An 18-year-old cheerleader has spoken about the pain she had ahead of going to the doctors and her symptoms being diagnosed with cancer.
Kelly Mullooly has told the world her story of how she was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer when she was only 18 despite living a healthy and active lifestyle.
Kelly spoke in a video recently shared on the YouTube channel The Patient Story, dedicated to sharing stories of people with cancer.
The 18-year-old college student would go to cheerleading practice twice and week and would regularly go to the gym, as part of a healthy lifestyle.
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Speaking about how her issues began, she said she felt different after a gym session.
She said: “I was doing legs one day at the gym and like, I always get pretty sore from legs but I noticed like, a few days had passed and I was still, like very sore and I noticed my knee just feel a little bit off.
“It wasn’t until like a few weeks had passed and I was still just having... like it wasn’t a constant, it was like an on and off pain, like mainly when I was like laying in bed.”
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Unfortunately for Kelly, the pain continued for weeks and it came to a point where she decided to go to the doctor about it. However, it was concluded that she was simply ‘overworked and overusing’ her knee.
She said that doctors ultimately wrote it off as nothing serious, and while she had fears that there could be a larger issue, she believed it couldn’t be too bad as she was still able to walk and do cheerleading.
The pain didn’t go away however, and Kelly returned to the doctor to get a better understanding of what was going on.
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After more tests and an MRI scan she was told that she had a tumor, a situation she said she was not prepared for, being alone and only 18.
After having more appointments, Kelly got a diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a type of aggressive bone cancer.
Kelly soon started chemotherapy and other treatments to deal with the tumor, and at the time, she shared that she felt her future plans were crumbling.
She eventually went on to have surgery to remove the tumor and said it was encouraging to know that she had made it through.
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A GoFundme has also been set up for Kelly to help her and her family deal with the financial burden of recovery and wellbeing.
Gerrard Kaonga