Castlederg mum recalls repeated misdiagnoses

By Callum McGuigan

A local mum, whose cancer was misdiagnosed multiple times by health professionals, is speaking out to help raise awareness of the disease.

Melanie Lynch from Castlederg was, at one stage, told by a consultant to ‘go home and lose weight’, prior to her eventual diagnosis with a form of thyroid cancer.

Speaking to the Tyrone Herald, the 45-year-old explained how her cancer journey started in 2019 with her doctor finding a lump on her neck whilst attending to another issue. Initially, a scan was carried out, but the lump was deemed ‘nothing to worry about’ and the local lady was discharged from hospital.

The following year the scan was repeated, and medics came to the same outcome.

“Not for a single moment did I think it was anything serious at the time,” Melanie said.

Ultimately, whilst Melanie was not completely content with what the medics concluded, she trusted the scans and the opinions of the medical professionals.

As time passed, and more consultations with doctors ensued, Melanie got progressively ill, with rapid weight gain, lack of breath, constant fatigue and more worryingly, the lump on her neck had grown significantly larger in the space of a few months.

In April of 2022, when she was, again, referred to a consultant, she was then told to ‘go home and lose weight’.

By this stage, Melanie was not convinced by what the doctors and consultants were telling her.

She knew something much more serious was going on.

The following month, her GP agreed that significant changes had developed, and she was then sent for a biopsy.

“It was only after an ultrasound, when they said they were putting a needle in to do a biopsy, that, for the first time, I thought there was maybe something to worry about – but I didn’t let it stress me,” said Melanie.

A few weeks later, Melanie was sent to the Ear, Nose and Throat section of Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry, to be seen by a new consultant, who told her she needed a thyroidectomy, which is surgery to remove her thyroid gland.

Melanie continued, “I just didn’t understand what was happening.

“I went home and spent the night on the internet, and completely terrified myself reading about throat and mouth cancers.”

Admittedly, Melanie didn’t understand what was happening, but she remained hopeful and kept with the assumption that whatever was happening wasn’t anything overly serious. However, on January 4, she received the nightmare diagnosis.

Melanie was diagnosed with the follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer.

This type of cancer is referenced as ‘differentiated’, which means that the cancer cells almost ‘mimic’ the look and behaviour of thyroid cells. This variant grows very slowly, but can potentially spread to other parts of the body, such as the neck and lungs.

Since the diagnosis, Melanie has undergone a four-hour operation to remove the thyroid gland, as well as enduring a two-week ‘radioactive iodine’ treatment in Belfast City Hospital. As well as the obvious effects to her own health, these treatments also took a toll on her younger children, who have had to stay away from their mother due to the intensity of her treatment.

“I really missed my kids. But I didn’t think that the hospital was the right place for them.

“For the first few days after my operation, I couldn’t move and I was in pain. I couldn’t talk for a few days either. I had a drain and drips attached, and I didn’t want the children to see me like that.”

According to Cancer Research UK, there are around 3,900 new thyroid cancer cases in the UK every year. As well, since the early 1990s, thyroid cancer incidence rates have increased by more than two-and-a-half times in the UK.

Rates in females have almost tripled, and rates in males have increased by more than two-and-a-half times.

It will be another six months until Melanie knows if the treatment has been a success or a failure. However, it the treatment has failed, she will have to endure the same periods of radiation exposure and subsequent isolation from her family and friends.

Despite this, Melanie remains optimistic and has sought support from the Macmillan Cancer support charity, who she said has been ‘a real lifeline’.

“Sometimes it is great to talk to someone who is not emotionally involved, and be able to tell them that you are afraid that you are going to die.

“It is easier to say those things to a stranger and it is wonderful to have them on the end of the phone; they have been a great support,” said Melanie.

“My children are the best possible reason to get up in the morning.

“I think if they weren’t here, it would be very easy to go to bed and feel awful about it, but they are my reason to get better.”

Since her shock diagnosis, Melanie has been inspired to raise awareness of thyroid cancer, especially in young women.

She said, “Never in a million years did I think I would ever have cancer, or would I be on the phone to Macmillan, looking for support.

“People tend to think that cancer only affects older people, or people who smoke or drink too much – but no one is immune.

“I don’t drink much and I’m only 45. I never expected this.”

Common symptoms of thyroid cancer include swollen lymph nodes, pain in the front of the neck, difficulty swallowing, persistent coughing and difficulty breathing.

Although the survival rate is more than 90 per-cent, the most effective treatment occurs in early intervention post- diagnosis.