Doctors said my exhaustion was just hormones… but it was cancer

For seven months Jade Horseman was left searching for answers to her constant fatigue and flu-like symptoms.

Despite countless trips to her GP, calls to 999 and two visits to A&E she was repeatedly dismissed by doctors.

It was only when Jade was close to death that doctors were finally discovered the cause of her ill health – a rare and aggressive blood cancer.

Prior to her diagnosis, Jade, a 29-year-old fitness fanatic, had been left unable to exercise, would regularly cancel social plans and was eventually signed off of work with ‘burnout’.

She also suffered from a tooth infection that the dentist said was ‘one of the worst infections‘ he‘d ever seen.

But the antibiotics didn’t work and the symptoms continued to get worse.

‘I was physically and emotionally drained, unable to cope, and took two weeks off work,‘ says software developer Jade, from London.

‘There was no improvement, so I was signed off with “burnout“ and took another two months off but never recovered. I even changed jobs, thinking perhaps stress was to blame.

‘My symptoms still continued to worsen – night sweats, headaches, fevers and overwhelming exhaustion. My GP suggested it might be hormonal.’

Yet she continued to deteriorate, getting to the point where she was struggling to look after herself.

‘I gave up on the GP and went to A&E for the first time, only to be told it was a sinus infection and given more antibiotics,’ says Jade.

‘When nothing improved, I went back to A&E a week later. This time I was given what felt like a psychiatrist exam, told again that it was nothing serious and sent home with the reassurance that the antibiotics would “kick in soon”.’

Jade Horseman now 34 was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)

Doctors dismissed her as having a sinus infection, being hormonal or just having a headache

A few days later, she recalls waking up drenched in sweat and shivering so badly that she had to shower in the middle of the night instead.

‘I collapsed in the shower and didn’t have the strength to get out or turn off the water. Eventually I managed to crawl to my phone and called 999. I was told to ring 111 in the morning. I went to bed thinking I wouldn’t wake up,’ she says.

When paramedics arrived they quizzed her on whether she had been drinking and advised she took some paracetamol.

‘I waited for them to leave and took myself back to A&E for the third time. Fortunately, I lived just five minutes from Charing Cross Hospital as by that time I could barely walk,’ says Jade.

‘I was recognised at the front desk and asked why I was back again. I broke down crying and begged for a blood test which thankfully was taken.’

Just half an hour later, everything changed. 

‘It was like a hospital TV drama,’ said Jade. ‘I was suddenly surrounded by doctors. They told me I had sepsis [blood poisoning] and I was blue-lighted to Hammersmith Hospital.’

It was there, finally, in March 2021 that Jade was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a fast-moving and aggressive blood cancer.

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, or ALL, occurs when rogue white blood cells grow out of control, overwhelming the bone marrow and crowding out healthy cells.

The disease also weakens the immune system, raising the risk of dangerous infections and sepsis. 

It‘s the most common childhood cancer in Britain and thanks to modern treatments more than nine in ten children now survive. But for adults the picture is more sobering – survival rates fall sharply with age.

Around 750 adults are diagnosed every year, out of 10,000 new leukaemia cases.

‘It sounds strange but I was almost relieved when I received the diagnosis,’ says Jade. ‘I thought I was beginning to lose my mind, I was making a big fuss to keep being told I was fine.

In December 2023, she received the news that she was in remission, but her life has changed permanently. Post treatment she went on holiday with her boyfriend

‘My immediate concern was preserving my fertility. But I was told my condition had become so critical that this wasn’t an option and I had to start treatment immediately. I just remember crying my eyes out.’

Jade spent the next three months in hospital undergoing treatment.

‘It was so grueling at times I didn’t know if I had the strength physically or mentally to keep going,’ she says.

Overall, Jade received nine month-long rounds of intensive chemotherapy and immunotherapy, followed by two years of maintenance treatment.

In December 2023, she received the news that she was in remission, but her life has changed permanently.

‘I live a normal life but a reduced one,‘ she says. ‘It took a long time to return to work, and I am still nowhere near the level of fitness I had before.‘

Now concerning new research from Leukaemia UK shows that Jade is not alone.

Their report has revealed that those with leukaemia face an avoidable delay in their diagnosis, often reaching a crisis point before they are diagnosed.

The damning new report also found that 86 per cent of patients diagnosed with ALL – the rare form of the disease that Jade had – that face delays do not survive beyond a year.

‘Early diagnosis is really important in leukaemia, so it‘s important patients are aware of the symptoms,‘ says Professor Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, a blood cancer specialist at University College London Hospitals.

Alongside bruising, fatigue and unexplained bleeding, he says patients should look out for sudden weight loss, night sweats and fever.

‘It‘s also important patients persevere. Unfortunately, especially for rare cancers, it‘s unlikely they‘ll get diagnosed the first time, so going back to the doctor when things don‘t improve or change is key.‘

The Leukaemia UK charity is now calling on the Government to take action.

Its chief executive Fiona Hazell says: ‘Jade’s story is appalling, but for far too many people with leukaemia this is a painfully recognisable experience. We must do better and deliver improvements for the thousands of people in the UK that receive a leukaemia diagnosis.

‘The Government has finally recognised the need for earlier leukaemia diagnosis in the National Cancer Plan, but recognition is only the first step and patients just can’t wait. Action is what saves lives and we now need to see this commitment delivered through faster testing and better referrals. Delays in leukaemia diagnosis cost lives, and now is the time to end them.’