• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man shares symptoms he faced that led him to being diagnosed with stage four cancer aged 21

Home> News> Health

Published 09:30 31 Dec 2024 GMT

Man shares symptoms he faced that led him to being diagnosed with stage four cancer aged 21

Jay Shew revealed what signs he noticed before he was given the devastating news

Olivia Burke

Olivia Burke

A man has revealed what symptoms he experienced before being diagnosed with stage four cancer at the age of 21.

Jay Shew explained that he had been 'brushing off' some of the warning signs that his health wasn't in full working order before they became impossible to ignore.

The lad from Sydney, Australia, has taken to social media to share his story in the hopes of educating others on what to look out for while also encouraging people to get checked out by a doctor ASAP.

Advert

He was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma - which is the most advanced stage of the disease - a few months after his symptoms first began in August 2023.

According to Cancer Research UK, this is a type of blood cancer which develops in the lymphatic system and affects white blood cells called lymphocytes.

Jay revealed what cancer symptoms he experienced before his diagnosis (TikTok/@jayshew)
Jay revealed what cancer symptoms he experienced before his diagnosis (TikTok/@jayshew)

The charity explains: "When you have Hodgkin lymphoma, some of your white blood cells (B lymphocytes) become abnormal and multiply. You then have more lymphocytes than usual, but they can’t fight infections as well as they should.

"The cells can then clump together usually within lymph nodes or other parts of the lymphatic system to form tumours. This can cause problems in the lymphatic system and the part of the body where they are growing."

Advert

A sign of Hodgkin’s lymphoma can sometimes emerge when you drink alcohol, experts at Harvard found.

So what symptoms did Jay notice that he initially dismissed?

In a TikTok video, he explained that the first red flag about his health arose after he got a routine blood test last summer.

"I didn't have any symptoms at the time, I was just living normal everyday...A couple of days later, my results come back," the social media user said.

"She calls me and she says, 'Your calcium is high'. I don't think much of it, I left it. But when your calcium is high, it means that your bones are fighting off a disease. I didn't know that."

Advert

A couple of months later, he explained that his friends and family began to notice a drastic change in his appearance - but at the time, he couldn't see it himself.

He is now in recovery after finishing his treatment this year (TikTok/@jayshew)
He is now in recovery after finishing his treatment this year (TikTok/@jayshew)

Jay continued: "I start to drop a lot of weight and I legit like go white. I turned like a ghost, I was so pale. I didn't notice.

"I looked in the mirror and I was like, 'I'm fine? I don't look skinny, I don't look pale'. I couldn't see it.

"During this time, I did have cancer symptoms, but I didn't know they were cancer symptoms."

Advert

The Aussie also recalled how he experienced excruciating pain in his lower back that made it feel as though it was 'breaking', which often disturbed his sleep - however, he thought he simply had a disc issue.

As well as this, he'd often wake up to sodden sheets after intense night sweats, while he was also 'really, really tired' everyday.

"One morning, I woke up and I thought I pissed the bed - that's how bad it was," Jay said. "I looked at my shirt and I was like, 'This is sweat?'

"Another symptom was, I was very, very tired and I could not move. I'd wake up and a couple hours later I'd be back in bed having a nap."


Jay said that he also lost a significant amount of weight during this time, adding: "Since I got the blood test up until [then], I was having every single cancer symptom, I just didn't realise it."

Advert

Other signs also included a recurring rash on different parts of his body as well as 'dry skin'.

Jay then began to experience chest pain 'like he'd never had it before' as well as a 'really bad cough', which he initially thought was down to a chest infection.

After visiting his GP and receiving a course of antibiotics, he recalled feeling 'brand new' - but three days later, he got sick again, only this time it was a lot worse.

His doctor then advised him to get a CT scan at the hospital, which is where he later received the news that he was suffering from stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Jay is now thankfully in recovery after finishing his treatment in July this year, which has only spurred his mission to inform as many people as he can about cancer symptoms even more.

He told social media users in the comment section that he was 'well and healthy now' while thanking them for their kind comments about his journey.

"I’m glad I’m better now and at the moment, I'm just trying my best to maintain good health and of course convince other people to get themselves checked up before it’s too late," he wrote.

Featured Image Credit: TikTok/jayshew

Topics: Cancer, Health, Australia, TikTok

Olivia Burke
Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

X

@livburke_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
10 hours ago
  • 9 hours ago

    Donald Trump speaks out after Iran attacks on US airbases

    The US president posted on Truth Social

    News

    breaking

  • 9 hours ago

    NASA's Voyager 1 has just found a 50,000 Celsius 'wall of fire' at the edge of the solar system

    It's the furthest reaches of our solar system, but it helps protect us

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    Everything we know about Iranian attack on US airbases in Qatar and Iraq as videos show missiles in the air

    The strikes from Iran follow the three from the US on Saturday (21 June)

    News
  • 10 hours ago

    Inside $2,100,000,000 US stealth bomber made of 'radar absorbing' material making it impossible to detect

    The US used six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers in their strikes on three targets in Iran

    News
  • Man shares symptoms he noticed that led him to being diagnosed with stage four cancer aged 19
  • Woman diagnosed with stage four cancer shares hidden symptoms that were dismissed by doctors
  • Woman with stage four colon cancer shares symptom doctor dismissed 10 months before diagnosis
  • Woman diagnosed with increasingly common cancer aged 20 shares sobering reality of symptoms and her condition