Actor and singer-songwriter Abi Phillips, the 28-year-old star of Hollyoaks, has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Phillips, known for playing Liberty Savage on the popular soap, shared the news with followers on Instagram on Monday 9 May.
According to the post, Phillips had been diagnosed last month after initially being turned away by medical staff.
She had been told that her age meant there was nothing to be concerned about after noticing two lumps on her neck.
However, she sought a second opinion after seeing Love Island star Demi Jones share her own experience with tumours.
Sharing photographs of herself at a hospital, Phillips wrote: “So, I took these pictures before my scans and after my biopsy having a good old laugh about how ridiculously dressed up I looked in the hospital before a gig, not expecting for one moment to get the news that I did two weeks later…
“I’d previously been sent away from the doctors after having found two lumps in my neck, they’d passed it off and said I was ‘young’ and it wouldn’t be anything and I was ‘probably getting over a cold’ or my body was ‘fighting something off’. As much as that’s what I wanted to hear I wanted to get everything checked for my own peace of mind.
After booking in with a specialist, Phillips was referred for an urgent biopsy and scans. Two weeks later, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and told she would need to undergo surgery and radiotherapy.
“I never thought I would be told that I have cancer at the age of 28, you never think it’s going to happen to you,” she said. “I wouldn’t have taken things further with seeing a specialist if I hadn’t seen @demijones1 post as her lumps were in the exact same place as mine.
“If ever you find a lump or something unusual on your body, never just think it’s nothing, don’t be told that you’re fine by the GP and you’re ‘young’, always get things checked out by a specialist if you can and insist on tests even if it turns out to be nothing, as catching things early is crucial for a good prognosis.”
