A British woman in her 20s who thought she'd beaten cancer has died after it returned, but doctors failed to figure it out until it was too late - instead telling her she was going through "early menopause".
Lizzy Evans, 27, developed cervical cancer while pregnant with her fourth child, North Wales Live reported.
"I was back and forth to the hospital and when they checked my cervix, they said it looked abnormal. I ended up having a biopsy, which resulted in me being diagnosed with cervical cancer," she told the site before she died.
Her baby was delivered via caesarean eight weeks early so she could undergo treatment, which was apparently successful - Evans given the all-clear in May last year.
While there were meant to be follow-ups, Evans says they never happened - no reason was given. A few months later she went back to her doctor, complaining of "shoulder, rib and neck pain, which radiated throughout my body" - and was told it was "muscular skeletal pain due to me going through the menopause because of the previous treatment I had".
She was sent home with pain relief, but was soon back in hospital with "unbearable stomach pain" and once again given painkillers. This happened a few more times until one morning she "had to phone an ambulance because I felt like I was struggling to breathe".
She told North Wales Live paramedics thought she had a collapsed lung. An X-ray revealed fluid on her lungs so a biopsy was done, and in January, the results came back - the cancer was back, and had moved into her lungs.
"It was classed as stage four terminal and the symptoms are only manageable, not curable," she said.
Early menopause can be triggered by chemotherapy, if the ovaries are damaged.
Evans had just enough time to plan her own funeral, North Wales Live reported, before dying on March 31.
"Life isn't fair, it's been so cruel to Lizzy," her mother Chrissy said. "She was only 27 with her whole life ahead of her."
