Woman who assumed neck lump was a pulled muscle diagnosed with cancer

Lily Venus, now 26, visited her GP in November 2021 when a lump around her collarbone started making her job teaching exercise classes difficult.

Tests later discovered that Lily had tumours in her chest, lung, and on both sides of her neck. 

Lily said she put her earliest symptoms down to her job, the Covid-19 pandemic, and getting a new puppy. 

"In September 2021, I was teaching about six exercise classes a week via Zoom," Lily said. 

"I started experiencing this strange light-headedness, but I didn't think much of it. 

"I also was incredibly fatigued. I would nap at least once a day, and waking up in the morning was difficult regardless of how much sleep I'd gotten.

"On November 7 2021, myself and my long-term partner Ryan went and stayed in a little shepherd's hut in Petersfield for two nights.

"The day we left, we drove to York to pick up our new puppy, and on the drive, I had an awkward feeling in my neck. It felt like I had slept funny.

"My symptoms continued for the next week, but I still was under the impression that I was just exhausted due to the new puppy and exercise, and the neck pain was from tweaking my neck.

"At the end of that week, I had a lump come up just above my collarbone. The discomfort was preventing me from being able to teach the upper-body parts of my exercise classes, so I booked a doctor’s appointment." 

After feeling her neck and asking her a few questions, Lily's doctor "calmly" told her that she needed to go to A and E. Lily thought her doctor was "overreacting" but went and had tests done anyway. 

Two weeks later, doctors sat her down and told her she had Stage Four Hodgkins Lymphoma — a type of blood cancer. 

"I was told I had the option to have my chemotherapy at the teenage and young adult unit at Southampton Hospital," Lily said. 

"This was so lucky. I was only two months away from my 25th birthday. If I had already been 25, I would have been in the adult ward which is said to be a very different experience.

"I was told that because of the chemotherapy, there was a slim chance I could lose my fertility. I was offered IVF, which would have delayed my treatment for about six months. 

"I found making this decision really tough. I talked to Ryan about it and he said, "Without you, there is no baby. It's important we get YOU healthy as soon as possible." 

"I am so grateful this is how he viewed it because my cancer was already Stage Four and Hodgkins Lymphoma is fast-growing. Who knows where I would be if I hadn't started chemotherapy straight away." 

Lily, from Winchester, started her treatment two weeks before Christmas in 2021. She had 12 rounds of ABVD chemotherapy spread over six months, and she was able to have a lower dose on her last eight sessions because of how well the cancer was responding to treatment. She has now been in remission for 12 months. 

"I am so grateful for my doctor and my diagnosis process," Lily said. 

"It was so quick, and I feel like catching my cancer at the stage it was is one of the reasons I was able to achieve remission.

"I see my oncologist every three months for blood tests and a check-up because relapse for Hodgkins Lymphoma most commonly occurs within the first two years. 

"After two years, my visits will drop to every six months, and then yearly. If I stay in remission for five years, they will basically consider me cured. 

"Luckily, I have kept my fertility."

Last month was the UK's first Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month. According to Teenage Cancer Trust, seven young people between the ages of 13 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer every day. 

"Having cancer as a young person forces you to grow up by about 10 years mentally," Lily said. 

"Cancer robs you of time. For me, it was a year, but some lose their whole childhood to cancer. 

"I wish more people looked at young people with cancer as being strong instead of weak, delicate, and vulnerable. We look weak when we are undergoing chemo, but actually, you are seeing us at our strongest and most resilient. 

"We are not just a sad TV advert that pulls on your heartstrings. This is our reality.

"When I was having chemo on the ward, a young person next to me experienced such an adverse reaction that their body shut down and the crash team was called. The curtain between us was pulled and between the shouting was a stone-cold silence. 

"They recovered, but I have never viewed life and mortality the same since."

Despite her horrific ordeal, Lily is now rebuilding her life after cancer and looking to the future.

"I am most looking forward to life—every little tiny bit of it and everything in between," she said. 

"I have always dreamt of being a mother, and not knowing if I would be able to achieve that title in my life has only made me long for it even more.

"During my treatment, I had to accept changes such as losing my hair, not being able to show up for people as I had been, and not being able to live my life as I had been.

"After my treatment, I had to accept that I will never have that year again. 

"I now have lots of new allergies, and my heart and other organs will forever be weaker than they once were, but I am so grateful to be able to move onwards and upwards with a new appreciation for how wonderful life is."