While she thought her vomiting and extreme fatigue were related to her pregnancy, a 24-year-old woman discovered that these signs were, in fact, indicative of cancer.
- Caitlin McAlinden, 24, discovered in September 2023 that she was having a child. Her first trimester was particularly difficult with nausea and significant fatigue.
- But the discovery of a mass in the neck as well as a significant weight loss made the mother-to-be realize that it was not just a difficult pregnancy.
- Tests revealed that she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system characterized by the uncontrolled growth of white blood cells called lymphocytes.
Caitlin McAlinden, 24, thought for several weeks that her severe nausea and fatigue were related to her pregnancy. But, she later discovered that these were signs of cancer.
Nausea, fatigue, weight loss: she thought her signs were linked to her pregnancy
The young Briton learned in September 2023 that she was pregnant. This good news was quickly followed by repeated vomiting as well as significant exhaustion which led her to fall asleep in the middle of the day. Morning sickness and fatigue are common problems in the first weeks of pregnancy, so Caitlin McAlinden was not alarmed by these symptoms.
On Christmas Day, while in Ireland visiting family, she noticed a pea-sized lump on her neck. She then told herself that the lump was only a “another strange sign of pregnancy”. But a week later, when she returned to England, her size had tripled and she felt even more tired.
“I was so, so tired.”she explains to the site Wales Online. “Climbing the stairs alone made me want to lie down. One day I felt my neck again and the mass had grown to the size of a golf ball.”
Another symptom which worried the young woman and her companion: she had lost 12 kilos since the start of her pregnancy. She then made an appointment with her GP. Given her symptoms, he prescribed tests, including an ultrasound of her neck.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma: chemotherapy will begin after birth.
A biopsy of the lump on his neck was performed on January 16, 2024. The doctor who performed it asked him at the same time if there had ever been any cases of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his family.
“My doctor’s attitude completely changed when I said I had a family history”, Caitlin remembers. One of his cousins had, in fact, developed this cancer which affects B lymphocytes, a subtype of white blood cells, a few years earlier. “I had a blood test the same day.“
The tests, received on March 12, revealed that she did have Hodgkin’s disease. It was stage 1. That is to say, the cancer was still very localized: only the lymph nodes located in the neck were affected.
The mother-to-be immediately began steroid treatment to reduce the mass on her neck. Currently, her doctors believe that she would not need surgery and can begin chemotherapy after her due date of May 8.
If Caitlin McAlinden’s prognosis is rather favorable for her, the illness forces her to review her plans as a young mother. She will not be able, for example, to breastfeed her little boy, because it is not recommended with chemotherapy. His treatment will also have to delay baptism, which in Irish Catholic culture is normally celebrated a few days after birth. “It would coincide with chemotherapy so I can’t.”Caitlin resigns herself.
