A woman has revealed how she ignored three signs of stage four cancer, brushing them aside as simply symptoms of stress and fatigue.
Georgie Swallow attributed her itchy legs, night sweats, and a constant feeling of exhaustion, to the pressures of daily life.
But that all changed when she visited her GP. She revealed: "I would itch until I broke the skin which would keep me up all night. I went to the doctor and they thought it could be stress, allergies or urticaria but no cream or lifestyle change would make it go."
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She continued to suffer weight loss, night sweats, unrelenting tiredness, and a continuous onslaught of colds and flu, mistakenly believing she was just overworking herself.
It wasn't until further tests were conducted that Georgie received the shocking diagnosis of cancer. "Honestly, it took the doctor telling me 'you have stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma' for me to realise how serious it was," she said.
"After being off work for about two weeks with a serious bout of flu I went into the office and whilst at my desk discovered a peach sized lump in the side of my neck.
"Even then I wasn't too worried because I just never even contemplated there would be anything serious wrong with me, naively!"
Georgie, who initially thought she was "wasting everyone's time" with what she assumed were minor symptoms, later discovered the deceptive nature of lymphoma. She highlighted: "This is why lymphoma is diagnosed so late because you can brush the symptoms off so easily as other things."
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Her diagnosis led to an intensive treatment regimen. "My treatment was very aggressive as I was stage 4," she said. "In my first diagnosis I had four different types of chemo every two weeks which left me weak and with a lot of side effects. I lost my hair, weight and strength but found the fun by painting my head with sparkles and making sure I filled the days I had energy with things that made me smile.
"The second diagnosis treatment was definitely more of a challenge. My body was already exhausted so the weekly chemo took its toll and then I had a stem cell transplant.
"It was a little touch and go during the transplant as I nearly didn't make it through which has been something I had to process but it's also given me an incredible new outlook on life. It was a stem cell transplantation that put me into the menopause at age 28."
Coming to terms with early menopause was difficult for Georgie, who claimed it was like "being hit by a bus".
She continued: "Cancer can take quite a lot away from you but having my fertility taken before I'd had a chance to have children was difficult. The menopause at any age can be difficult but at 28 I didn't have anyone my age to talk to about it.
"None of my friends understood what I was going through, and as supportive as they were, it's hard to comfort and relate to something you don't understand."
Georgie, now 32, is eager to spread the word to others who might be facing similar struggles that support is available. "There are 42 recognised symptoms of menopause and I think we all talk about the hot flushes and loss of periods but the most important one for me would be mental health," she said.
"I have spoken to so many women who felt like they were having a nervous breakdown, myself included, because they didn't realise what they were experiencing was menopause. Your mood changes and you can suffer with low moments and I think the minute you identify what's happening, it becomes less stressful."