A woman self-diagnosed herself with cancer after developing an unbearable itch that doctors couldn't explain. Now, she's getting treatment, but it's been a long road to this point.
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Speaking with People, Sumbul Ari details how her life took a change for the worse when she developed unbearable itching. She said, "At first I thought I was having a reaction to something — perfume, deodorant, washing products, shower products. I started an elimination process, but nothing helped."
She developed "night sweats" and other changes as well, including fatigue and skin infections.
"I went to the first doctor after two months of excessive itching. I told him I would wake up in the middle of the night and scratch myself to death because it felt like there were things crawling in my skin," Ari recalled. The doctor diagnosed her with dry skin.
A second doctor suggested scabies. A third doctor just shrugged away her symptoms.
Itching Symptoms
"I will never forget the exact words: 'It's just one of those things,' " she recalled.
Ari then questioned if she had mould in her home.
"I suspected mould, searched my home and removed any mould. I suspected athlete's foot, tried home remedies I found on Reddit. Nothing. I tried creams, antihistamines, sleeping pills: nothing worked," she said.
But then she developed a lump in her neck. Combine that with the itching, and Ari feared the worst.
"As soon as I read itchy skin, night sweats, and fatigue, I knew I had cancer," she said. Doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. "I didn't care if it was cancer, I just wanted the itching to stop and wanted a full night's sleep. I was so emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted by that point. I was at an absolute breaking point."
"Being told I had cancer was relieving. I finally had an answer," Ari continues. "But I was very frustrated at all the doctors who dismissed me, and very, very angry. There is nothing more frustrating than knowing there is something incredibly wrong, but being brushed off by the people who are supposed to help."
Right now, she's currently taking chemotherapy but is grateful for the itching to stop.
