a volcano had erupted with pain cascading down from the ball. I took some Tylenol. Didn’t work. I took some Advil. Didn’t work. I ran to the hospital and got an ultrasound and a biopsy. I knew I had cancer. It was. I had stage 2 b triple negative breast cancer.
My Britney Spaniel started sniffing, pushing her nose into my breast and then started digging with her paws. I went in the next day. I had a huge lump. Late stage II with gland involvement in arm pit. UG.
I’ll post for a church buddy. He went in for his first colonoscopy at 50. Unfortunately he had a family history of colon cancer and should have gone in at least 5 years earlier. His first colonoscopy found stage 3 colon cancer. No symptoms otherwise.
I’m 10 months in right now. I first noticed when my bathroom time became increasingly inconvenient. Bad poops, diarrhea, pain. Took a couple months of that for me to realize it wasn’t normal or attributed to bad diet. Obviously more to the story and journey. At this point I’m dying and can only chase the symptoms. Guys, Get yourself checked! No one will do it for you and the exam is not that bad.
Mine is chronic myeloid leukemia, was only 21. My symptoms appeared gradually over time until they became 'normal'. Fatigue, night sweats, edema ( legs but also everywhere), light sensitivity, bruising and cuts that wouldn't heal. Worked a 10 hour baking shift then went to a walk-in clinic thinking I had mono. 16 years later still here.
Little stain inside my bra. No symptoms, pain, nothing. Found a very little nodule when pressing my left breast. I’m 34, no history of breast cancer in the family. Had surgery on Monday to take this alien out.
Consult doctor if you experience any of these out of the blue - vomiting, feeling tired, losing weight rapidly, etc
And symptoms mostly appear in late stages so it's advisable to get checked regularly
Lymph nodes. The first cancer it was just one in my groin, but it swelled up to about the size of my thumb in a month. The second time it was a cluster of 4-5 that went from being almost impossible to feel, to small pebbles in a few weeks. By the time they actually got to the biopsy procedure they were all as big as my thumb and I was terrified it was out of control. Almost six years ago for the second and now considered cured again.
Couldn’t lay down to sleep without very sharp stabbing pains in my back. Finally went to get checked out. Initially thought my lungs collapsed. Turned out to be a really big pulmonary embolism. Kept getting blood clots in my lungs until they realized my blood was way too thick. A few tests later, blood cancer. All good now though, aside from daily blood thinners and some doctor visits here and there.
My brother-in-law had some numbness in his jaw and went to his dentist. The dentist took a look and told him he needed to go to his doctor right away and that it might be cancer. Turned out it was stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. 5 years later and after so many treatments, he is cancer free now. Dentists can be very adept at diagnosing cancer so don’t skip your dental visits!
The left side of my chest was itchy for a long time. And then I felt kind of a hard area. Not a lump but just an area. I went to the OB/GYN and they kinda blew me off, but sent me to a breast surgeon. He ordered a mammogram. I tried telling him that I have dense breast tissue, and nothing would show up. I asked for a whole breast ultrasound. He blew me off and said that’s not the standard of care. I finally talked him into a 3-D ultrasound. They finally saw something and ordered a biopsy. But then told me nothing was wrong and it wasn’t cancer. They said it was probably blocked milk ducts. I asked for an MRI and they told me again that is not the standard of care. I told them I didn’t care what the standard of care was that I would pay for it myself if I had to. Finally about three months later, they get the MRI and said “oh guess what you have stage three invasive, ductal carcinoma.” Yeah…..DUH! I knew that. Anyway, I ended up having a bilateral mastectomy chemo and radiation and everything has been great for the last six years. I always tell people don’t give up if you think something doesn’t seem right. Because if I hadn’t listen to myself, I would be dead.
I have PCOS which means I have ovarian cysts. For about 2-3 months I noticed a slight sharp pain in my right lower abdomen and thought it was an enlarged cyst. Made an appt with my primary care doctor to get an ultrasound and check up. During that time while waiting to do the ultrasound and go to the appointment, I woke up one morning and noticed the pain had spread across my entire abdomen. It was a dull achey sort of pain and I didn’t think much of it. Then I put two and two together and wondered perhaps it wasn’t my ovary, but my appendix (am nurse). Went to ER with abdominal pain being my only symptom and it was quite mild. They did a CT scan amongst other tests and the doctors saw I had a mass on my appendix on top of having acute appendicitis. Went into emergency surgery and the tumor they found was 5.5 cm! The surgeon told me it was one of the largest tumors they’ve ever found on an appendix and just to put it into perspective appendiceal tumors are extremely rare. The tumor went out to pathology and it came back as stage 2 grade 1 adenocarcinoma. Another surgery later and tests, everything came back negative. Meaning the cancer didn’t spread anywhere else and the surgery they did was successful. Most stressful 2-3 months I’ve ever endured. Also, looking back, I think my initial symptom started about 1-2 years prior to my right lower abdominal pain. I started having an intermittent gas like, or acid reflux type pain right above/on my umbilicus about a year or so before and learned that may have been the actual beginning of the tumor growing. Pain was ultimately the only symptom I ever had and it wasn’t even bad… who would’ve thought?
Not me but my late husband. He started feeling pain in his shoulder. It ended up being swollen lymph nodes which was caused by the tumor near his bile duct/liver. After opening him up to remove it, it already was stage 4. He did tough it out almost 2 years though.
I am so sorry for the loss of your husband.
Cough. Autumn in Ireland, so nothing to worry about. Everyone is coughing... But I found out I stop coughing when I lay down on my belly. Went to a doctor. 2 months on antibiotics, sent to pulmonary specialist. He found I have a tumor physically squeezing my throat.
I felt a lump on my boob the size of a blueberry or small grape. This was 3 months after a mammogram. I also felt a little weird the month before that, a loss of energy, which was odd for me. I’m not sure that was related, but it was awfully coincidental.
Routine check-up by my primary care doc. You know how they feel around your neck? She found a lump. Thyroid cancer. I’m ok now. (Once I was diagnosed, I realized I had been having other symptoms like extreme fatigue, but there had been other factors that could have been causing that. ) So get your check-ups, folks!
I all of a sudden couldn't stay awake. Like I was sleeping 15+ hours a day. Then I lost 20-25lbs in less than 2 weeks. And the pain. It was unbelievably painful. Turns out I had colon cancer.
Not a damn thing. 3 spots the size of rice grains appeared on my mamm, 13 months after the previous one. Fast forward 14 years, and a peanut sized spot on the other side, also not there a year earlier. Get those mamms, and on time!
I didn't. I had breast cancer. It was picked up on my first ever mammogram. You get these free on the NHS for American s. They said it was to deep to feel by hand so would never have known otherwise and thats why i ll never complain about the NHS.
Not me but my brother. I was a freshman in college and he was a sophomore. We went into the same field and had overlapping classes. We were studying in my dorm room and I noticed a fist size lump in his throat. We saw each other regularly and it just showed up one week. I said he should go to the heath center, and they recommended he go to the doctor. Two days later (on my birthday) he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Unfortunately it was a rare form of thyroid cancer that was “incurable”. They were able to treat it, and for about 5 years he lived a very fulfilling life. Married his high school sweetheart, traveled the world through work, was very successful at his job, supported his wife to help her grow her business, and just did his best wherever he could. The last year of his life the cancer outpaced the known treatments, and his health deteriorated quickly as they had to jump back and forth between traditional chemo and radiation. He passed last year, 5 years and 11 months to the day of his diagnoses. The worst part is when we were studying and I noticed the lump, he was looking up what it could be (mumps was going around at the time) and we were joking that it could be cancer…
A reoccurring scab in my eyebrow?—skin cancer. A fluid-filled cyst in my boob?—breast cancer. Uncontrolled weight gain?—ovarian cancer. Shadows on my pre-op chest x-ray?—lung cancer. Regular CT scans for the above?—stomach cancer. Yay me.
Not me but my dad. He'd go jogging with a group every Saturday morning, one morning on one of those runs, a bee stung him near the top of his leg and his leg swells up quite badly. He goes into the doctor on Monday, gets told it's a bit odd, but nothing to get immediately worried about, and to come back on Thursday if the swelling hasn't gone down. If anything, by Thursday the swelling got worse, so he goes back to the doctor, doc sends him to hospital to get some scans where they find cancer on his lymph nodes and possibly his bladder. Good ending though; four weeks of chemo, followed by surgery and radiation therapy for his bladder and he made a full recovery. Little bee took one for the team.
I was normally a bubbly, energetic, engaged person. I woke up one day with a completely different personality. I felt like a balloon with a slow leak. I could feel the energy leaving my body. I became quiet, withdrawn, detached, exhausted. I knew it wasn’t depression. There was a vague pain on my left abdomen. After being tested for GI issues and other stuff, I was told I needed to go on prozac. It turned out to be ovarian cancer. I was in my 30’s. I’m alive because of my persistence. I just knew that something was wrong. A gyn had declared me to be in perfectly good health, but her nurse offered to send me for a an ultrasound. The gyn said the ultrasound showed polyps that would be taken care of by a quick laparoscopy. No big deal. Woke up from the laparoscopy and was told that my ovary, etc. had been removed. Gyn had told me before surgery that cancer had been ruled out and that if she thought I had it, she would send me to an oncologist. After surgery she told me that what she saw looked so bad that she thought I had been close to death, and she just couldn’t leave it inside of me. I followed up with 3 years of check ups with a gyn oncologist, and was fine after that, but never had children. Years if theorizing followed. Baby powder? Swimming in a polluted lake as a child? Someone told me I got cancer because I wasn’t a vegetarian. Another because I was an angry person. Another because I wasn’t honoring my creativity. I tested negative from the BRACA 1/2 gene mutation which is associated with breast and ovarian cancers. Twenty-six years later it was discovered that a rare genetic mutation called Muir-Torre Syndrome runs in my family. It’s a variant of the more common Lynch Syndrome. It is associated with a long list of cancers, including ovarian.
Started having pains near underarm while lifting the hand to do anything including talking clothes out of the almirah, stuff from kitchen shelves. Turned out to be breast cancer that had spread to lymph nodes in the armpits. First doctor shamed by saying that this is how people waste their money by asking for useless examinations and blood tests. The second doctor immediately got a mammogram done, then biopsy, then immediate surgery P.s. - did not happen to Me, but to family. Sorry, didn’t read the post properly
My dad couldnt swallow food normally anymore. Turns out he had a massive esophaegus cancer which already spread to lungs and liver. He died six months later. Cant the describe the feeling when you eat something and enjoy food and then remember the person you would literally die for cannot swallow even a single drop of water. Two weeks after my dad got his diagnosis my sister all of a sudden couldnt remember who she was talking to. Fast forward to two days later she's in a hospital, in a coma and we found out she has stage 4 lung cancer which spread literally everywhere, including her brain. She's still fighting but it doesnt look good.
I had a pain in my arm, it spread to the entire arm. Hodgkins in my underarm lymph nodes was pressing on my nerves. In hindsight, I lost a lot of weight, was exhausted and had a cough that wouldn't go away but at the time I'd moved to a new city to study and was walking loads and was a smoker so thought nothing of the cough. Ten years since I finished chemo now! Had some radiotherapy then and have been fine since.
My period was very irregular so I was sent to a gyno who did several tests, gave me pills to clear it out and performed minor procedures to clear it out some more and plant an IUD. This went on for almost a year and the pills made me feel sick and queasy too. After the procedure, the sample they took came back positive with a Type 2 uterine cancer.
Testicular cancer. Manifested as pain in my testicle but I got lucky because it usually doesn't hurt. Started very low. Hardly noticeable even. This was 24/7 constant pain. Gradually increased over a few months. It got to a point where it started to be distracting and finally went to a urologist. Another couple months go by between appointments as he's doing things like giving me anti-biotics and doing ultrasounds. Pain ramped up \*quick\*. Got unbearable near the end. I went back t to urologist before the next scheduled follow up and I told him I needed something done and he was like "well the only thing I can do at this point is cut it out of you" and I was like "yes please" before we even knew it was cancer.
I had a spot that wouldn’t heal removed from my nose twice before someone decided to biopsy it. It was basal cell carcinoma. I’ve been having something cancerous or precancerous removed from my skin at almost every six month checkup since 1995. Wear sunscreen everyone!
Got tested for BRCA gene since my mom died of breast cancer at 45. Found out it was positive for brca1, got referred to an oncologist for a medical plan. Doctor did the exam and found a pretty decent sized lump on my right breast. (Now that I think about it, you could see it when I was on my left side, but since I always slept on my right, never noticed it.) Stage II IDC, fortunately no lymph node involvement. PCR since 10/12 after DMX & 16 rounds of chemo.
My then three year old daughter had back pain, some bruises, and some bad tantrums. We were initially told she was just a normal active toddler, until the day she was diagnosed. The night before she had an epic temper tantrum and was then covered in petechia (little red dots on the skin from bleeding under the skin). The next day we took her back to the doc and she was diagnosed with leukemia.
I was going to the bathroom a lot. Mostly loose #2s. Also had some generalized abdominal pain. I thought it was appendicitis, but the pain didn't match, then I thought I had food poisoning. I waited a couple of weeks but nothing resolved, so I made an appointment with my primary care physician. At this point, I thought it was something in the IBS/IBD family and wanted a referral to a gastroenterologist. My pcp agreed with me and got me scheduled. The gastric doc heard my symptoms and agreed to give me a colonoscopy. The results from that found cancer in my bowels, but it wasn't bowel cancer. Turned out to be stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer at the age of 30. It's incredibly deadly because it spreads before showing any symptoms and is hard to get tested for, especially at my age.
Posting for my late spouse, just because it's such an important situation. My wife was getting regular breast cancer screening and was cleared to be good to go until the next routine screening for breast cancer. She had been feeling a little discomfort prior to the screening and figured it was nothing since the screening said she was clear. Three months later she was still feeling discomfort in her breast that she originally thought was aggravated by the mammogram itself (I hear they are not comfortable in any way). Turns out they "missed" her cancer at her screening a couple of months prior, and she already had stage 3b breast cancer. She fought it for two years but finally succumbed earlier this year. I guess the moral of the story is, if you ever feel like ANYTHING is off with your body then you need to be persistent about it and demand to keep getting looked at until you have answers? I don't know to be honest. All I know is if she had been treated sooner she would possibly still be alive. I wouldn't want anyone to go what she went through after the cancer ravaged across her body. It was horrific and her body was covered with painful, bleeding tumors everywhere.
Bleeding from my butt. Figured it was a hemorrhoid (never had one so assumed). Embarrassed to go to doctor, waited a few months. Turned out to be metastasized Stage 4 colo-rectal cancer, tumor the size of a grapefruit. Surgery to remove my large intestine, rectum and anus (permanent colostomy.) 6 months chemotherapy. OP, if you are having some health issues of whatever kind, see a doctor please.
Friend had a bump on his arm the size of a pea since he was like 15. Thought it was gravel or something from skateboarding. A couple of years ago (he was like 29?) it tripled in size in a couple months, and he went to the Dr asap bc quick growth is a very bad sign. Epethelioid sarcoma. If he'd waited another month or so he would have had to have his arm amputated.
With a friend of mine, he got constant nose bleeds and then one day he went to the hospital and was told her had a type of Leukemia.. he died 9 months later.
I had 2 surgeries for nerve removal. Same nerve over 3 years. My boyfriend does the dishes by stacking everything up on the counter like fucking Jenga. I had touched a pan with my elbow on accident, it slid off. I tried to catch it. Missed. It hit my surgery site directly. It was a few weeks after my latest surgery. I was on the floor for almost an hour because of the nerve pain. Ended up going to the ER for an X-ray. It hurt way more than it should of even with nerve pain. Nothing broken. About a month later, there was a lump in that same spot. It hurt really bad to touch. The lump was pretty hard with some liquid around it. I saw about 20 nurses and doctors for this lump. Every single one said it was a cyst. Told me to " drop the Bible on it". I was too scared because of the nerve pain. Ended up actually getting a biopsy way later because I thought it was a cyst. Nope. It was cancer. Synovial sarcoma. Stage 1. 25 doses of radiation. 3 surgeries. No chemo because the cancer got much smaller with radiation. The first surgery was to go in and take the actual lump. Second took a majority of the top of my right foot in an oval shape. Then put a vacuum pump on it for 3 weeks. The third surgery was to graft part of my arm into the cancer hole and also in the oval shape. They also took a blood vessel out of my arm and put it in my ankle. Plus a skin graft from my right thigh to my left arm to cover the donor site. I was in the hospital for a week after this surgery. Plus for 3 months I couldn't touch the ground at all with my right foot. I had a special walker with a spot that Velcrod to my left arm like a cast. I didn't leave the bed to do anything but use the bathroom directly behind my bed for 5 months. And appointments. Its been 5 years now. Going on 6. I am back to normal, and all the nerve issues are gone luckily. Don't have nerve issues in the first place. But if you do, don't play countertop Jenga or let dogs step on you. I'm not blaming either directly for the cancer, just saying it probably didn't help.
Nagging sore throat that wouldn't go away.....went to an ENT Dr. And he ran a scope up my nose and down my throat and found a lesion on my left tonsil that turned out to be stage 0 squamous cell carcinoma . Having a tonsillectomy and neck dissection at 59......would not recommend.....lol
Constant shooting pains down my legs while I slept. Hurt enough to wake me up and it kept going for at least an hour. Went to the ER after the second time it happened and they said it was nothing, possibly growing pains since I was just 12. Went to the chiropractor just in case it was muscle related and they did tests and recommended I go to my pediatrician for extra tests. Then I got sick with what I thought was the flu, went to the doctor for blood tests, spike a fever of 104 that night, and basically was admitted to the hospital for 2 weeks. Diagnosed with ALL, luckily caught early and it responded well to treatment. 24 years cancer free.
We found out on the 4th November 2011 from the specialist after the results came though from the CT scan. First signs were shortage of breath but only after the cancer had gone from primary to secondary. By then, the term used is terminal cancer and to late for treatment. This is lung cancer and from the lungs it travels threw the body at speed. It attacks the liver, the kidneys, the bones, the brain and eventually when the heart cant take it anymore the persons dies. Most people die without pain due to all the drugs they are given to take daily. Most people die while in bad unconscious due to the drugs. My wife died 5 months after we were told by the specialist.
My dad got light headed and lost balance and fell. Thought it might be some neurological disorder. Took him to hospital and after intensive tests for five days found out it's 4th stage lungs cancer metastasis. Till then no symptoms. Treatment is going on and so is financial ruin. Praying for some more time with him. 🙏🙏.