‘Cancer was the scariest thing I've ever experienced and the anxiety that cancer survivors live with persistently is something I never expected’

Emma O’Reilly was just 20 when her mother noticed that her neck was slightly swollen.

“Maybe it was because I was used to looking at myself every day that I never noticed, but my mam spotted it,” Emma said.

Attending a GP who was not her regular doctor, for an unrelated issue in March 2014, Emma’s mother pointed out her swollen neck to the GP who luckily referred her for an ultrasound at St. James’ Hospital.

In September 2014, Emma, from Dublin, went for an ultrasound but was assured that while there was a nodule on her thyroid it didn’t look sinister and, given her young age, it was likely not to be anything to worry about.

She then underwent a fine needle aspiration that October but didn’t receive the results until her mother called the hospital a few days before Christmas.

It was then that Emma was asked to come in for an appointment on December 29.

“That was really worrying because I remember thinking, it must be serious if they want me in so close to Christmas,” Emma recalled.

It transpired that the results of Emma’s fine needle test had been inconclusive and her medical team told her it was a 50/50 chance that she had thyroid cancer.

It was decided that she would undergo a right thyroidectomy, as it was the only way to get an accurate diagnosis.

“They told us I could be waiting months as a public patient, even despite a possible cancer diagnosis. My nan offered to pay for me to have the operation done privately in the Beacon Hospital in February 2015” Emma said.

Three weeks after the operation, her surgeon brought her into his office and gently explained that she had papillary thyroid cancer.

“He was very compassionate but also treated me like an adult and gave me all the information. He said it was really treatable and reassured me it was not an aggressive form of the disease,” she said.

Her surgeon then suggested that he would remove the left side of her thyroid as a precautionary measure, an operation she underwent in July 2015 in St James’ Hospital in Dublin.

However, during one of her routine follow up appointments, it was discovered that Emma’s cancer had returned.

“Towards the end of 2016 they noticed my lymph nodes were enlarged on the right side of my neck and they found cancer cells when they tested them,” Emma said.

She was then scheduled for a right neck dissection surgery in August 2017 – her third surgery in just two years and aged just 23.

“I had to get radioiodine treatment after that. My thyroid consultant thoughtfully ensured I had the treatment in time to start my final year in college. I was isolated in a room by myself for five days which was a very strange experience, it makes you really appreciate a hug,” she said.

Experiencing cancer without any obvious outward signs at such a young age presented unique difficulties for Emma.

“Because you don’t look unwell and because I luckily didn’t need to have the typical forms of treatment, people assume you’re doing fine but you’re not and people sometimes don’t realise the effect it is having on you. It limits your ability to open up and talk about it,” she said.

Emma has been cancer free since 2017 and undergoes annual testing – her most recent ultrasound took place in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, something, which she says, was a ‘surreal’ experience.

But for Emma there are aftereffects that she is dealing with still – both physical and mental.

As her thyroid has been fully removed, she will be on hormone replacement Eltroxin for life.

She is also learning to cope with the anxiety related to her cancer experience, something that counselling has somewhat helped with. She believes there needs to be a lot more services provided to cancer survivors in order to help them cope with life after the disease.

She would also like to encourage younger people especially, to make use of the screening services available to them, be aware of the symptoms or potential signs of cancer and to get anything they may be worried about checked by their GP.

“Cancer was the scariest thing I've ever experienced and the anxiety that cancer survivors live with persistently is something I never expected. I work hard every day to have a positive outlook and look forward to the future,” Emma said.

In 2020, Emma took on the Irish Cancer Society’s Marathon in a Month to help fund crucial services and research.

Emma would like to thank her surgeon, thyroid consultant and all the nurses and staff in St. John’s Ward at St. James’ Hospital for all the generous care she has received.