The 29-year-old woman says she developed a cough and took several COVID-19 tests which all returned negative. The woman, who is a sales manager, thought she had caught a viral bug and doctors told her to drink cough syrup. Unfortunately, she later noticed her lymph nodes started swelling around her chest and shoulders and that her collar bone was no longer visible under the swelling. Just 2 months after her initial symptoms, she was diagnosed with incurable disease. Now, she advises others to never ignore a cough. “I think it’s clear anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and if you have a persistent cough, please don’t ignore it. Speak with your GP and get it checked, it could save your life,” the brave woman reportedly said.
The young woman, Alix Burnard, developed what she believed to be an infection in March 2021. So, she took numerous Covid-19 tests all of which were negative. Alix then began suffering from a swollen neck and was in serious pain. She also noticed her lymph nodes had started swelling around her chest and shoulders. She contacted her doctor, who reportedly put her on antibiotics.
During an interview with The Mirror, Burnard reportedly said: “I kept calling the doctors surgery when I felt unwell, but they only suggested cough syrup to help, and wouldn’t see me in the GP surgery because of Covid. By May 2021 I was struggling to breathe and couldn’t talk without running out of air. I was coughing up phlegm constantly, and couldn’t leave the house without a cup to cough up into. I had intense night sweats and was really struggling. I had lost so much weight that none of my clothes fit me anymore and I would often cough so much that I would be sick.
I called the doctors again, and they asked me to come in to be examined and once I was seen, I was sent straight to A&E at my local hospital. As soon as I’d had the CT scan, doctors started talking to me in a different manner, and it was then it was suggested that this was something more sinister. I spent a week living on the cancer ward, where I had a biopsy and a PET scan and was on several IV bags of antibiotics as I was suffering with pneumonia. It was during this time I was told that I had cancer. They weren’t sure of the primary location of my cancer, and were suggesting that it was likely lymphoma initially. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me – I wasn’t expecting any of this at all. I thought I had a chest infection, and I would get better. I was always really healthy, I’ve never smoked, rarely drink, exercise, and I eat plant based food.
There was nothing in my lifestyle that would make me think cancer was even a possibility. I spent the whole time I was in hospital on my own, I wasn’t allowed a single visitor because of Covid. I went through some of the hardest, most upsetting days of my life without a single familiar face, and I found it really hard.”
According to the Post, the doctors later told the 29-year-old woman that she was suffering from adenocarcinoma – a cancer that forms in the glandular tissue. She went to see another doctor who reportedly told her that she had incurable cancer. She was sent home for two weeks, growing weaker from pneumonia as a result of the cancer in her lungs. Just 10 days later, her oncologist confirmed the diagnosis to her – ALK-positive lung cancer. The doctor also told her that the disease had spread to her liver, lymph nodes, shoulder, spine and pelvis.
She started a targeted oral therapy and has had stints in the ICU relying on a ventilator at times. The doctors also found several blood clots and DVT, including one in her brain. The young woman began a series of treatments all in the aim of slowing the spread and give her precious time, including oral chemotherapy and targeted cancer drugs. Just 2 months ago, she started crizotinib. Alix also had a biopsy which found a MET mutation in her cells, which meant that this was the next treatment line to try before IV chemotherapy.
Alix now advises others to never ignore a cough. “I think it’s clear anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and if you have a persistent cough, please don’t ignore it. Speak with your GP and get it checked, it could save your life,” the brave woman reportedly said.