"I was not a man in my 60’s or 70’s – I was a 34 year-old female!"

Gina was diagnosed with lung cancer at just 34. She's kindly shared with the Community her experience of being diagnosed, and the shock and impact being diagnosed with cancer had on her at such a young age.

If, like Gina, you were diagnosed with cancer at a young age, go ahead and share your experiences with us in the comments section below. You might also like to visit our Diagnosed at a young age group to talk about and share your experiences with others of a similar age.

If you saw me walking down the street, it wouldn’t cross your mind that I have lung cancer would it? However, I am a growing statistic that seems to lack an awareness. It is becoming more and more common for young women to be diagnosed with lung cancer. Often, they have never smoked – so the usual red flags are out the window.

 We have all heard the campaigns about lung cancer. How if we have a persistent cough, cough up blood, or have rapid weight loss we should consult our GP – I had none of these symptoms. Having spoken to a fair few lung cancer patients, it turns out it really is common to NOT present with the classic symptoms we are told about. So how did I get diagnosed?

 I went to my GP about something completely different. I mentioned my other symptoms as almost an after-thought as I happened to be there. For me, they were discomfort in chest when lying on my right side at night, getting on two months, along with pains in my shoulder, numbness across my collar bone area and down the back of my arm coming and going, but now persistent. I had also on three occasions felt the whole right side of my face go completely numb for a few minutes for no apparent reason.

 I had googled the numbness and scared myself silly self-diagnosing. I had thought they might be looking for MS.

My GP suspected a trapped nerve in my neck, however he still was cautious and referred me for a neck and shoulder x-ray. I was a little surprised as I had absolutely no problems in my neck. Reading up on trapped nerves, I saw where he was coming from, and went for the x-rays which he promptly ordered.

 I didn’t think to note the other symptoms that had come on gradually during that time, as I had no reason to think they were linked, or that they were worth bothering the GP with. These were:

• Sudden indigestion and belching – something I hadn’t ever had a problem with, and I just got indigestion remedies to try and ease it.
• Fatigue – but I had always liked my sleep, but as time crept along I found I was exhausted after working all week and spent the weekends napping in the day, and sleeping well at night too.
• Night sweats - this happened a handful of times, I never knew this could be potentially something to worry about. I just assumed I must have had a scary dream that I woke up not remembering.
• I had been asked if I had coughed up blood, I said no. In hindsight I do remember coughing up slightly tinged pink phlegm. To me this was not ‘coughing up blood’ so alarm bells did not ring.

The x-ray didn’t show anything other than a slight narrowing of two vertebra. Chiropractic and physiotherapy treatment did not help, and the pain got worse over the next four months – so I went back and was referred for an MRI. A protruding disk was now suspected.

Within half an hour of getting out of the MRI I received a text to go that night for my results and to take someone with me. Much sooner than the scheduled appointment in a few days to receive the results. It was at this point my world came crashing down, I knew something desperately wrong must have been found. I wasn’t surprised to find it was more than a trapped nerve, the pain was excruciating by now. I was extremely surprised though, to hear that it was a large suspicious mass in the apex of my right lung.

I found myself desperately searching for answers whilst the never-ending diagnostic tests were going on in the background. I stumbled across information on Pancoast tumours and found they fitted exactly with my symptoms, all except the big but…I was not a man in my 60’s or 70’s – I was a 34 year-old female! How could this be?

'I have never sat and asked why me? Because why anybody? Nobody deserves cancer. For me, it has always been, why at my age?'

For me, I have never sat and asked why me? Because why anybody? Nobody deserves cancer. For me, it has always been, why at my age?

It is easy to feel that you are the only one when you are diagnosed at a much younger age bracket to the norm. Though, sadly, there are many of us about dealing with a young cancer diagnosis. I found my worries may be very different to some of the usual lung cancer patients, that were more often at the retirement age or above.

I wondered, how would I let work know? How would I pay the bills if I couldn’t work? If I wanted to start a new relationship, when do you tell the person that you have cancer?

I can feel the curious looks when I walk into oncology, or take a seat in the chemotherapy chair. It can feel very isolating. If like me, you are a younger person being diagnosed, please know you are not alone. We are, sadly, becoming more common.

If you're a young person living with cancer, take a look at the range of information and support available on our website. 

Macmillan's here to support everyone affected by cancer. You can call our Support Line teams on 0808 808 0000 - available Monday through to Sunday, 8am to 8pm.