Despite experiencing symptoms for about 18 months, Georgie initially dismissed them as mere fatigue and stress.
It wasn’t until her diagnosis that she understood the severity of her illness.
She recounted: “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 felt apprehensive about bothering her doctors and brushed off her symptoms.
At 32, she is now speaking out about how cancer and its treatment have impacted her health, focusing on the three main lymphoma symptoms she initially overlooked to help raise awareness.
The symptoms she experienced most were itchy legs, night sweats, and extreme fatigue.
She said: “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.”
“During this time I was losing weight, having night sweats, constantly exhausted, and a never-ending stream of colds and flus but I just thought I was on the go too much and wearing myself out.”
She mentioned that because the symptoms of lymphoma can be so subtle, the disease is often diagnosed late, explaining, “because you can brush the symptoms off so easily as other things.”
Additionally, Georgie faced early menopause, which she described as overwhelming: “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 is committed to increasing awareness about the signs of lymphoma and the mental health challenges of early menopause.
She is collaborating with Boots and Macmillan Cancer Support to spotlight early menopause due to cancer treatment. For more details, click here.