Student diagnosed with blood cancer after doctors dismissed symptoms as anxiety

A young woman was diagnosed with blood cancer after her symptoms were dismissed as anxiety and told by a GP, “You look healthy, so you must be fine.”

Abby Maxwell was reassured by doctors that nothing was wrong despite losing 84 pounds in under a year and suffering from regular bouts of nausea and vomiting.

The student visited her local GP four times between February and July 2022, but her doctor reckoned her symptoms were anxiety-related.

But Abby, who was 22 at the time, knew deep down it was something more serious due to the drastic weight loss and kept pushing for an answer despite being repeatedly dismissed.

Abby, 25, of Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, said, “I remember going in on one appointment and the GP said, ‘You look healthy, so you must be fine.’

“At that point, I was being sick a lot. It was pretty much daily. And I’d lost a substantial amount of weight – around six stone – in a very short time. So, I knew something was wrong.

“I’d been previously diagnosed with anxiety, so the GP linked the nausea and sickness with that, even though I said I wasn’t feeling any particular increase in anxiety when I was being sick.

“When I was dismissed by multiple GPs, it made me feel belittled, discouraged and frustrated.

“I knew I was ill, and I knew that the symptoms I had weren’t normal, but they made me question my own thoughts and feelings to the point that I disregarded the first physical sign of cancer for months before going back to them.

“I went to the GP in February 2022 and that’s when they said my folic acid was low so they put me on tablets.

“I went back again a few times and then in July 2022 the doctor said I looked healthy so I was fine.

“Looking back I can laugh but it was ridiculous.

“I was being sick quite a lot and she had put that down to my anxiety.

“She said it was causing the nausea and sickness, and I explained that I wasn’t feeling anxious during these sickness bouts.

“I think she just saw that in my notes and used that to explain it.

“I probably went three or four times from February to July. I knew there was something wrong with me but I thought I was being disregarded, so what’s the point of doing that again. “

She eventually saw doctors again in December 2022 after developing a lump on her underarm and was referred for an ultrasound.

At the ultrasound appointment, she had a biopsy taken and was told by doctors that they suspected she had lymphoma.

After dropping from 182 pounds to 98 pounds in months, Abby was finally diagnosed with high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma in January 2023.

She added, “I had no inkling [of cancer]. I knew there was something wrong, but never in a million years did I think it was cancer.

“When I was told it was most likely lymphoma, I just started crying and wanted to leave immediately.

“I just needed to go home and be away from there.”

After her diagnosis, she began six cycles of chemotherapy at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, where she described her care as “exceptional.”

Abby said, “I actually felt vindicated that I wasn’t making it all up.

“And it was almost a relief, as I could now process what was coming.”

Now two-and-a-half-years cancer-free, Abby, who is currently training as a complementary therapist, wants to raise awareness of cancer in young people.

She is aiming to highlight the fact “cancer doesn’t end when you get the all-clear” and the importance of young people feeling supported in the aftermath of treatment.

She added, “There’s all kinds of long-term effects from treatment like chronic fatigue and fertility issues.

“And with my joints and my bones, I feel like I can’t move the same way that I used to.

“There are the psychological effects after treatment ends, too, because you’re coming to terms with what’s just happened to you, and for me, the physical changes I had.

“I’d gained a lot of weight at the time because of the steroids I’d been on for treatment and I had no hair, so I was very self-conscious for a good while.

“There needs to be a certain level of compassion for young people that have been through cancer.”

Ashley Ball-Gamble, CEO of The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association, said, “We’d like to say a huge thank you to Abby for sharing her story, which highlights why we’re working to support healthcare professionals by educating them on cancer in young people to improve diagnosis times.

“The earlier a diagnosis is made, the better chance there is that treatment will not only be effective but will come with fewer short- and long-term side effects.”