A healthy mother's world 'came crashing down' after she was given an explanation by doctors for her 'tiredness'. Natalie Hughes, 29, visited doctors when she started to feel more tired than usual and found 'lumps' in her neck.
The woman from St Helens was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in March and after tests, it was revealed her cancer was at stage four. The mum-of-one was told the disease had spread to her bones and was working its way through her vital organs, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The health "fanatic" had several blood tests, biopsies, CT and Pet scans across four different hospitals before receiving the news as her family admit the mother is the 'last person' they would expect to suffer from cancer.
Sister Natasha Ashton, 34, told the Echo: "She got checked in March and was diagnosed really fast, straight away. It was devastating, we are all heartbroken. She was at the gym every day, healthy eating, she is the last person you'd expect it to happen to.
"She's just amazing, she's my rock. She's the rock for us all. She's really inspiring, I don't know how she's dealing with it all."
The family is sharing Natalie's journey in the hopes of raising awareness as they urge people to seek out medical support if anything is out of the ordinary. Natasha said: "As a family we want to raise awareness of the cancer that Natalie has and it can happen to anyone."
They hope Natalie, who was studying a second degree in therapeutic counselling, will be able to go abroad for treatment which could increase her time in remission. Natasha added: "We want her to have a longer life and be in remission for longer. It's incurable but this treatment gives her a longer time in remission. It's already spread everywhere."
Natalie, who has a degree in health and social wellbeing, is currently seeking out treatment options.
The family said: "Us as a family alongside Natalie are trying to come to terms with everything that is happening right now as everything is still raw, it has been truly heart-breaking but the love and support around Natalie is helping her to fight back and try to get through such a tough time."
According to Cancer Research UK, follicular lymphoma is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Each year around 2,600 people are diagnosed in the UK with the disease. Common symptoms include painless swellings in the neck, armpit or groin, heavy sweating at night and high temperatures that come and go.
Significant weight loss and unexplained itching can also be signs.
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