I was told I had tonsillitis – I correctly diagnosed myself with leukemia

health

by Erin Keller

April 13, 2023 | 9:44 p.m

It is not usually recommended to use the Internet for self-diagnosis, but this step may have saved the life of a young British mother.

Chloe-Lee Todd, 22, said she began experiencing sore throat, vomiting, night sweats and weight loss in February 2020. She claimed a doctor diagnosed her with tonsillitis over the phone four months later, but Todd has disputed that view.

“Everyone knows their body, and only I knew it was a serious thing,” the still-at-home mum told SWNS.

“The doctors were attributing it to other things – but I was adamant they were wrong.”

That’s when Todd turned to Google.

“I checked and saw I had every symptom on the whole site — everyone thought I was crazy when I said that, but I knew I wasn’t,” she explained.

She said she booked an in-person doctor’s visit, where she had a blood test. Todd stated that her results came back abnormal, and she was sent to the hospital, where she was told she did indeed have leukemia – and was “weeks away from death”.

“When the doctor confirmed it, I thought I was going to die,” Todd recalls receiving the news.

“I was happy with the diagnosis, but I felt numb, and I heard it made a big difference. The doctors said to my mother in another room, I collapsed—I could hear my mother screaming,” she recalled.

The next day, Todd began treatment at Newcastle Freeman Hospital in England.

She said: “I had a bone marrow biopsy and [was] I said I was weeks away from death. Cancer was in my blood everywhere. Doctors tell me they don’t know if chemotherapy will help, but they’re willing to try it.”

Six rounds of chemotherapy eradicated most of her cancer, Todd said, leaving her in a more optimistic mindset.

“Looking back now, I’m numb — all I’ve been told is a blur. I’ve been looking at the world so differently, ‘Why me, what have I done to deserve this?’”

“The hardest part of it all is that I thought I might not be here to watch my son grow up.”

But in September 2020, Todd was placed on the bone marrow donation registry. A 27-year-old man made a 100% match, and she had the transplant in October 2020.

“I spoke to my donor in March 2023,” she said, “I had butterflies in my stomach.” “We’ve been talking as if we’ve known each other my whole life. We have this connection that no one would ever be able to understand.”

“We’ll always have that bond, I’m still here because of him,” Todd admitted.

After the successful operation, Todd had another bone marrow biopsy to make sure everything was working properly. She said she was told she was cancer-free.

“When I got the news, I held my son and hugged him tightly,” she recalled. “It was amazing knowing it all ended, it was the best day ever.”

“I rang the bell in March 2021, it feels amazing. I was holding my little boy in my arms,” she added.

Todd said she now suffers from graft-versus-host disease, when a donor’s bone marrow or stem cells attack the recipient’s own cells.

But with Cancer behind her, she’s ready to take on any challenges that may come her way, for the sake of her son.

“No matter what I’m going through, I’m always positive and have a smile on my face. I swear, no matter how sick I get, I’ll put my baby first.”

“I feel grateful and thankful. I would rather suffer through this than not be here at all.”

“It’s a bittersweet situation – I’m alive to tell my story,” she said.

Symptoms of leukemia includes:

• Skin looks pale or “washed out”
• Tired
• shortness of breath
• Lose weight without trying
• frequent infection
• Have a high temperature and feel hot or shiver (fever)
• night sweats
• Easily bruised skin