Woman shares subtle signs of disease after being diagnosed with lung cancer
A 35-year-old woman who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer has opened up about the "subtle signs" of the disease she experienced in the two years before her diagnosis.
Ashley, from California, said she began experiencing symptoms including trouble swallowing, choking, tiredness, and her throat feeling "weird" in 2020. The mum, who has never smoked and always led a healthy lifestyle, said her symptoms were initially put down to anxiety and the stress of going through a divorce.
She has now shared her story on TikTok and is using the social media platform to raise awareness of lung cancer. In one of her most-watched videos, with over 900,000 views, Ashley, who describes herself as a "healthy, young and active woman", explained the symptoms she experienced in the lead-up to her diagnosis.
She said her symptoms were blamed on anxiety (TikTok)
Ashley said she was fit and healthy and never smoked in her life (TikTok)Describing her initial symptoms, she said: "Two years before I was diagnosed, very subtle symptoms, mainly trouble swallowing, I was choking a bit more when I ate, and my throat just felt weird." She said she would not describe it as a sore throat, but explained that while eating or drinking, her throat felt "a little dry" and there was saliva in the back of her mouth. Ashley said these were "just subtle symptoms" that she thought were due to anxiety or stress.
One year later, she went to urgent care after developing a continued cough but at the time, she was not tested for cancer. Three months later, she still had a cough and developed shortness of breath. Ashley explained that the continuous cough impacted not only her workouts but also her work. She said: "I am a fast talker and at this point, I was noticing I had to slow down, take breaths in between words or sentences, I had to clear my throat or cough."
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A month later, she went back to her doctor as her cough had not stopped, but was becoming worse, and at that time she also had wheezing. She was also losing some weight, but once again her symptoms were put down to stress and anxiety.
Two months later - and seven months before her cancer diagnosis - Ashley said that her cough "changed", coming drier and more persistent. She said that despite having an X-ray, everything appeared normal because the tumour in her lung was hiding behind her heart. She said that if doctors had done a CT scan, it would have shown on that.
Another two months passed and Ashley went back to ER as she was still coughing and all her symptoms were getting worse. By that time, she had lost about five pounds and was also vomiting in the morning. She said she was tested for Covid and was given medication for asthma.
Later that month, she went back to her nurse practitioner as she could not exercise without her inhaler and was in pain. She said she asked doctors to test her for a tumour in her throat after developing jaw pain, but her symptoms were dismissed once again as medics told her it was all due to stress.
Talking about the following months, she went on to say: "Three months before I was diagnosed, I went back in for throat pain. I couldn't really swallow at this time, it felt like there were just lumps in my throat." She had also lost between 10 and 15 pounds and had almost stopped working out.
Ashley said that two months before her lung cancer diagnosis, she was in ER and had an X-ray but doctors told her she had pneumonia. At that time, all her symptoms were worsening and one month later, she developed new symptoms too, including nausea, abdominal pain and body swelling. She added: "They told me swelling was a result of the pneumonia mass in my lung. I couldn't put my shoes on, couldn't pick up my children. I could not move at all."
The woman said she kept going to the emergency room but doctors dismissed her, until her friend told her to go to the hospital and not leave until she got an answer. Recalling that moment emotionally, she said: "This saved my life."
Doctors discovered blood clots in her leg and another in her right lung and then found stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer - one of the most common cancers in the US. Types of non-small cell lung cancer include adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell lung cancer. Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy drugs.
Ashley, who has had one of her lungs removed and is now undergoing treatment, said: "It turns out if I didn't start treatment when I did, I would have had under five months to live. I'm really thankful that I had people around me that listened and loved me because my life depended on it."
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