For two years, a young woman was repeatedly told by doctors that her lower back pain was caused by sciatia—until she flew to Greece for private scans which revealed a grapefruit-sized tumour on her spine.
Leah Kalkan, 23, a student from West Yorkshire, knew that there was something wrong, and saw her GP several times a week for years complaining of debilitating pain.
Despite her pleas for help, hospital referrals, multiple scans and even calls to paramedics, she was assured it was sciatia, a condition which normally occurs due to a slipped disk.
The disk presses against the sciatic nerve that runs from the lower back to the foot, and can cause shooting pains, a sensation of cramp and can be so severe it leaves someone unable to walk.
In 2023, a tender, hard lump ‘the size of a grapefruit’ appeared on her lower back, prompting Ms Kalkan’s partner to arrange for her to undergo a private scan in Greece.
The procedure revealed concerning abnormalities, but when her GP refused to look at the scans due to them being done abroad, she was forced to seek a private opinion.
She was subsequently diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of cancer.
Ms Kalkan said: ‘I was scared—they told me the lump was very serious, and that my cancer was rare and aggressive.
Leah Kalkan, 23, a student from West Yorkshire, knew that there was something wrong
‘I think I asked my consultant over five times in that same appointment: “Will I be cured?”
‘She couldn’t give me a definite answer, and her honesty scared me more.
‘Knowing there was a deadly disease inside my body growing at a rapid rate and having been told that I was fine repeatedly was devastating.
‘I had been going to the doctors a few times a month for a couple of years by the time I was diagnosed.’
Ms Kalkan first experienced pain towards the end of 2021, and attempted to manage her symptoms with painkillers.
But the following year, during a trip to Turkey with her dad in the summer of 2022, the pain became debilitating.
She said, ‘I spent a lot of time in my hotel room as I was in so much pain.
‘I was getting a pulsating pain from my lower back down my right leg and into my foot.
Ms Kalkan first experienced pain towards the end of 2021, and attempted to manage her symptoms with painkillers
‘I couldn’t sit down, lie down, or walk, and paracetamol and heat patches weren’t touching the pain.’
Her father paid for her to have an MRI scan, which found a suspected herniated disk, and she was given pain relief.
But when she returned to the UK, the pain got worse once more.
Ms Kalkan said: ‘I took the MRI scan to a private osteopath, and he said that he couldn’t see anything alarming.
‘The osteopath said that I had damaged my tailbone and that was causing the pain, and gave me Ibuleve gel, which didn’t help.’
Ms Kalkan was going to the doctors multiple times a month with complaints of pain in her back, but they were stumped and couldn’t see evidence of anything serious at play.
She said, ‘The pain was so bad that I had to call an ambulance twice in 2023.
‘I was working in a steakhouse and had to call an ambulance to come there one day, so they told me that I had meat sweats, even though I was working there and not eating.
Ms Kalkan was going to the doctors multiple times a month with complaints of pain in her back
‘They were being dismissive and didn’t spend much time with me, making sure I was fine—and even expected me to go back to work.’
Ms Kalkan felt she was ‘not being taken seriously’ on both occasions.
When the lump formed in October 2023, Ms Kalkan became terrified of what the cause might be.
She said, ‘It was a tender, hard lump which turned red at times and was the size of a grapefruit.
‘[Around that time], I also found that I had lost lots of weight.
‘I’d been a healthy weight, but with the pain, I wasn’t able to eat as much.
‘I dropped to the lowest weight I had ever been, and most of my clothes hung off me.
‘I was also so tired – I had to stop uni and work because of the pain and the tiredness.
Ms Kalkan in hospital, it took two years for her cancer to be diagnosed
‘I carried on going back to the doctors a few times a month.
‘Sometimes, I’d go one day and then go back again the next day, crying to them and begging for scans and pain relief as I knew myself that something was wrong with my body.
‘I knew it wasn’t sciatica.
‘I’d also wait long hours at my local A&E to be sent back home with paracetamol, codeine, amitriptyline, naproxen, morphine, and many more medications, but nothing was helping, and I knew I needed a scan.’
Ms Kalkan was offered an ultrasound, which failed to find the source of her pain, and claims she was refused other scans.
Her boyfriend, who grew up in Greece, booked a short trip to take her there to have MRIs and an X-ray, which found abnormalities.
But as they had been taken in another country, her GP wasn’t able to look at them.
Ms Kalkan said: ‘It was frustrating as we only paid to have them done there because I couldn’t get them in England.
It wasn’t until she discovered the lump pictured that she went on to find out the true cause of the pain she had been experiencing
The treatments and tests have left Ms Kalkan with scarring just below her right shoulder
‘By this point, the pain left me screaming in agony and unable to walk or sit upright most times.’
Once again, Ms Kalkan paid for a private consultation with a neurosurgeon to look at the scan results from Greece—and they were immediately concerned that it was a tumour.
She was referred for a biopsy with the NHS, and in December 2023, Leah was diagnosed with cancer.
She was put on a strong regimen of chemotherapy, undergoing 14 cycles, plus 33 proton beam therapy sessions, and was supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust throughout her ordeal.
Luckily, her treatment, which finished in July 2024, was successful, and she has since been able to return to her studies this month, studying modern languages and English with French.
She is sharing her story to help raise awareness— and funds—for Teenage Cancer Trust, which is partnering this week with the Omaze Million Pound House Draw.
The money raised by the charity partnership will help fund Teenage Cancer Trust nurses, who support around 7,000 young people with cancer every year – including Leah.
Ms Kalkan said, ‘All of the Teenage Cancer Trust nurses were so sweet and kind.
Ms Kalkan in bed after receiving treatment for the cancer which doctors dismissed as sciatica
‘I would always look forward to seeing them, and they made me feel comfortable and made me smile as much as they could, and I am so grateful.
‘They put on events, and I started to get involved with people on the unit who are around the same age as me.
‘Being treated around other young people gave me the opportunity to meet some of the strongest, kindest and most understanding people in my life.
‘It helped knowing that I wasn’t alone.’
Reflecting on her experience—and particularly the long route to diagnosis, Ms Kalkan added: ‘If I could take myself back in time, I would have kept pushing for a diagnosis.
‘My symptoms were quite obvious, and any lump should be alarming.
‘I would encourage people to trust their own bodies and keep going back to the doctors to push for an answer.
‘But I also think GPs need to educate themselves on the signs of cancer in young people because mine were so obvious and I still wasn’t being seen.’
Earlier this week Jess’s Rule was launched by the NHS in England—named in the memory of Jessica Brady who died of cancer after doctors dismissed her concerns TWENTY times.
The new rule will force GPs to rethink a diagnosis if a patient comes to them three times with the same symptoms or concerns.
Just yesterday, writing for the Daily Mail, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘Jessica Brady Should be alive today.
‘At just 27, this bright young woman died of cancer after her GP failed to diagnose her condition despite more than twenty appointments over five months.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .