A man was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the age of 21 after initially overlooking the signs of the disease. However, after believing he had a chest infection he made multiple trips to the GP
A young man has shared his heartbreaking story of being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at just 21, after initially overlooking the signs of the disease.
Jay Shew, from Sydney, Australia, had a blood test in August 2023 which showed high calcium levels – something he didn’t think much of at the time, but later realised was an indicator that his bones were “fighting off a disease”.
Two months on, he began to lose weight rapidly and turned extremely pale, prompting concern from family, friends and colleagues who noted he “looks like a ghost”.
Jay admitted that he had been experiencing symptoms of cancer, but hadn’t recognised them as such. He said: “I had a really sore back pain so I’d wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning and it felt like my lower back was breaking, it was that bad.”
He also suffered from night sweats, recalling how he would wake up drenched in sweat, and extreme fatigue that saw him needing to nap just hours after waking up. A few weeks later, he started to experience “really bad chest pain”.
Describing the pain as unlike anything he’d felt before, Jay remembers coughing up phlegm and his voice deepening, leading him to believe he had a chest infection. After visiting the doctor, he was prescribed antibiotics.
He said: “Four days later everything went away. I was like brand new. I felt like a new person. Now, after that, maybe like three days after that, I got sick again.”
Jay mentioned that he fell ill once more and it “came back worse this time”.
After another trip to his GP, he was prescribed a “different course of antibiotics” but they didn’t improve his condition at all. So, the next day he returned and was advised to get a CT scan at the hospital.
He underwent the scan and had to spend the night in the hospital. The following morning, a nurse informed him that the scan showed swollen lymph nodes in his lymphatic system and that he had a type of blood cancer.
Jay then underwent a biopsy and about eight tests which confirmed he had stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. According to the NHS, Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a rare cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels and glands spread throughout your body.
It can develop at any age but it mostly affects people between 20 and 40 years of age and those over 75. The NHS states that the most common symptom of Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a swelling in the neck, armpit or groin but there are other symptoms, including night sweats, unintentional weight loss, a high temperature, a persistent cough or feeling of breathlessness and a persistent itching of the skin all over the body.
Jay had some of these symptoms but didn’t recognise them as signs of cancer at the time. The Mayo Clinic explains that hypercalcemia is a condition where the level of calcium in your blood is too high, which can lead to weakened bones and kidney stones.
Cancer Research UK also says that high blood calcium levels “sometimes happen if your cancer is advanced”.
If you’re concerned about any symptoms, it’s advised to seek medical advice.
