EXCLUSIVE: I thought I’d pulled a muscle, it turned out to be a grapefruit-sized cancerous TUMOR

In the spring of 2020, 45-year-old Jaclyn Downs felt generally healthy, if overworked.

It was a particularly busy period in her job as a nutritionist and she exercised regularly – and intensively.

So when she started feeling a twinge under her armpit after a tough bike ride, she didn’t think much about it.

“It didn’t hurt while I was exercising vigorously,” the mother of two from Pennsylvania told DailyMail.com

‘It lasted about five to 10 minutes and then disappeared. I thought it was a pulled muscle.

‘I felt a little more tired than usual before I was diagnosed, but I am a working mother of two.

‘I also wondered if it was my age and if the hormonal changes were disrupting my sleep, as I would feel a little warm at times.’

But within a few months the pain had spread to the center of her chest. There was also another bizarre symptom: a small “crushing sound” she heard when she exhaled.

Although she figured there was no reason to worry as the noise quickly disappeared.

To be sure, she visited her doctor. The appointment marked the beginning of a living nightmare, in which she would be confronted with the prospect of leaving her young children – aged four and eight at the time – without a mother.

Although her blood tests were normal, the doctor ordered a chest x-ray to be sure.

Jaclyn Downs thought nothing of the twinge in her chest after exercise, but scans revealed a large tumor had grown under her ribs

Jaclyn Downs was surprised by the size of the tumor that had grown in her breast, as her symptoms were minimal

The resulting images were far from what was expected: a cancerous tumor the size of a grapefruit grew in her chest cavity and began eating away at her rib.

Jaclyn was diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma – a cancer of the immune system – in mid-July.

More than 18,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year, making it the most common form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

It happens when a type of white blood cell grows too quickly and abnormally, creating large clumps and making patients acutely vulnerable to infections.

“It was a surprisingly large tumor for the minimal number of symptoms I had – I think it was because it was growing so quickly,” Jaclyn said.

Within two weeks, she underwent her first round of powerful chemotherapy.

The nutritionist credits her healthy lifestyle – regular exercise and a nutritious diet – for her successful recovery

She said: ‘The tumor grew very quickly. By the time I started chemo the first week of August, the tumor was so big I had to walk around with a pillow under my arm – I could see it visually.

“It was a scary time because I have two young children, and I didn’t know if they were going to have a mother.”

Specialists recommended five more rounds of chemotherapy to give Jaclyn the best chance of long-term recovery, but the drugs sent her into menopause at the age of 42.

‘Luckily I had a really good medical team, and they gave me great support while I was having chemo every three weeks.

It took six rounds of chemotherapy to ensure Jaclyn’s cancer cells were destroyed

‘Although the tumor had appeared so quickly, I had a scan the morning before my fourth round of chemotherapy and it was completely gone.

“I think the first round actually ruined it; After that I didn’t have to walk around with a pillow anymore.

‘Although I considered stopping treatment after my fourth round of chemotherapy, I was advised to have the fifth and sixth treatments to make sure it was gone, and they really took their toll on me.

“I remember feeling really bad during Thanksgiving. I had to sit with my feet on the Ottoman, which was a shame that I wasn’t social enough to join in with the rest.’

Jaclyn thinks she responded well to treatment because she was “trying to live the best life she could before she got cancer.”

“I still felt mostly good and energetic enough to stay active during my treatment,” she said. ‘I did yoga and roller skating. I even learned to drop by the skate park when I had cancer.”

Today, Jaclyn is in remission, and the chances of her disease returning are slim.

Reflecting on what she learned from the experience, Jaclyn, who has been cancer-free as of December 2020, said: “While cancer can happen to anyone, I believe it is your foundation of health that determines how well or easily you move through it. and then bounce back again.

“I used to not be one to rush to the doctor, and I would wait until there was an important reason to go — I would go through the checklist of all the things I thought I would try and it still didn’t improve.”

“Now I would go a lot faster for my peace of mind.”