Woman reveals five cancer warning signs she wished she'd never ignored
A young terminal cancer sufferer who has been told she has as little as three months left to live has warned others not to ignore five ailments that turned out to be telltale signs of her disease.
Linda Chavez, 35, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last year after doctors consistently mistook her symptoms for other, less serious conditions such as allergies and sciatica.
Tragically, by the time the disease was spotted, it had reached stage four, which meant that it had already spread beyond the lungs, including her brain, bones including those in spine, as well as tissues such as her lymph nodes and adrenal gland.
Tragic diagnosis: Linda Chavez has revealed the five telltale cancer signs she ignored before being being told she had the disease. Pictured with her husband Kyle and her two children Dean and Ryder
Medics told her the cancer was terminal and was likely to lead to her death within six months.
Now, she's taken to Instagram and TikTok to raise awareness of seemingly innocuous symptoms that could be cancer.
Perhaps the most unusual sign was a persistent pain in her toes that felt as though she'd constantly 'stubbed' them.
Little did she know that this was a sign the cancer had spread from her lungs to the tiny bones in her feet.
Persistent cough: Linda said she experienced the most common sign of lung cancer as well as other less typical symptoms such as pain in her toes, exhaustion and nausea
Other red flags included 'exhaustion' and nausea.
'I was definitely exhausted beyond belief,' she said in a recent social media clip.
'I [was] very, very nauseous before getting diagnosed... it was due to the brain cancer, apparently a lot of [the cancer] is on my right frontal lobe which controls hunger, cravings nausea and all that.'
But before all these signs came a common symptom of lung cancer that is often mistaken for a winter virus.
'I had a cough for years,' she said before lightly coughing to show how mild the tickle was initially.
'Eventually it was deeper, it felt very painful and it felt piercing in my chest. Please do not ignore a persistent cough.'
Eventually, the cough affected her breathing.
Linda said: 'I literally had to take shallow breaths due to pain I was feeling every time I was inhaling or exhaling.
'I would wake up every single for over nine months just roll out of bed and take Tylenol [pain medication].'
In a fresh update earlier this month she told her followers she had now lost vision in her right eye, though didn't explain the exact cause.
Deadly disease: Linda was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer which meant it had already spread beyond the lungs
Linda also revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare cancer complication called leptomeningeal dissemination disease.
Also known as leptomeningeal metastases, this is when cancer cells spread to the thin tissue layers that cover the brain and spinal cord.
It only occurs in between one in 10 to one in 20 cancer patients, though it's known to be more common among lung cancer patients.
The condition can cause a range of debilitating symptoms including numbness in the limbs, headaches, seizures, facial drooping and vomiting.
Linda revealed that medics had updated her prognosis, telling her she likely only had between three to six months to live.
But she remained upbeat, telling viewers, 'it's me so I'll survive' with a smile.
Her family have set up a GoFundMe to help with medical bills.
A new persistent cough, or a change to an established one, as well as fatigue are considered some of the main symptoms of lung cancer.
Medics have urged those with a cough that doesn't go away after three weeks, or other potential symptoms, to book an appointment with a doctor.
They say it is critical to keep this in mind during the colder months and not dismiss a new and persistent cough as a routine winter bug.
