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'Doctors Told Me Lump On My Leg Was Nothing To Worry About – Now It's Been Amputated'
Matilda Peachey had a lump in her leg (Image: Courtesy of Naomi Bath / SWNS)
A young woman had to have her leg amputated after a doctor reportedly dismissed a small lump as "nothing to worry about" - but it turned out to be cancer.
Mum Naomi Bath, 49, claims a GP said the lump was "nothing" when she took daughter Matilda Peachey, 20, in to have it checked. Matilda then went off travelling to New Zealand, but during her holiday the lump "grew and grew".
She began to feel unwell so decided to fly back home in March and went to A&E, where the lump was diagnosed as chondroblastic osteosarcoma of the lower leg; a rare type of bone tumour. Matilda, from Herne Bay, Kent, then underwent chemotherapy before having surgery in July to amputate her leg above the knee to stop the cancer from spreading.
Initially, doctors dismissed the lump and said it was nothing to worry about (Image:
Courtesy of Naomi Bath / SWNS) Matilda in hospital (Image:
Courtesy of Naomi Bath / SWNS)Brave Matilda said of the amputation: "It was weird at first because it still felt like it was there. But it's a lot better now. I've got used to the crutches. It wasn't too difficult." Matilda, who was on a gap year at the time, had dreams of starting a career with autistic children and had already landed a job as a teaching assistant.
She hopes to return to New Zealand when she is cancer-free. Reliving the ordeal, mum-of-seven Naomi said: "I took her to the GP, and they said, 'Oh, it's nothing - don't worry about it'.'
"Off she went, and while she was abroad, it grew and grew. Then she started to lose weight and feel unwell, so she came home. I took her to A&E the next day, and within a couple of days, they said it's bone cancer. We went to University College London Hospital and they started treatment straight away.
"She's had a few rounds of chemo, and the side effects have been brutal. She would get septic every time with one type of chemotherapy. Another affected her hearing quite badly. We're waiting to get her some hearing aids.
She had to have her leg amputated (Image:
Courtesy of Naomi Bath / SWNS) Matilda after her amputation (Image:
Courtesy of Naomi Bath / SWNS)"One of them gave her something called mucositis, which is when the chemo kills fast-growing cells. You have fast-growing cells to your mouth all the way through your intestines, so it would give her blisters from her mouth to her stomach. It was absolutely horrendous. The nurses said they've never seen anything like it."
Matilda's most recent chemotherapy affected her heart. "It's made it quite weak," her mum explained. "So we're going to see if that recovers, and we're not sure what happens next."
Throughout her treatment, the family have been making the long journey to central London to be with Matilda, who has three older siblings and three younger. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for food, travel and lost time working for stepdad Alan, who has been caring for the younger children.
Naomi said: "Things were getting really, really tight. Some of my friends told me to set up a fundraiser, and it's been so helpful." Doctors decided the best course of action was to amputate Matilda's lower leg where the tumour was growing.
Matilda's most recent chemotherapy affected her heart (Image:
Courtesy of Naomi Bath / SWNS)She is set to be measured up for her first set of prosthetics in two weeks. Naomi said the pain of watching her daughter lose her leg and go through the gruelling treatment. She said: "It's devastating. Absolutely horrible, and there's nothing I can do.
"It's out of my hands. I've just got to watch it. Especially when she's been really, really sick - it's absolutely horrendous. It was horrible seeing her lose her leg. It was crazy, but it had to be done. She's got good margins, and the chemotherapy killed quite a lot of it. It's a 50/50 thing whether it spreads or not in the future."
Naomi says any other parents going through a similar situation need to make sure they have a lot of support around them. She added: "There are people out there. Because you do feel quite alone."
They would also like to thank UCLH and visiting nurse Amy, who has "gone out of her way" for Matilda, who lost her dad to pancreatic cancer five years ago. The family have been helped by several charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Lives vs Cancer.
Heroic Doctor Spots Cancer On Woman's Neck While Watching Her On TV And Immediately Tracks Her Down
An off-duty doctor felt obliged to contact a woman who he'd seen on a reality TV show after spotting an alarming lump 'moving under her skin'.
Brain cancer survivor Nicole McGuiness once appeared on an episode of the beloved HGTV series Beachfront Bargain Hunt.
To celebrate her recovered health, the guest traveled to Morehead City in North Carolina, US, with her father Mike, where they viewed various holiday homes.
One man who tuned into the episode of the long-running property series was Dr. Erich Voigt, an ear, nose and throat surgeon from New York City.
The medical practitioner had wanted to use Beachfront Bargain Hunt as a means of escapism after completing a day at work—but it turns out Dr. Voigt is never off the clock.
Speaking to the New York Post, the specialist explained that he was worried about an obscure lump on McGuiness' neck.
"I was relaxing after a day of work, watching beautiful beach houses and daydreaming. But then I noticed the lump," he said.
"It stood out - and I went from being relaxed to [thinking], 'Gosh, she may have a medical problem'. I thought, 'I don't think she knows she has this'. I felt obliged and sort of guilty, like I should let her know.
"I paused my TV and rewound it. I had to make a choice whether to ignore it or actively try to contact her."
Despite being off the clock, the otolaryngologist couldn't let the alarming, asymmetrical lump slide.
He decided he would warn McGuiness but immediately hit a snag—the Beachfront Bargain Hunt star's surname wasn't mentioned in the television show.
A lump on Nicole McGuiness' neck alarmed the medical practitioner (HGTV)Dr. Voigt remained determined and took to social media to post a soon-to-be viral plea.
"I am watching a TV show and notice this woman has a left thyroid mass," he wrote on Facebook. "She needs a sonogram and fine needle biopsy. I wonder if she knows and hope it's benign."
Two weeks after sharing his worries, Dr. Voigt connected with McGuiness via a family member and was able to advise her to undergo medical treatment.
"Somehow or another, by the grace of God, it got back to my family and we were shocked," McGuiness told Inside Edition of her initial contact with the doctor. "We were shocked that a doctor witnessed this on television and reached out."
After directing the woman to undergo a sonogram and have a biopsy, Dr. Voigt's suspicions were correct: the woman was soon diagnosed with thyroid cancer by a local doctor.
During a televised meeting with the expert, McGuiness thanked him for keeping 'a vigilant eye' while watching the reality TV programme.
"I have gone through a lot the last couple of years and never expected to have to be a two-time cancer survivor," she stated on Good Morning America in June 2018.
"But without you keeping a vigilant eye and and watching that television show, who knows how long I would have gone on without that being checked. So from the bottom on heart, thank you so much."
In 2021, McGuiness announced she was 'very grateful' to still be here and that she was now 'taking advantage of every day'.
Dr. Voigt was later thanked by the reality TV guest (Inside Editions)Turns out that Dr. Voigt may have saved more than one life when he initially diagnosed McGuiness with cancer.
Taking to YouTube, one viewer claimed that after their mother had watched Inside Edition's coverage of the story, she realised her child had the same sinister lump.
"My mom watched this a few years ago and the next day she saw the same thing on my sister and told her about it," the user typed. "She got it checked out and it was thyroid cancer. This doctor did not just save this woman but also my sisters life. I would like to thank him for saving her."
"I have a friend who got diagnosed with thyroid cancer after her teacher noticed bump on her neck and advised her to immediately go to see a doctor.
"It was 15 years ago, she is happy and healthy now thanks to that teacher," commented someone else.
Another shared a similar anecdote, explaining that their relative, an eye surgeon, was at a dinner party when he noticed something 'off' about a fellow guest's peepers.
"He approached her and let her know she had a tumor behind her eye and he helped her schedule an appointment with his office ASAP," they wrote before adding that the woman did, in fact, have a tumor behind her eye.
If you've been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.
Surviving Cancer Still Often Means Death To Your Finances
John Murphy, of Indian Head, Maryland, shared his story with WTOP about going back to work after two cancer diagnoses while financially staying afloat.
John Murphy (right), of Indian Head, Maryland, shared his story with WTOP about going back to work after two cancer diagnoses while financially staying afloat. (Courtesy John Murphy)About three years ago, John Murphy, of Indian Head, Maryland, noticed a lump in his leg. He saw a doctor, took some medicine, and hoped it would go away.
It didn't. So he saw another doctor, hoping to get it removed.
Instead, that doctor ran a biopsy, and Murphy was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer — classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL).
After he was treated, with chemotherapy taking a toll on him, the cancer was gone.
Earlier this year, Murphy noticed a new lump on his leg again and was told he was in for another battle with Stage 3 CHL again.
Having defeated it a second time, Murphy said he finally started working again last week.
"I used to have about $200,000 in the bank," said Murphy. "I got $100 in my bank account, trying to push my house payment back."
He hasn't been able to pay for his pickup truck since the summer.
"Just spend all my savings, just to pay everything, keep afloat," said Murphy, who is a truck driver.
He shared his story with WTOP during a break from his second cargo run since he started working again last week.
"If you're not a strong person, I mean some people might want to commit suicide, not deal with it," said Murphy.
"You're fighting cancer for your life. Then you're losing all your savings. You work hard to run a business. You're losing all that," he added. "And then you've got the house, you've got a mortgage, and you got everybody wanting to take your truck, foreclose on your house. It's like I'm fighting for my life, but you're losing your life at the same time."
Murphy's tale of financial hardship is one that tens of thousands of people around the country can relate to at this very minute.
A new study done by the American Cancer Society found that more than a third of all fundraisers posted on the crowd sourcing website GoFundMe are related to medical debt. More than 91,000 of those mentioned cancer in some way.
"No matter what kind of health insurance you have, what will happen is that people often experience really high out-of-pocket costs for their medical treatments," said Dr. Zhiyuan "Jason" Zheng, a senior principal scientist and health economist with the American Cancer Society. "Because of the cancer and the long-term comorbidities after cancer and treatments, they often lose some of their productivities as well at work. So they also incur income losses as well."
Murphy, who is 55 now, was one of those who posted on GoFundMe. He said he got about $500 from some close friends, but the experience also left him frustrated.
"I just like to do everything myself," said Murphy. "But when you try to ask for help and you don't get the help, that hurt."
Zheng said younger cancer survivors are even more likely to struggle.
"They have a higher intensities of medical, financial hardships and the health-related social needs," said Zheng, because they often have less insurance at that age.
"Medical reasons for personal bankruptcy is the top reason among all personal bankruptcies," he added. "And previous research also showed that cancer patients who filed bankruptcy have higher mortality rates."
Both the scientist who studied this and the trucker who lived through it say lawmakers can do more to help make sure beating cancer doesn't kill you financially. Zheng said forgiving more medical debt would be helpful, as would eliminating some of the really high deductible insurance plans that require large, up front payments. Murphy said you should be able to pause your bills, like mortgage or car payments.
"It's hard enough you're dealing with cancer, fighting for your life, if you're going to die or not, and then you've got to worry about the house and all that," he said. "I just think everything should be put on hold until you they figure out what's going on."
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