A comedy writer was diagnosed with cancer on her birthday after initially mistaking her symptoms for severe allergies.
Kelsey Riddle, from Austin, Texas, was about to graduate from college in 2017 when her legs started itching so badly that she scratched them until they bled.
As summer approached and she was writing her thesis, she attributed the itching to allergies and stress.
“I was super exhausted, super stressed and not feeling very good,” Ms. Riddle, now 32, said The patient story. “If you’ve been to Austin, you’ve probably had some flare-ups, so it’s not uncommon.”
But in August, she noticed that a lymph node at the back of her neck had grown to the size of a quarter.
Kelsey Riddle, 32, mistook her first-stage lymphoma symptoms, including itchy legs, for allergies
‘It was horrible. I woke up on my birthday to a 9am phone call,” Ms Riddle said. “I just sat there crying in my bed for a few hours.”
As she continued to write her dissertation, she noticed a lymph node the size of a quarter growing in her neck and moving around. Generally, a lymph node moves as it responds to an infection.
Doctors prescribed multiple courses of antibiotics, all of which failed, and her GP stated: ‘If this didn’t move I would be concerned this was cancer.’
Just a month later, another node on her collarbone swelled overnight to the size of an egg.
On the morning of September 22, Mrs. Riddle’s 26th birthday, doctors called to diagnose her with lymphoma.
‘It was horrible. “I woke up on my birthday to a 9 a.m. phone call,” she said. “I just sat there in my bed and cried for a few hours.”
Ms Riddle was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer that attacks the lymph nodes and disease-fighting white blood cells.
The condition affects about 8,500 Americans each year — mostly those under 30 or ages 50 to 70 — and is responsible for just under 1,000 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.
The overall five-year survival rate is approximately 75 percent.
“I remember thinking, ‘This is actually a relief,’ because lymphomas are usually quite treatable,” Ms Riddle said.
Mrs. Riddle underwent chemotherapy and radiation for her lymphoma. She has been cancer-free since 2019
“Don’t feel like you’re stuck in this situation where someone isn’t listening to you and advocating for yourself,” Ms. Riddle said.
She received a litany of biopsies and scans to confirm staging before starting treatment.
‘Something about a machine that analyzes me for about an hour and tells me my chances of living. It was just really hard for me to deal with,” she said.
‘I remember leaving the PET scan in dismay and just collapsing in my dad’s truck and having a disturbing conversation with him. He was always the one who had the answers for me, but this time he didn’t have them.’
“It was just one of those things where I think we were so emotionally exhausted that we just collapsed.”
In November, Ms. Riddle began ABVD chemotherapy, a regimen specifically designed for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which she said improved her symptoms “almost immediately.”
‘I was really lucky that I didn’t have an allergic reaction or anything like that to the chemo itself.
‘My first reaction was quite mild. I lost a little hair. I ended up shaving it after that,” she said.
‘I was slightly ill, but my itchy legs disappeared immediately. I think that may also have been because my immune system was suppressed.’
‘It was very strange. After my first lap I immediately felt better.’
She also reported virtually no nausea or side effects from the treatment. “It was actually quite incredible.”
Chemotherapy lasted about four months, followed by one month of radiation. In July 2019, scans found no evidence that the cancer was still present, and Ms Riddle has since remained in remission.
Ms Riddle is now encouraging other young cancer patients to ‘take a more active role’ in their care and to speak out if doctors make them feel dismissed.
“Don’t feel like you’re stuck in this situation where someone isn’t listening to you and advocating for yourself,” she said.
‘If you really feel strongly about something, by all means take it to your doctor. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions.’
“If you have a doctor who makes you feel stupid or ridiculous for asking these questions and you have the opportunity to find a new doctor, then find a new doctor because you don’t have to deal with that .’