{"id":259406,"date":"2026-01-23T08:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/259406\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T08:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:05:16","slug":"a-doctor-laughed-when-i-suggested-my-symptoms-were-cancer-then-i-got-my-hodgkin-lymphoma-diagnosis-at-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/259406\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A doctor laughed when I suggested my symptoms were cancer \u2013 then I got my Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis at 24\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 25-year-old woman who said a GP \u201claughed\u201d at her when she suggested she might have cancer later discovered she had Hodgkin lymphoma, and believes the support of her partner and their engagement got her through six rounds of the \u201cmost intense\u201d chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

Kelly Underwood, an educator from Birmingham, said she first presented with lethargy, sore eyes and rashes on her knuckles from February 2025.<\/p>\n

By June, she noticed a lump in her neck, which is when her partner, Olivia Read, 28, encouraged her to seek medical advice.<\/p>\n

She said a GP confirmed a swollen lymph node, but could not explain its cause, suggesting that Kelly monitor it for a week and come back if her condition did not improve.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly said the support of her partner and their engagement got her through chemotherapy (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

For the next three months, Kelly said she was \u201cback and forth\u201d to her GP surgery a total of six times, with a series of medical professionals unable to diagnose her condition.<\/p>\n

Feeling frustrated, Kelly said she went to one particular appointment with her mum, who said: \u201cHow many times has she got to come back to you before you do something?\u201d<\/p>\n

She eventually received a phone call from a doctor, who said she had been looking at Kelly\u2019s blood results from the last five years and they seemed abnormal, citing low iron and raised inflammatory markers, which is when the doctor made a follow-up appointment.<\/p>\n

That is when Kelly and Olivia searched for these symptoms on Google, prompting her to ask a doctor if it could be cancer.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly initially noticed a lump in her neck (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Kelly told PA Real Life: \u201cThey laughed at us and said there was no way it was cancer, which I actually felt reassured about. I came out of that appointment and thought I better just believe what they were saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors ended up referring Kelly for a biopsy, CT scan and ultrasound, as she says her eyes were more bloodshot, she was getting increasingly tired and she felt the lump was growing.<\/p>\n

A follow-up appointment was made for September 8 to discuss the results with a doctor.<\/p>\n

Kelly brought Olivia with her and the doctor\u2019s face slumped when she revealed: \u201cI\u2019m really sorry to tell you but you\u2019ve got cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in September 2025 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time she said that word, I thought I hadn\u2019t heard it right,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just burst out into tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next thing I remember is looking at Liv and I\u2019ve never seen her cry the way she did.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know when you have a moment that you\u2019ll never forget?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to know what the plan was, but all the doctor could tell me was that they didn\u2019t have enough information.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly began losing her hair after the first round of chemotherapy (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe couldn\u2019t tell me what the treatment plan was or if it was even curable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we came out of that appointment really upset and thinking that I was going to die at 24.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next day, Olivia called the doctor to demand answers, which is how the pair found out it was Hodgkin lymphoma, but they did not know any more.<\/p>\n

Kelly says she waited 10 \u201cpanicked\u201d days and heard \u201cabsolutely nothing\u201d, until a follow-up appointment confirmed it was classic Hodgkin lymphoma \u2013 a cancer with a generally good prognosis \u2013 and that she was young and fit so they were going to put her on the \u201cmost intense\u201d treatment regime.<\/p>\n

The doctor revealed they were also requesting an urgent bed at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, due to concerns a lymph node pressing against her windpipe may obstruct her breathing.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly said she suffered from bone marrow pain from filgrastim injections (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

While Kelly waited for a call from the hospital to say that the bed was ready, Olivia was by her side.<\/p>\n

That is when Kelly made a last-minute plan for a bold romantic gesture.<\/p>\n

Kelly said: \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be proposing to her while I had no hair from cancer treatment and I didn\u2019t look like me.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I got the ring I had bought long before my diagnosis and I told Liv to get dressed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had actually planned to propose to her at the top of Kenilworth Castle, which we both love.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly was supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut just as we were about to set off, I got the call that the bed was ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo instead, I had to quickly write a speech on my phone and I took her to a Costa drive-through because we love coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just did it there and we both cried in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once admitted to hospital, Kelly was told she would be having \u201cescalated BEACOPDac\u201d, which is a 21-day cycle of chemotherapy in hospital, filgrastim injections which stimulate the bone marrow to produce more white blood cells, and steroids, totalling six rounds and starting at the end of September.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly said her mental health has been like a \u2018rollercoaster\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Kelly began losing her hair after the first round, as well as suffering from bone marrow pain from the injections, and immobility, and her mental health has been a \u201crollercoaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

Throughout it all, Olivia has stood by Kelly, proposing back to her in October while on a walk in Sutton Park, via a trail lit up with the words \u201cMarry me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly has been supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust\u2019s youth support co-ordinator, Cathy, who helped distract her during chemo by playing card games or talking about their favourite books and always being just a phone call away.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly will have a PET scan at the end of February to check for signs of cancer (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

The charity supports anyone diagnosed with cancer aged 13 to 24, and their loved ones too.<\/p>\n

Now, Kelly has finished her last round of chemotherapy, as of January 14.<\/p>\n

Next, she will have a PET scan at the end of February to check for signs of cancer and has an appointment booked for early March, which she is hoping will be the moment she gets the all-clear.<\/p>\n

The couple are looking forward to a low-key engagement at their local pub with family, then a wedding within two years.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly said she first presented with lethargy, sore eyes and rashes on her knuckles (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Reflecting on what she has learned, Kelly said: \u201cYou get told about checking your boobs, but you don\u2019t get told about checking your neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also think people need to advocate for themselves with doctors if they\u2019re not being referred properly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all think that it\u2019s never going to be us, but it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about the Teenage Cancer Trust, visit its website at www.teenagecancertrust.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 25-year-old woman who said a GP \u201claughed\u201d at her when she suggested she might have cancer later…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[258,5799,103,128729,61,60,128728],"class_list":["post-259406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cancer","tag-chemotherapy","tag-health","tag-hodgkin-lymphoma","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kelly-underwood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}