“Moral of the story: GET IT CHECKED!!!
If the doctor pooh-poohs it, get it checked by a different doctor.
As a hypochondriac, you better bet I read every response.
Here are some of the little-known symptoms people had.
Turns out it was a tumor.”
u/rain_parkour
2.
“My speaking voice dropped over an octave over a period of a few months.
My ear hurt all the time.
No matter what I drank, I constantly felt like there was something stuck in my throat.
I was eating Benadryl every few hours, convinced it was allergies.
Eventually, I was so hoarse that I could hardly do my job.
It turned out to be vocal cord cancer.
I’m now two years cancer-free!
I did come out with a very 1940s-Hollywood-leading-lady-voice-meets-Janice-Joplin.
I actually kind of like it.
And I very much like being alive.”
u/sadbirdfox
3.
“My dad is one of those unhinged people who does ultra marathons.
He thought it looked odd because of all those gels/gooey things you eat during races.
My mom showed me.
We basically had to hold a gun to his head to force him to get a colonoscopy.
It was stage 4 colon cancer the freak beat it.
This was a decade ago.”
u/highkeysadlowkeycute
4.“None.
I went in for a hernia operation.
When I woke up, there were a bunch of doctors standing around me, looking concerned.
They said there was a complication.
I thought that was a good idea and asked when they could fix the hernia.
Turns out it was appendix cancer.”
u/o_MrBombastic_o
5.
“My Britney Spaniel started digging into my breast and sniffing aggressively.
She was right.”
u/jennifer3333
6.
“I was told I had an ovarian cyst at 32.
My doctor said he would do a needle aspiration to shrink it.
Each time, I was told it was not cancerous.”
My dad insisted I see him.
I was surprisingly told to come that week on a Friday.
I was dumbfounded and asked him what he was talking about as I knew I didn’t have cancer.
He said, ‘Oh no, you do for sure.
I have wondered where you have been for months.
I am now 61 and have been cancer-free for almost 30 years."
u/Proud_Pug
7.
No pain, nothing.
I went to a local urologist who set up some simple tests.
My left kidney was completely eaten up with cancer.
Except for that pink water, there were no other symptoms.
I had surgery and have had no more problems."
u/shadderjax
8.
“I was in bed and reached across my body for the covers.
The next night, the same thing happened, so I spent a few minutes exploring it.
I had just had a clean mammogram four months prior.
I made an appointment with my primary care doctor to have it checked.
She found the same lump.
A diagnostic mammogram saw nothing.
Ultrasound found it, and they took a biopsy.
That was just over six years ago.
I had a lumpectomy and radiation.
My oncologist did an Oncotype test and determined I didnt need chemo.
Ngl, I teared up when he told me that.
you better know how your breasts feel so you could notice any changes.
Mammograms may not catch everything.”
u/Seven_bushes
9.
It was my first mammogram.
Women, go for mammograms."
u/Quiltworthy
10.
“When I was six, I had cold/flu symptoms.
Mom took me to the doctor, and they said that’s what it was.
My mom convinced them to do blood work because she felt it was something else.
It ended up being leukemia, and we were lucky to have caught it early.
Still alive over 35 years later.”
u/Jpalm4545
11.
“I was putting on my bra one day and felt a lump the size of a golf ball.
I freaked out and went to the ER.
They did an ultrasound and said it was nothing but would schedule another ultrasound in two days.
I did that one, and they said it was nothing.
A couple of days later, my doctor called me because she saw I had them done.
She didn’t trust the results and sent me to a breast assessment center.
They did a mammogram and said that they would schedule a biopsy.
They did the biopsy a week later.
Within a month, it was the size of a softball and in my lymph nodes.
February 2, I was six years cancer-free.”
u/Fribblous
12.
That hurt more than it should have, and I went to the doctor that week.
Doc removed the offending nut, and since it was cancer, I had four weeks of abdominal radiation.
All cured 28 years ago."
u/spaceforcefighter
13.
“I was 15.
I brought it up to my mom, who brushed it off and told me I was fine.
He told me verbatim, ‘You are ok, that’s nothing to worry about.
“I was 20, and I began having a weird itch on my shoulder.
Every day for a week, the shape changed slightly.
At first, I thought I was losing it, but I took photos to keep track.
On the last day, I stepped out of my shower and looked in the mirror to see blood.
It had started to bleed without much reason to.
It was three weeks before my 21st birthday.
Turns out I had stage 4 melanoma.
I’m very lucky to say I am just under six years in remission and counting.
The treatment for removing skin cancer early on is fairly simple and regularly successful.
Listen to your children.
Listen to your patients.
Listen to your gut.
If something doesn’t feel right, that is probably because it isn’t.
Get checked often and wear sunscreen.”
u/WorryStoner
14. u/Zanderson59
15.
Leukemia is a blood cancer, so bruising is generally one of the first signs.
My daughter started having mosquito bites turn into bruises the size of softballs.
u/LinksLibertyCap
16.
“I had a giant weird bruise that I had no memory of getting.
She probably saved my life.”
It doesn’t itch and doesn’t hurt, so I ignored it.
It was all over my lower legs and feet.
If you seethison your skin, get it checked out.”
u/diffyqgirl
17.
“I got sick one weekend: fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes in my neck.
By Monday, I felt fine.
The lymph node on the left side of my neck remained slightly swollen.
I didn’t think much about it until months later when I had a persistent sore throat.
It didn’t hurt much, just like when you wake up after snoring all night.
You get a drink of water, and the pain goes away.
Except it didn’t.”
Then he sent me for a scan with contrast.
Then he sent me for a biopsy, and I learned I had throat cancer.
But, I was told, something in my lower abdomen bore looking into.
A couple of colonoscopies and a biopsy later, and I learned I had colon cancer.
The throat cancer hadn’t spread it was just an independent development.
The colon cancer was resolved with surgery.
No radiation or chemo was needed.
I had several years of clean follow-up testing, and all was well.
Moral of the story: GET IT CHECKED!!!
If the doctor pooh-poohs it, get it checked by a different doctor.
u/Adddicus
18.
“My vanity saved me.
I had a lump on my outer left knee that I noticed if my leg turned a certain way.
I saw my PCP, who took X-rays, thinking there was bone involvement.
He sent me on my way and said that it was nothing unless it hurt me.
A few years later, it had grown and was visible at all times.
So, I got a new PCP and mentioned it.
They again thought it was nothing.
It was likely a cyst, they said.
It didn’t hurt.
It didn’t impact my walking.
But it was ugly to me, and I think my legs are one of my best features.
So, I insisted.
She humored me and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon.
He joked about how he never gets anyone going to him to get pretty legs.
He humored me with an MRI.
His tune changed when the imaging came back.
Initially, the primary biopsy during surgery said it was benign.”
“They plucked it out.
It was a tumor the size of a walnut.
The full biopsy showed it was malignant sarcoma.
I had to go back for a second surgery to resect the whole area.
My oncologist says my vanity saved me and tried to give me the prettiest scar he could!”
u/FitAppeal5693
19.
I waited for four weeks to go to the doctor.
The first doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me and said to take Tylenol for the fever.
When I asked him why, he said, ‘Just go.’
It was stage 4 Hodgkins lymphoma.
My pediatrician saved my life."
u/Hopeful-Fortune-7689
20.
“Weight loss without a reason or without trying.
Always get this checked out, like.”
u/NicolePeter
“A friend … suddenly started to drastically lose weight, and he was a big guy.
It turned out to be colon cancer.
His doctor says they found it just in the nick of time.
Another week, and it would have spread.”
u/Pale_Cartoonist_2494
21.
“Thyroid for me.
I went to my doctor for the first time in years for a completely unrelated issue.
The doctor kept staring at me as I talked and then asked me to check my neck.
It turned out that bulge in my throat was not my Adam’s apple after all.”
u/thathorsegamingguy
22.
“I had extreme fatigue.
Yup, I wasn’t expecting cancer at all.
It was lymphoma, but initial bloodwork didn’t pick up anything ‘alarming.’
u/ElGatoGuerrero72
23.
“I was getting constipated about every six weeks and was fine between bouts.
I kept getting more sore over several months.
Finally, I went to the doctor, and the second test she ordered was a colonoscopy.
I was 49 and had stage 3 colon cancer.
There were never any sharp pains or any questionable bowel movements.
Nothing that screamed ‘cancer.'”
u/Tabby528
24.
“For my wife, persistent UTI-like issues and frequent need to urinate.
The doctor played it off as uti, but it continued.
My wife pushed back and demanded further diagnosis.
A couple of scans later revealed stage 2 colon cancer, which was putting pressure on her bladder.
She had surgery within ten days and is going on five years cancer-free.”
u/Franklinricard
25.
“I had nagging abdominal pain like a pulled muscle that persisted for over a month.
The doctor mostly ignored me for the first three visits.
I had my gallbladder out for gallstones, but the pain persisted.
Doctors said it was pleurisy nothing to worry about.
I finally got mad and took myself to the ER and said I had chest pain.
The X-ray tech saw a faint shadow and asked the doctor if we could take another look.
I am eternally grateful to that X-ray tech!”
u/idealmelissa
26.
“Had blood in my stool.
I had to go poop more often.
No pain or anything.
One time, a lot of blood came out.
I went to the ER and got a colonoscopy.
Stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to my liver as a 31-year-old.”
u/bubba24
27.
“I was making my toilet look like a crime scene.
All three went to cancer.
I finished December 27, and so far, so good.
I have neuropathy (numbness in my fingers and toes), but it will hopefully go away.
Half of my immediate family died within a year because they wouldn’t go see a doctor.”
u/Xerxsi
28.
“I had a nagging cough, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue.
I made up excuses about what could be causing them, which was a big mistake.”
u/Iwouldntifiwereme
This was me.
I was so wrong.
It does happen to women under 30, and it was serious.
ZeppsMom
29.
It wasn’t growing at all, so I had ignored it for a long time.
My wife convinced me to have it removed at this little place that did wart removal.
They basically cauterized it off.
It grew back about six months later.
Over the next few weeks, it started to grow and bubble out like a raspberry.
I went to a dermatologist, and they did a biopsy.
It turned out it was cutaneous leiomyosarcoma.
So I went into the surgery, not knowing if I would wake up with both legs or not.
Fortunately, again, everything worked out, and I have been cancer-free for five years now.
I also have a really gnarly scar that looks like the stitch on a football.”
u/thechervil
30.
We found out he had Leukemia after a lot more bloodwork.
Three years later, he finished treatment.
We’re a few days away from his bone marrow transplant.
Thankfully, everything has been going well so far."
u/Darth_Davidicus
31.
I just thought it was an irritation, so I put it off.
So, I made an appointment with my doctor and learned I had basal cell skin cancer.
I was put on chemo cream that basically ate all of the bad cells away.
My skin was like raw hamburger meat for a very long time after that.
If it wasn’t for that recurring dream, who knows what boat I’d be in today?
Stay out of tanning beds they are toxic and will give you skin cancer.
That is a hill I am willing to die on."
u/Huge-Bug-4512
32.
“I had an all-over itch that was unbearable and lasted for weeks.
I also felt like I had the flu for the same duration.
It was stage four lymphoma.
I’m now several years into remission.”
u/ManekDu
33.
My mom was so grossed out she made me go to a doctor to get it removed.
He canceled the surgery and referred me to my oncologist.
After my chemo and radiation, it disappeared on its own and hasn’t come back.
I had extremely painful and itchy eczema on my toes.
I had chest pains because the tumor was growing and pushing against my heart."
u/xcrunchytoast
34.
“I am 34 and cancer-free.
I was diagnosed at age four, 30 years ago, with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
IIRC, I was actually one of the first 100 US patients to receive a cord blood transplant.
The cord blood came from my younger brother, who was born a year earlier.
My parents saved it, ‘just in case.’
“As an undiagnosed 4-year-old, I was chronicly tired all the time and my joints ached.
I still have a few specific memories from back then, when I was at a family vacation.
I just sat there watching, feeling fatigued.
Initially, my parents thought I was lazy, but that was short lived.
I think my pediatrician immediately knew something was not right and suggested a blood test immediately.
IIRC, I think before being seen by anyone the leading thoery was I had mononucleosis.
Pregnant women of Reddit like donate your umbilical cord to save a life.
u/ChthonicPuck
35.
My doctor ignored THAT.
It progressed to pain and more bleeding.
He ignored that, too.
Then I couldn’t pee.
He didn’t ignore that.
It took him over two years to take me seriously.
Stage 3C colon cancer.
And seriously, fuck that doctor.”
u/tranquilseafinally
36.
Go figure it was uterine cancer, with 12 tumors, stage 3.
Doctors don’t listen when heavy women talk.”
Instead of being solid brown, it was like light tan inside.
u/Eternal_Bagel
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
