'Doctors told me TWICE the lump on my arm was harmless - now I have incurable cancer'
06.06.2023 - 18:02
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
When Carla Palmer felt a small lump on her left arm three years ago, she did what anyone would do and went to see a doctor.
The 41-year-old, from Salford, was told she probably had a swollen lymph node from a previous infection and the pea-size bump would go down over time.
But when the lump still remained six months later, a friend advised her to seek a second opinion. Unable to sleep from worry, Dolly Parton tribute act Carla went straight to A&E that night.
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At hospital, Carla was told she had a swollen lymph node again and that the bump was nothing to worry about. “I was completely happy with the explanation they gave me,” she told the Manchester Evening News.
Reassured her health was fine, Carla continued on with her daily life. The second opinion meant she was not alarmed when new lumps started appearing under her skin, believing they were just more harmless swollen glands.
Sadly, that could not have been further from the truth. When Carla began experiencing further symptoms including fatigue and night sweats, she decided to return to her GP again.
That’s when she discovered she had Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma – and the disease is now incurable.
“I’m disgusted,” singer Carla continued. “It made me feel hurt because if we had caught it at stage one, it’s considered curable.
“I believe that when I went to the doctor, it was stage one because it was the only lump I had at the time.
“I thought because I’d had a second opinion, I was completely fine. When I got another [lump], I thought to myself, ‘I know what this is.’
“With Covid and the fact I already had two opinions, I didn’t feel like I could go back again. But when the other symptoms