A young woman has issued a warning to others after the symptoms she ignored turned out to be caused by a deadly cancer. The 30-year-old mum told people to “take note” of the potential red flag signs of thyroid cancer following her devastating diagnosis.
In a bid to raise awareness, Robyn Elizabeth from the UK shared her story via social media platform TikTok.
Robyn was diagnosed with cancer at the age of just 29. She admitted that prior to this she was feeling “always tired” but thought that was because she had a baby.
However, after doctors revealed the truth a number of health issues started to make sense.
She explained how she had bags under her eyes, a gaunt face and always felt “like rubbish” but again attributed this to being a new mum.
Robyn also warned her followers of other thyroid cancer symptoms she “ignored”:
- Fatigue
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Weight gain
- Unable to lose weight
- Breathlessness
- Change in toilet habits
- Irritability
- Having to clear my throat
- Brain fog.
Since her diagnosis Robyn underwent two surgeries to have part of the thyroid gland removed, which led her to lose her voice temporarily.
The thyroid gland is a small gland found in the neck, just in front of the windpipe.
One of its main jobs is to create the hormones that help regulate the body’s metabolism, which is the process of turning food into energy.
She then had several rounds of radioactive iodine treatment, which uses radiation to destroy the cancer cells.
Robyn explained more about the treatments available for thyroid cancer.
“If you have a lump that’s between four centimetres and above that means that the next treatment plan is that they will remove the other side of your thyroid.
“And that means that they will completely take that out. And you have to have radioactive iodine as well, which is another treatment where you have to stay in hospital and you can’t be around people because you will be radioactive.”
She also spoke about some of the aspects of a cancer diagnosis that “they don’t tell you about”.
“The feeling that you get when you’re told that it’s cancer,” Robyn said. “I don’t think anybody ever has prepared themselves for that and I don’t think that you can see how anybody’s going to react. So, I can only tell you from my point of view, but for me, it was quite a weird experience.”
She continued to say it is hard to tell others about your diagnosis.
Robyn said: “Telling other people is really awkward because it feels like it’s really hard because you have to comfort them.
“It’s like you’re going through it but you feel like you have to comfort them because it’s really hard news for them as well.”
She added: “Number three is how guilty it makes you feel especially when you’ve got children.
“Before I used to take my little one out every day, we would go somewhere in the morning so we could have a run around. So it does make you feel incredibly guilty.”
In July Robyn shared an update to say that doctors won’t know for sure if she is cancer-free until nine months’ time.
As well as raising awareness she has been fundraising for Maggie’s cancer care charity, including training for the Great North Run in September.
According to the NHS, thyroid cancer is a rare form of cancer. But it still accounts for around 3,800 new diagnoses in the UK every year, Cancer Research UK says.
The NHS lists potential symptoms of the disease as:
- A lump in the front, lower part of your neck – the lump usually feels hard, slowly gets bigger and is not painful
- A hoarse voice
- A sore throat
- Difficulty swallowing or breathing
- Pain in the front of your neck, or a feeling like something is pressing against your neck
- A red face (flushing) – this may be harder to see on brown or black skin
- Softer poos or diarrhoea
- Weight loss
- A cough.
If you experience any unexplained symptoms you should speak to your doctor.