WHEN Lauren Aneesa Angrish kept coming down with coughs and colds, she just put it down to her busy lifestyle.
The 25-year-old make-up artist often felt fatigued and thought she might just need to take a holiday.
Due to her job, she often got free spray tans at work, and initially she thought this had been the reason behind a nasty rash she had developed.
She stopped using the tan, but the rash got worse, so the Londoner went to see her GP.
“My GP laughed at me and said that I just have sensitive skin. They advised that I change my shower gel, but this didn’t improve anything.
“My symptoms got worse, to the point where I was vomiting in public. I pushed the doctors again and was given a blood test.
“The day after my blood test, I was told that I had cancer,” she said.
Lauren was diagnosed with acute leukaemia, which is a type of cancer that starts in your bone marrow and affects the blood cells, the Teenage Cancer Trust states.
Following her diagnosis, Lauren had to undergo a stem cell transplant.
Now she’s urging other people to book in with their GP if you experience symptoms that aren’t normal for you.
“If you know something isn’t right with your body, trust your gut and don’t be afraid to be assertive,” she said.
Lauren’s plea comes as new data from the Teenage Cancer Trust revealed that less than half of 18-24-year-olds can identify any of the five main warning signs of cancer in young people.
Half admit that they have put off visiting their GP with health concerns.
A third say this is because they are ‘too scared’ to find out what’s wrong with them.
Experts at the Teenage Cancer Trust said there are five red flags you need to be aware of:
If you are worried about any of your symptoms then you should see your GP.
In the event of an emergency always call 999 or visit your closest A&E department.
The data also showed that 58 per cent of young adults couldn’t identify mole changes as cause for concern.
This is while 62 per cent did not recognise significant weight change could signal a warning .
A further 61 per cent were also unaware that unexplained tiredness and persistent pain could be a symptom.
Dr Louise Soanes, Chief Nurse, Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “We hear time and time again from the young people that we support that they didn’t recognise the warning signs, and about the devastating impact that delays to their diagnosis have caused.
“We urgently need UK Governments to develop specific public awareness campaigns for cancers experienced by young people,” she added.
