A 28-year-old beautician from London is in remission from cancer after a fortunate conversation with her aunt saved her life. Paris Wells noticed a lump on her neck in March last year and immediately went to the GP to get it checked. When she was eventually seen, the doctor is reported to have said the lump was from a common cold she had suffered from the week prior.
She claims she was told the lump did not “feel cancerous” and was caused by a cold she had the week before.
But Ms Wells’s aunt, who works in the Princess Royal Hospital radiologist department, encouraged the beautician to get a scan.
The scan revealed the lump was caused by stage two Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a rare cancer that develops in the lymphatic system before spreading throughout the body.
Every year, roughly 2,100 people are diagnosed with the illness in the UK and it can develop at any age but mostly affects people between the ages of 20 and 40, as well as those aged over 75.
The most common symptom of Hodgkin lymphoma is a painless swelling in a lymph node, usually in the neck, armpit or groin.
Three quarters of people diagnosed with the disease survive for at least 10 years.
After receiving the diagnosis, Ms Wells froze her eggs before undergoing gruelling treatment including eight rounds of Chemotherapy and 17 rounds of radiotherapy.
She officially entered remission and was cancer-free at the end of 2022, which she says is thanks to her aunt as Ms Wells was able to catch the disease early enough to receive successful treatment.
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She told the Daily Mail: “[The lump] grew bigger and harder so then I had a biopsy with an MRI scan and a CT scan which confirmed it was cancer. It’s only because my auntie works in radiology that she got me an ultrasound scan. I was diagnosed within four weeks thanks to her.”
Despite being cancer-free, the 28-year-old said she is still dealing with emotional exhaustion following the ordeal.
She continued: “I am now cancer-free, but I will be having counselling to deal with life after cancer. In the same week of being diagnosed my boyfriend of nine years ended things with me. It was a lot to take on as well as being told you have cancer.
“I still struggle now with how he couldn’t even be there as a friend for me, but hopefully the counselling with help with everything.
“Before I could start any chemotherapy treatments, I chose to have fertility treatment to freeze my eggs just in case the chemotherapy would affect me having children in the future.
“After completing this fertility treatment at Kings College Hospital, I started my first chemotherapy in June at the Chartwell Unit at Princess Royal Hospital.
“After four rounds of Chemotherapy I had a PET scan to see how I was reacting and I was clear, but I still had to complete another four rounds to finish the course.
“After that I had to have 17 sessions of radiotherapy, attending Guy’s Hospital every day.
“The side effects are pretty awful until you get that under control, and knowing that my scan was clear and I still had to have four more chemotherapy sessions was challenging.”
