Thyroid cancer: Something deadly was hiding in this photo of Ashleigh ‘I was on top of the world’
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The photo that saved a young lawyer’s life after doctors dismissed lump in throat as ‘anxiety’ for YEARS
- Woman explains diagnosis of thyroid cancer at age 25
- Ashleigh Mills said it felt like “a lump in my throat”
- Her friends begged her to go to a doctor once she was visible.
Ashleigh Mills was “on top of the world” the week before she was diagnosed with cancer at just 25 years old.
A lump in her throat, seen by a friend in a photo taken a week before she was given the life-changing news, turned out to be the biggest clue.
The lump was visible from the outside for the first time that weekend, prompting her friend to encourage her to get it checked out.
But Ashleigh, now 33, was reluctant.
She had felt the lump growing in her throat for years, but the doctors had always dismissed it as ‘anxiety’. She was also at a good time in her life: she moved home, graduated, and landed her first job as a lawyer.
Ashleigh Mills was just 25 when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, after a friend noticed a lump in her throat (above)
Ashleigh admitted that she never really believed the doctors’ “anxiety” line, as she knew what being anxious felt like.
But she didn’t know what else it could be, so out of fear of being ‘fooled’ again, she decided to stop asking the doctors and instead took their word for it.
Speaking to Nine Honey Ashleigh, who now works closely with the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, said she tried to fire her concerned friend.
“I was quick to say ‘no, it’s nothing. I’m gone, don’t worry about it,'” he said.
But her friend didn’t give up and begged her to go see another doctor.
Ashleigh decided to have it checked out by another GP the next day. A decision that potentially saved his life.
The GP ran tests and within a week he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Ashleigh was celebrating moving out, finishing college, and getting a job as a lawyer, so she tried to fire her friend.
Weeks later, Ashleigh underwent surgery to remove it before undergoing a course of grueling radioactive iodine treatments in an attempt to eliminate the cancer.
This meant that his ‘live away from home’ time was short. She had to quit her new job as a lawyer and move back in with her parents.
And for once she had no control.
“When I was in school, college, work, or playing a particular sport, I could push myself and work harder at whatever it took to get a result. But I couldn’t just work hard or study hard not to get cancer,” she said.
Ashleigh needed something to distract her, so she started doing thyroid research and raising money for cancer research.
But now she is alive because she went to the doctor and she was diagnosed with cancer.
She planned a dinner in between her treatments, just so she’d have something to focus on.
In hindsight, he admits that he probably pushed himself too hard organizing the fundraiser that raised $26,000. But he has led to an ongoing relationship with cancer research and has given Ashleigh the opportunity to warn others to look for the signs.
Now she’s raising money for the Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s inaugural Fit40 challenge in February – exercise for 40 minutes every day in February to raise vital funds for cancer research.
You can help her with her fundraising efforts. here.