Doctors dismissed my symptoms as allergies, then I was diagnosed with CANCER on my 26th birthday - these are the signs you shouldn't overlook this summer

A comedy writer was diagnosed with cancer on her birthday after initially mistaking her symptoms for bad allergies. 

Kelsey Riddle, from Austin, Texas, was just about to finish graduate school in 2017 when her legs started itching so badly that she would scratch them until they bled.

As summer approached and she wrote her thesis, she put the itching down to allergies and stress. 

'I was super exhausted, super stressed out, not feeling too great,' Ms Riddle, now 32, told The Patient Story. 'If you've been to Austin, you probably had some flare-ups, so it's not uncommon.'

But in August, she noticed a lymph node in the back of her neck had grown to the size of a quarter. 

Kelsey Riddle, 32, mistook her initial stage two lymphoma symptoms, which included itchy legs, for allergies

'It was horrible. I woke up on my birthday [to a] 9 am phone call,' Ms Riddle said. 'I just sat there and bawled in my bed for a couple hours'

As she continued writing her thesis, she noticed a quarter-sized lymph node growing on her neck that moved around. Generally, a lymph node moves if it's responding to an infection.

Doctors prescribed multiple rounds of antibiotics, all of which failed, and her primary physician declared, 'If this wasn't moving, I would be worried this was cancer.'

Just one month later, another node on her collarbone ballooned overnight to the size of an egg. 

On the morning of September 22, Ms Riddle's 26th birthday, doctors called to diagnose her with lymphoma. 

'It was horrible. I woke up on my birthday [to a] 9 am phone call,' she said. 'I just sat there and bawled in my bed for a couple hours.'

Ms Riddle was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer that attacks the lymph nodes and disease-fighting white blood cells. 

The condition affects about 8,500 Americans - most commonly those under 30 or 50 to 70 -every year and is responsible for just under 1,000 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. 

The overall five-year survival rate is roughly 75 percent.

'I remember thinking, “This is actually a relief,” because lymphomas are typically pretty treatable,' Ms Riddle said. 

Ms Riddle underwent chemotherapy and radiation for her lymphoma. She has been cancer free since 2019

'Don’t feel like you’re stuck with this situation of someone not listening to you advocate for yourself,' Ms Riddle said

She received a litany of biopsies and scans to confirm the staging before starting treatment. 

'Something about having a machine analyzing me for an hour or so and telling me my chances of living. It was just really difficult for me to handle,' she said.

'I remember leaving the PET scan upset and just collapsing in my dad’s truck and having an upsetting conversation with him. He was always the one that had the answers for me and he didn’t have them this time.'

'It was just one of those things where I think we were just so emotionally exhausted that we just kind of collapsed.'

That November, Ms Riddle started ABVD chemotherapy, a regimen specifically designed for Hodgkin lymphoma, which she said improved her symptoms 'almost immediately.'

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'I was really lucky that I didn’t have an allergic reaction or anything to the chemo itself.

'My initial reaction was pretty mild. I lost a little hair. I ended up shaving it anyway after that,' she said.

'I was mildly sick but my itchy legs resolved immediately. I think that that was also possibly because my immune system was being repressed.'

'It was very crazy. I immediately felt better after my first round.'

She also reported almost no nausea or side effects from the treatment. 'It was actually pretty incredible.' 

Chemotherapy lasted for about four months, followed by one month of radiation. By July 2019, scans found no evidence of cancer remaining, and Ms Riddle has stayed in remission since.

Ms Riddle is now encouraging other young cancer patients to 'take a more active role' in their care and speak up if doctors make them feel dismissed.

'Don’t feel like you’re stuck with this situation of someone not listening to you advocate for yourself,' she said. 

'If you really feel strongly about something, at least bring it up to your doctor. Don’t be scared to ask them questions.'

'If you have a doctor who is making you feel stupid or ridiculous for asking these questions and you have the ability to find a new doctor, find a new doctor because you do not have to deal with that.'