I was juggling looking after my child with a busy job and doctors thought I had tonsilitis – then they found cancer
A mother’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with cancer after doctors initially thought she was suffering from tonsillitis.
Emma Rosic, 32, said The sun that she was in what she considered normal health, but between working full-time as an air freight price estimator and caring for her son Frankie – who was only two at the time – she began to feel exhausted.
The mother-of-one, from Hampshire, subsequently developed other symptoms including night sweats, itching and weight loss, as well as a swollen lymph node in her neck.
But when her husband, Darran, found her unconscious on the bathroom floor in July 2022, doctors told her she had tonsillitis.
Despite being prescribed antibiotics, her health continued to deteriorate as she battled numerous respiratory infections.
Emma Rosic’s life was turned upside down when she discovered she had cancer after doctors initially told her she had tonsillitis
After six months of suffering ill health, an X-ray revealed a large mass in her chest – which turned out to be stage two lymphoma
After six months of repeatedly raising concerns with doctors, an X-ray revealed a mass in Emma’s chest, which turned out to be stage two lymphoma in January 2023.
“Having a little boy and getting news like this is the hardest thing ever,” she told The Sun.
She also said doctors did not know how long her cancer had been growing before it was discovered.
After the shocking discovery, Emma immediately started chemotherapy. Two weeks later she lost all her hair.
‘It was so hard to explain to my son that I was losing my hair because he was so young, but we told him that this was the cancer leaving my body.
“His response was, ‘You look like Dad,’ since my husband is bald.”
After eight weeks, Emma was in remission, and in June she was told she was officially cancer-free, describing the “all clear” as “the best feeling in the world.”
After the shocking discovery, Emma immediately started chemotherapy, but she is now cancer-free
But after a year in remission, Emma is constantly afraid her cancer will return and has had to undergo counseling as she struggles to come to terms with what she has been through.
‘Cancer has changed my life forever. I will never take my life for granted again.”
Earlier this year, alarming new figures revealed that more than 100,000 patients have been diagnosed with cancer in emergency departments over the past five years.
Experts warned that those picked up this way are often in the later stages of the disease, when it is more expensive and difficult to treat and the chances of survival are lower.
It comes amid unprecedented dissatisfaction with GPs and long wait times for diagnostic tests, with patients often struggling to be seen.
Cancer Research UK described the situation as ‘unacceptable’ and warned it could affect patients’ chances of beating the disease.