A dad was given just 'days to live' after being diagnosed with blood cancer - having initially been told it was a sinus infection.
Nathan Bingham, 29, from Northern Ireland, started feeling pressure in his head and face, and his colleagues later noticed swelling in his face. He realised something was wrong and contacted a GP on the telephone, who diagnosed him with a sinus infection, but Nathan said the symptoms did not go away.
The 29-year-old said he felt light headed every time he tried to lift something heavy, which was a daily task in his job. He then started having trouble eating and drinking normally, and had difficulty breathing, BelfastLive reports.
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He said: "I was worried at this point and first contacted my GP who tried to diagnose me via telephone and left me a steroid nasal spray for Chronic Sinusitis which is an inflammation of the facial sinuses. This did not work at all.
"About a week after using the nasal spray I then noticed that my breathing, drinking and swallowing were not normal at all. This symptom started in late October time and I was having trouble eating solids and even drinking water.
"Food would get stuck in my windpipe and water made a strange gurgling noise as a drank. I became very worried again and I contacted my GP and begged for a face to face as I knew something wasn't quite right.
"I explained everything that had been going on and the GP said that it sounded like acid reflux and it had damaged my windpipe. I was prescribed an antibiotic and an antacid tablet and also got my bloods checked. The tablets made me feel even worse, and to top it off when my bloods came back the results were, 'you have a small bit of inflammation, probably due to the sinusitis'.
"I was not happy at this point but I trusted my GP and I wasn't one to second guess a medical professional. From here my jaw was pushed out of alignment and I started to bite the inside of my face, the swelling was very bad."
In November, Nathan's symptoms worsened and he began vomiting and fainting. At one point, Nathan had a black eye and concussion after hitting his head, and his pregnant fiancé rushed him to the hospital.
After several scans and tests, doctors diagnosed Nathan with Lymphoma after finding a blood clot close to his heart. Doctors told Nathan he had just 'days to live' if they didn't start treatment straight away.
He said: "That week in the hospital I could not breath, eat or drink, I was critical condition given only days to live if they didn't start emergency chemotherapy. Thankfully my body handled the chemo very well and I slowly recovered. I found out shortly after I was stable that I had three masses in my body - a 12.5cm mass in my chest, a 8cm mass in my lung and a small 4cm mass in my pancreas.
"My consultant in ward 6A in the Ulster Hospital told me that Lymphoma is actually very common in my age group and I had, in his words, 'all the classical symptoms of lymphoma, how did you survive this long?' Dr El Agnaf at the Macmillan Ward in the Ulster Hospital saved my life and was on the ball the whole time.
"After a long 12-week chemotherapy treatment followed quickly by three weeks of radiotherapy I am in remission and thankful for the wealth of knowledge at the Ulster Hospital able to save my life, today I feel good, I almost feel normal again. On Saturday May 21, I begin back to work in Bangor with a tiling company called Tiles Direct. My boss Aaron has been a superstar during this, allowing me to keep my job and he helped me through this whole ordeal."
Nathan urged the youth to take their health seriously and get a second medical opinion if their symptoms worsen. He added: "Cancer is real and not just for the elderly.
"If your symptoms are anything like mine, facial swelling, lymph node swollen, they are under your jaw, armpits and in the groin area, night sweats and trouble eating/drinking, if they stop you functioning normally take yourself to a hospital. I felt silly going to the hospital because I believed I had a bug that day, that's why I was vomiting."
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