Olivia, a 20-year-old Australian, had flu-like symptoms: after several medical examinations, she discovered that she had cancer.
The story begins in October 2022. Olivia, a young Australian woman in her twenties, feels abnormally “flat”: in addition to severe fatigue, she suffers from lower back pain and a persistent cough. In addition, she has a small “bump” above her left collarbone, which is painful to the touch.
Worried, Olivia goes to her general practitioner in Melbourne (Australia). A blood test reveals the presence of inflammatory markers; Olivia’s doctor therefore decides to look for a potential urinary tract infection.
“My doctor called me a little later to tell me I had a UTI, which I thought was strange as I had no symptoms.tells Olivia to our colleagues from Daily Mail Australia. But I still started taking antibiotics.“
The day after this call, Olivia wakes up sweating: she therefore decides to go to the Emergency Room. “The ER doctor gave me a CT scan, and he turned pale. He told me: “you have swollen lymph nodes all over your stomach and fluid in your heart as well” “recalls the young woman.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma with involvement of the spleen and lymph nodes
Additional examinations are quickly carried out, and the definitive diagnosis falls at the end of January 2023: Olivia has stage 3B Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer that affects the lymphatic system. This pathology appears rather in young adults (between 20 and 30 years old) and remains relatively rare since “only” 2127 new cases were recorded in France in 2018.
Hodgkin lymphomas are classified according to their stage and type. Stage 3 corresponds to damage to the spleen and lymph nodes; subcategory B is for patients with systemic symptoms (i.e. affecting the whole body, such as fever, night sweats, and weight loss).
A week after the diagnosis, Olivia started chemotherapy. After five months of treatment, the cancer has “almost gone“, and the young woman is now confident.
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