A young woman has shared her devastation at beating a cancer diagnosis – only to be told that she has another kind of the disease, weeks after marrying the love of her life.
Sophie Lambert, 27, was overjoyed when doctors gave her the all-clear for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2020.
But three years later, just weeks after arriving home from her honeymoon, with her husband, Zac, 29, doctors dropped a bombshell.
Sophie had cancer again – this time, in her neck.
“The only sign was a lump in my neck – any other symptoms I put down to the long-term effects of cancer treatment,” Sophie, an administrator from Essex, told Need To Know.
“When doctors told me it was thyroid cancer, I felt completely numb.
“After three challenging years, Zac and I had just returned from our honeymoon.
“I was beginning to navigate life after cancer and was really looking forward to celebrating us.
“Now, any future we had planned was on hold.
“I was angry and wanted to run away and shut down.
“As if I hadn’t been through enough already, I had to go through treatment again.
“The first cancer took a lot out of my body and I worried about if I would be able to do it all again.”
Doctors found the lump in Sophie’s neck in December last year and she’s been undergoing treatment ever since.
To treat her thyroid cancer, Sophie had a full thyroidectomy and central and right-side neck dissection in February, which revealed three areas of cancer, the largest being three cm.
This was then followed by a dose of radioactive iodine treatment.
She had previously had brutal chemotherapy to shrink a massive grapefruit-sized (14cm x 11cm) tumour in her chest that was engulfing her heart in 2020.
She said: “Going through any type of medical procedure and treatment is scary – it’s the unknown of not knowing how your body will react to it, but ultimately needing it to save your life.
“It’s a horrible prospect.
“I was already under six different medical teams when I was diagnosed the second time as there are so many long-term effects from cancer.
“Now, every day feels difficult.
“I feel incapable of so many little daily things that my mind and body won’t allow me to do.
“Working full-time is impossible due to extreme fatigue.
“I’m unable to carry out household chores without getting tired and feel like I have to save energy to be able to get through the busier days.
“My first diagnosis was a massive shock for Zac.
“It was so soon into our relationship – just nine months.
“But he became everything I needed in a partner.
“For the thyroid diagnosis, he was less shocked but more concerned for me as he knew how much mentally and physically I had already gone through and what this setback would mean for us both.
“He has always been a glass-half-full kind of person and constantly tries to keep positive and surrounds me with happiness and love.
“We always had the idea of a family with children but now we are forced to have to use IVF if we want this.
“We also don’t know if my body would even be able to cope with having to support a little one.
“It’s a lot to think about and it’s frustrating that we even have to think about our future so young due to early menopause because of chemotherapy.”
Sophie still has a long way to go in her recovery and is waiting for doctors to tell her the next steps.
Despite everything she is going through, she is determined to keep moving forward.
She shares her experience of living with a life-changing illness on her Instagram account (@soph_thfc) to raise awareness and give people hope.
She added: “It’s so hard when you’re a young adult and life is still happening around you.
“You grieve a life you no longer have.
“I am most proud that no matter how hard every day is, I still get up and out of bed and try my hardest to be present.
“I’m proud of how resilient I’ve become and how I didn’t know my own strength until the only thing I could be was strong.
“I hope that by sharing my story it will help others who potentially could be going through the same.”
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