Woman’s painful shoulder leads to shock diagnosis
<p dir="ltr">In December 2022, a normal day in the office turned into a nightmare for 24-year-old Kadi Watson.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The customer service rep stretched out her hand to feel her shoulder - the same shoulder she'd been experiencing pain with a day prior. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Speaking to<em> 7Life</em>, the 24-year-old revealed, “It felt kind of like when you do a workout and then days later you get the muscle soreness.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I hadn’t done anything to warrant having that soreness.” </p>
<p dir="ltr">She said she was feeling between her neck and her right shoulder when she discovered a lump. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“OK, that’s a bit unusual,” she recalled. </p>
<p dir="ltr">For the next two days, she monitored the lump, but it didn’t go away.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So, she booked a doctor’s appointment and her GP reassured her there shouldn’t be “much need to worry”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">However, to rule out anything malicious, the GP booked her in for an ultrasound of the lump and an X-ray. </p>
<p dir="ltr">A week later, as Watson was set for her ultrasound, the technician contacted a radiologist and requested that Watson also undergo a CT scan. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The scan showed “heaps of lumps” around her chest and heart.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“That’s when they said, ‘This is more serious than just a lump growing on your neck’,” she revealed.</p>
<p dir="ltr">She underwent surgery to remove the lumps and admitted she had come to terms with the possibility she could have cancer. </p>
<p dir="ltr">When she learned the results, Watson was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma - a rare type of blood cancer.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I was expecting a phone call, I knew it wasn’t going to be face to face,” she said, adding that by that point she was exhausted from going to appointments every day and waiting around for calls.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Obviously, a call would have been better, but I got the text message instead,” she explained.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I feel like I was a bit more mentally prepared when I got those results because by that time it had been three or four weeks with, ‘This is what you could have’ and me mentally preparing for that answer.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Watson said her diagnosis put her life into perspective. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“I thought by 24 I would have done a bit more than just do the old routine kind of thing,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I felt like I should have done more with my life than just sat here and worked.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“You spend so much time working - and not enough time living.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">She has also connected with people on their own journeys throughout 2023 so far.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I get probably five messages a day of people telling me how much this has helped them and what they can look out for,” she admitted.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“It’s not really the most common cancer out there and I didn’t know about it until I got diagnosed with it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“So I’m glad to spread a bit more awareness.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I’m very, very excited for the day where I can say ‘I’m in remission’.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>
