'Doctors said for 10 years I had anxiety, then a scan showed the truth'

A mum pushed for 10 years to get answers to the worrying symptoms she was experiencing as doctors dismissed them as “anxiety”. Tameika McBride had been suffering from symptoms dating back to 2015, but says doctors would reassure her that nothing was wrong, with her blood work coming back all-clear.

The mum-of-two knew something was wrong, but it wasn’t until she noticed a large swelling in her neck, a few weeks after she had her son, that she demanded answers. A day after being told it was likely nothing to worry about, an ultrasound confirmed her worst fears: she had cancer.

“I was devastated and thought it was a death sentence,” said the 30-year-old stay-at-home mum. “With two young children, aged four and two, I went into panic mode. It was traumatising – I was having a meltdown and couldn’t stop crying.”

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Tameika said: “I would go to my doctor about my symptoms and was told it was anxiety, and that my bloods were fine. But [the symptoms] didn’t cripple me, and I was happy overall, so I kind of accepted that how I was feeling was normal.”

During her pregnancy in 2019, doctors found Tameika had an underactive thyroid, and she was given medication and told it can happen when pregnant. When she came off the meds, she “stacked on weight” and looked “puffy and swollen” – but was again assured her blood work had come back normal.

In August 2023, six weeks after she had her son, Tameika noticed her thyroid was visibly enlarged for the first time. She said: “I had a tender, sore thyroid on the left side that I could literally see in the mirror. I went to the doctor, who sent me to the ER.

“I thought it could be postpartum thyroiditis, but my bloods were fine. Scans showed ‘something’, but there was not enough information. They told me to get another scan, but no one followed up. As a tired, breastfeeding mum-of-two, I left it, and the swelling went away.”

But in November 2024, Tameika found a swollen lymph node on the left side of her neck, causing her to worry again. Her doctor thought it was innocent and told her to return if the issue persisted, so when it was still there two months later, she went back.

Tameika said: “My doctor said, ‘I’m sure it’s nothing, but we’ll check to be sure,' and I had an ultrasound. The very next day, I was told it was cancer. It was frustrating – for years, I had questioned my symptoms and was always told it was anxiety. To finally be told it was cancer was overwhelming and heartbreaking.”

The mum had a CT scan and biopsy, which confirmed the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, and she was booked in for a thyroidectomy [a procedure to remove all or part of the thyroid gland] and a left modified radical neck dissection [a procedure to remove cancerous lymph nodes] in April.

She said: “They removed 34 lymph nodes, and 12 came back as cancerous. Once again, hearing the bad news crushed us.”

Doctors also found Tameika had Hashimoto’s disease – an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the thyroid gland, preventing it from producing enough hormones. The same test revealed her cancer to be a rare and aggressive variant, and it had spread further than they had anticipated.

Tameika said: “For my age, they were shocked. It was another kick in the gut, and another panic moment for us as a family. It was like being told I had cancer all over again. I was told I am in the high-risk category, which felt very scary.”

In June, Tameika underwent radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment to destroy thyroid cells and had to isolate in the hospital away from her family for 24 hours. She said: “My children are a little too young [to understand what is going on]. My daughter, who is four, knows I’m sick and that I have cancer, but she doesn’t know the extent, and my son, who is two, doesn’t understand at all.”

Since her surgery, scans have found two remaining cancerous lymph nodes, and Tameika is continuing RAI treatment to try and kill them. She is currently also undergoing high-dose Vitamin C infusions, recommended by an integrative medicine doctor.

She added: “This has been the most challenging time of my life, and I’m so grateful to be here and healing – but I’m also exhausted, navigating post-cancer fatigue and uncertainty, while trying to stay strong for my children. Words can’t describe how grateful I am for everyone’s kindness and generosity – it means a lot to be able to go and have these treatments, only because of everyone’s help.”

Her fundraising page can be found here.