A 32-year-old woman has opened up on how her cancer was repeatedly missed - until a scan revealed an 8cm tumour in her chest. For years, Emma Simms had a feeling something was not right with her as she grappled with crippling exhaustion and severely itchy legs, apart from being unable to gain weight.

However, when she began suffering from night sweats and chronic chest pain—that is when she demanded answers from her doctors, who had turned her away thrice, saying it was “nothing serious.” “I was turned away three times by my GP and even ended up in A&E,” Emma, from Stratford-Upon-Avon, said. “Each time I was told it was nothing serious. They did blood tests and categorically told me I didn’t have lymphoma,” she added.

However, her symptoms kept on worsening, and she was finally referred to the haematology department of the hospital, where a CT scan revealed an 8cm tumour lodged in her chest and beginning to spread to her right lung. She was then officially diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma - a rare form of blood cancer. “I was told over the phone a couple of weeks before the biopsy confirmed it, so I had a bit of time to get my head around it,” Emma explained. “But nothing prepares you for sitting there face-to-face and seeing the scanned image,” she said.

Emma’s treatment began with one of the most aggressive forms of chemotherapy, which was delivered in intense bursts across several days. And now that she has just finished her second cycle, doctors now plan to switch to a different chemo regimen known as ABVD.

However, the road to recovery has been far from easy.

"I’ve gained two stone in two months from the steroids, and between that, the bloating, and the hair loss, sometimes I hardly recognise myself in the mirror.” What surprised Emma most was how she was coping with her mental health. “People might be shocked to hear this, but for me, dealing with cancer has been easier than my past mental health struggles,” she says.

Also known as Hodgkin's disease, this is a group of blood cancers that develop in your lymphatic system. It is one of the two main types of lymphoma that affect important white blood cells in your immune system known as lymphocytes.

Hodgkin lymphomas form when genes inside B lymphocytes mutate, or change, at some point in your life. Hodgkin lymphomas typically start in the lymph nodes in your neck or chest cavity and may also develop in groups of lymph nodes under your arms or in your groin, belly, or pelvis.

The most common first sign of Hodgkin lymphoma is painless swollen lymph nodes in your neck, underarms, and groin. A few other symptoms include:

It feels more tiring than usual for at least several days.

Unexplained fever

A high fever that remains for two or more hours after home treatment or lasts longer than two days may be a sign of a serious issue.

The sweating becomes so intense that it drenches your sheets and clothes.

It helps you lose body weight without trying. Losing around 10 per cent or more of your total body weight over six months is a sign of unexplained weight loss.

Many people with Hodgkin lymphoma have very itchy skin after drinking alcohol or taking a bath.

Not all belly pain is a sign of serious illness. Doctors recommend getting tests done if your pain is too serious and does not go away.

It is a symptom of Hodgkin lymphoma in your lung tissues or lymph nodes inside of your chest.

It is a sign of Hodgkin lymphoma in your lungs or of a large mass in your chest.

Doctors call fever, unintended weight loss, and drenching night sweats associated with lymphoma B symptoms. The presence or absence of these symptoms helps your provider determine your prognosis and plan treatments.

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