Olivia Burke
A 22-year-old student is urging people to take their symptoms seriously after what she believed to be a simple sinus infection was actually cancer.
Breeze Hunter has revealed how she received the life-changing diagnosis after experiencing headaches for months on end, as well as persistent pressure in her nose.
She initially shared her concerns with a medic, who informed her she had 'a lot of fluid' in her ears, causing her headaches, and that she likely had a 'sinus infection'.
Months later, still suffering from headaches, as well as feeling 'very weak and fatigued', Breeze underwent some blood tests.
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The Texas A&M University student was informed that she was very anaemic - meaning her body was not producing enough healthy red blood cells - which rang alarm bells, and she was encouraged to take herself to hospital.
It was there that she found out she was dealing with something a lot more sinister than a sinus infection.
"I had many people coming in and saying, ‘It’s looking like a sign of leukaemia, but we’ll keep testing because it could be a bunch of other things'," she told Today.com.
"I freaked out. I had no idea what leukaemia was. I was like, 'am I going to survive this? Or is it treatable?'"
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Her worst fears came true when doctors at the MD Anderson Cancer Center then confirmed she had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), which the NHS describe as an 'aggressive cancer of the monocyte or granulocyte cells'.
It's considered a rare form of the disease, and around 3,100 people in the UK are diagnosed with it each year. Symptoms tend to progressively get worse.
Signs of AML can include looking pale or 'washed out', feeling tired or weak, breathlessness, frequent infections, unusual and frequent bruising or bleeding, and unexplained weight loss.
Doctors determined it would be best for her to stay in hospital as they tackled the AML head on by giving her chemotherapy infusions, with a pill for a week straight as part of a clinical trial.
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Medics saw a vast improvement in her health within 21 days, and Breeze was given a second round of the trial treatment.
"I was supposed to get at least six rounds," the college student said. "The chemo worked so well I only had to do two."
After 11 rounds of radiation and another blast of chemotherapy, Breeze then underwent a stem cell transplant. Thankfully, her younger brother Roy, 21, was a perfect match and was able to be her donor.
Reflecting on her intense treatment, the young woman explained: "I got a radiation/chemo burn all over my body, which was very very painful and I was pretty much burnt all over.
"Probably towards the end, I was over it. I was like, ‘I can’t do this. This is too much'. It was very hard at times but God’s watching me. So, I knew I was going to be okay."
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Breeze remained in hospital for over a month as she recovered.
Dr Courtney DiNardo, a professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with an expertise in of leukaemia, said Breeze is now 'doing fantastic'.
"Being a college student in the prime of your life getting dealt a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, I can only imagine how life altering and depressing it could be," he said.
"But she’s always had such a beautiful spirit and good attitude."
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Breeze will continue with chemotherapy treatment for the next year to be on the safe side - but says she is 'so excited' to make the most of her second chance at life.
"Cancer is very, very scary," the student said. "If you ever have any side effects like headaches, you’re losing weight, you have bruises on you, anything like that, go to the doctor and get blood work done...it can’t hurt you and it just tells you if something is wrong."