The symptoms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma are famously non-specific and mimic common, milder illnesses such as the flu or infections. In the UK, 13,500 people are diagnosed with the condition each year.
Phoebe Jablonski’s case highlights just how vague the signs can be, even in the most advanced stages of the disease.
Taking to TikTok, the 24-year-old documented the signs that led to the discovery of a 14cm tumour on her shoulder blade in August 2023.
With cancer slipping under her radar at the time, she ended up dismissing pain and lumps in different parts of her body.
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Phoebe dismissed persistent body pain as sport injuries
|TIKTOK
"I used to believe that I had no symptoms before being diagnosed with stage four cancer," Phoebe admitted in a recent clip. "The signs were there. But I didn’t realise it until it was pointed out."
The first was excrcuciating body pain after consuming alcoholic drink.
"When I would have one drink of alcohol, my body would ache so badly I would have to lie down," Phoebe recalled.
She also spotted a small lump on her hip which she dismissed as a muscle knot.
"I had severe shoulder pain that got worse at night and couldn’t be fixed by any physio," she continued. "I had bursts of sharp pain in really tiny, specific spots."
In addition, she noticed breast soreness and ongoing discomfort in her back, which worsened to the point of reducing her mobility.
"I slowly lost range of motion and thought it was related to all of the hip, shoulder stuff, but it wasn't," she shared.
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In addition, Phoebe noted: "I would get really sick every single month. I had these hard lumps on my head that would come and go and got them scanned, but they weren't investigated properly by the doctors."
“I remember the week before my tumour was found, my appetite just completely left earth.
Symptoms of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma are often mistaken for fatigue or sports-related injuries
|TIKTOK
She added in the caption of the post: “I had been dancing and training hard my whole life up until this point, so hip, shoulder, and back pains were nothing out of the ordinary for me and treated as sports injuries."
Now cancer-free, Phoebe has regular PET scans and works at a wellness centre on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Her case highlights the ambiguity of cancer symptoms, particularly with non-Hodgkin lymphoma - a group of cancers affecting the lymphatic system.
Originating in white blood cells, the disease is often mistaken for common aches, fatigue or sports-related injuries.
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