He thought it was just fatigue… He was diagnosed with leukemia, his whole life changed…
The 18-year-old British teenager, who went on a European tour with his friends but had to interrupt his travel due to his illness, learned that ‘acute lymphoblastic leukemia’ was behind his persistent fatigue. The teenager, who recovered after 4 years of treatment, now urges people to be more careful about the symptoms of the disease.
The 18-year-old British teenager, who went on a tour of Europe by train with his friends, encountered an unexpected surprise in the middle of his eagerly awaited trip.
At the very beginning of his tour, a young man named Tom Hunt, who was not feeling well in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, thought that he was tired because he had too much fun with his friends and that he would wake up if he got some sleep. However, despite sleeping for 16 hours, his tiredness did not go away and the disease got worse in Prague, the next stop of his European tour.
AT FIRST THROAT INFECTION WAS MADE
After interrupting his trip and returning home by buying a plane ticket, Tom immediately saw a doctor. His doctor told him he just had a throat infection and started him on antibiotics.
Tom, who did not feel well despite the treatment given, explained his experiences with the following words;
“I normally sleep for 7 or 8 hours, but I couldn’t rest even though I slept for 18 hours. I knew something was wrong. The lymph nodes in my throat were swollen and I was having trouble eating something because my throat was so sore.”
AFTER THE SPHERE ON HIS LEG, HE GOES TO THE DOCTOR AGAIN AND DIAGNOSED LEUKEMIA
The young man, who noticed the swelling in his leg while the antibiotic treatment was continuing, thought that this was due to sleeping with his legs crossed for a long time on the train. However, when a surgeon they met by chance recommended that he go to the doctor insistently, he took his way to the hospital again.
When the doctor noticed that Tom did not look well despite the swelling in his leg and the treatment he was given, he requested a series of tests again. As a result of the tests, the 18-year-old young man was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Tom was taken to Christie Hospital in Manchester, where he spent a month in intensive care, where he received grueling chemotherapy treatment until April 2019.
AT THE END OF 4 YEARS HEAVEN! CALLING PEOPLE…
Tom, whose treatment officially ended in January after 4 years of suffering, is preparing to start Manchester University next month.
As a result of the successful treatment, the young man, who will return to his friends and start doing the things he loves, is now trying to raise awareness about leukemia.
‘GO TO THE DOCTOR WHEN YOU NOTICE THE SYMPTOMS’
The teenager, who was diagnosed with cancer just a week after the symptoms appeared, urges people to go for a checkup as soon as they notice the symptoms.
So what are these symptoms that give the first clues about the disease? According to experts, the six most common symptoms experienced by all leukemia patients before being diagnosed are:
- Tiredness
- Shortness of breath
- high fever, night sweats
- Swelling in neck and armpit lymph nodes
- Bone and joint pain
- recurrent infections
WHAT IS ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA (ALL)?
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer that occurs as a result of uncontrolled proliferation of lymphoid-derived white blood cells (blasts) without completing their development.
Approximately 80 percent of pediatric leukemia patients are in this group. For adults, this rate is around 20 percent.
