A university student who thought she had freshers' flu was shocked to find out she actually had blood cancer. Zara Barton initially put her symptoms down to stress and living a "typical student lifestyle."
She first started to notice her itchy skin, a persistent cough, weight loss and a hard 2cm lump below her neck last February, but put them down her lifestyle and the stress of an "upsetting break-up". At first, the 19-year-old fashion marketing and branding student was prescribed creams and antihistamines by doctors.
In November last year, as the hives and itchiness of her skin became "unbearable," she pushed for answers and was stunned to be diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin Lymphoma. The teen had her eggs collected to help preserve her fertility before she started chemotherapy in December, and now, halfway through her treatment, she received the good news last month that there were no signs of active cancer in her body.
