My head and neck area became very swollen. At first, I thought I was just gaining weight, so I exercised more and ate better—but that didn’t help. I went to a local clinic where they suspected an allergic reaction and gave me steroids, but those didn’t work either. What finally pushed me to go to the emergency room was the appearance of unexplained bruises on my chest. It turned out I had a large tumor in my chest that had grown around my heart and was compressing the superior vena cava, blocking blood flow from my head. Definitely not good!” -@eskimopsy212
When a Random Lump Meant More
Interestingly, the lump they initially found was unrelated. “That lump is harmless—a lipoma,” they said. But then they discovered another lump in the corner of the x-ray that needed a biopsy.” -@something_crass
The Stroke That Couldn’t Be Ignored
My mum had a similar experience. After a stroke, she underwent many scans, and one happened to catch the edge of something—a tennis ball-sized mass in her chest. It was surprising, but fortunately, it turned out to be nothing serious. Still, it was wild that she had no idea it was there.” -@mediumbeansprout
Signs of Excessive Menstrual Flow
“I had extremely heavy periods lasting 10 days or more. I got an IUD to help control the bleeding, but I actually hemorrhaged so badly that the IUD was expelled. It turned out I had endometrial cancer with a large tumor in my uterus. Ladies, it’s important to know that needing both a tampon and pad at the same time isn’t normal. Changing them every 10 minutes—or even every hour—is also a warning sign. For reference, an average period is about 2-3 tablespoons of blood. Sorry if that’s TMI. -@Icewaterforall
This Blew My Mind
On Christmas Eve 2018, my dad suddenly lost the ability to speak, except for repeating the phrase, “this is crazy.” We called paramedics, thinking he’d had a stroke. At the hospital, imaging revealed a brain tumor on the outer edge of his brain. The swelling triggered a seizure, and he was transferred to a larger hospital. Since brain cancer is usually secondary to another cancer, they did full-body scans. Luckily, it was the only tumor. He underwent a craniotomy and five rounds of high-dose inpatient chemotherapy, and now he’s been in remission for a year!” -@ashliek
The Pet That Sensed Something Was Wrong
My cat has always liked to lie on me and “knead” different parts of my body with her paws. For seven years, it was random spots, but for about six months, she started focusing on one specific area on my chest. At first, I thought she just wanted to be closer to my face, but after a few months, I noticed that spot had become very tender. Then I found a small lump there. Because I’m relatively young, it took me a couple of months to convince a doctor that it might be serious. Eventually, I got tested and discovered a large tumor in that spot, along with others in different areas. -@plum_awe
Breastbone Ache
I had a constant pain in the center of my sternum. Doctors initially thought it was costochondritis, which is basically inflammation of a joint. I stopped working out and lifting heavy weights for three months, but the pain didn’t improve. Later, I began experiencing night sweats and random aches. After fracturing my hip, I had an MRI and biopsy, which led to a diagnosis of stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I underwent chemotherapy and have been in remission for five years.-@thedancingwireless
Unable to Speak
My dad had Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It began with a tickle in his throat, and then he lost his voice—he could barely whisper. He thought it was just a bad cold. After about five weeks, we finally convinced him to go to the hospital—he was a stubborn guy. It turned out a large tumor was pressing on his vocal cords, causing his voice loss and trouble swallowing. He underwent chemotherapy and went into remission for seven years before the cancer returned. He then had more chemotherapy and radiation. Later, it came back in his pancreas, causing abdominal pain and other issues that he kept from us. -@velvetroses
Cough That Won’t Quit
When my sister was 21, she had stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and her only symptom was a persistent cough. Doctors kept diagnosing it as pneumonia or bronchitis and just gave her cough syrup and antibiotics. After six months, my mom convinced her to visit a walk-in clinic and insist on a chest x-ray. The next day, she was admitted to our city’s Cancer Centre for aggressive chemotherapy. She had to stay in the ICU during treatment because the tumor was pressing on the tissue near her heart, and they worried about bleeding as the tumor shrank. It’ll be 20 years next February, and she’s been cancer-free ever since—married with three kids, and you’d never guess she was ever sick. She was very lucky, but now I get paranoid whenever I have a cough.” -@Cdnteacher92
Odd Conduct
My dad started behaving oddly—looking a bit unkempt and repeating the same stories. At 86, some of that seemed normal. But he was also swerving while driving and called me one day to take him to his doctor. In short, he was diagnosed with stage 4 GBM, a type of brain cancer. He had surgery and was okay for a few months but passed away shortly after. The silver lining was that he experienced no pain and didn’t suffer.”
