Medical Student, 22, Is Horrified To Learn She Has Cancer When Her Professor Feels Her Neck In Front Of The Class During Detection Lesson

But while Dr. Lichtenthaler was demonstrating how to examine a patient, he felt something in Gabriella's neck. He told her to get the lump checked out as soon as possible.

Gabriella's world soon came crashing down when she was diagnosed with a form of thyroid cancer called papillary thyroid carcinoma, also known as PTC; this cancer is the most common form of well-differentiated thyroid cancer.

"When I found out, my world collapsed," she told Newsflash, according to the New York Post. "I kept thinking: 'I'm too young to face this.' I cried a lot and didn't want to believe it. It's a moment when you see things can end."

She was experiencing no symptoms of thyroid cancer, except the lump in her neck that had gone unnoticed. But thankfully she caught the cancer when she did because by the time she was diagnosed, the cancer had already metastasized to other parts of her neck, including her esophagus.

"I think if I hadn't gone that day (to class), maybe I wouldn't have discovered the disease so soon, my diagnosis would have taken much longer and it could have been more serious," she said.

Gabriella began treatment in November 2020; she had surgery to remove her thyroid, as well as the outlying neck tumors. Then, in January 2021, doctors administered iodine therapy (when doctors use radioactive isotopes to kill any remaining cancer cells; this is also used to treat an overactive thyroid).

The young medical student was deemed cancer-free shortly after! In order to make sure her cancer doesn't return, she now visits her doctor twice a year for screening.

"I beat cancer!" she posted to Instagram on Feb. 4, 2021. "After months of fighting, I wanted to record this remarkable moment in my life, which made me transform into a better person and empower the world in a different way."

 

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Understanding Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the thyroid gland, which creates hormones that help regulate your metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.

Spotting thyroid cancer can often be difficult. According to the American Cancer Society, symptoms may include a lump, swelling or pain in the neck (like in Gabriella’s case), voice changes, trouble swallowing or breathing or even a constant cough.

"Most people have no discrete symptoms; the majority of cases now are found incidentally," Dr. Allen Ho, a head and neck surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, previously told SurvivorNet. "However, a sizable number of people may first discover their cancer when they feel a bump on their neck."

"Other possible late symptoms include problems swallowing, the sensation of something in their throat, neck compression when laying flat or voice changes," Dr. Ho added.

It’s important to know as well that thyroid cancer is a type of head and neck cancer, and in recent years, an increasing number of head and neck cancers have been linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV. While it’s unclear what caused Gabriella’s cancer, the connection between this sexually transmitted infection and cancer should be noted.

Related: HPV and Cancer Risk: The Basics

The good news is that many of these possible symptoms, including lumps in the thyroid, are both common and commonly benign, but it never hurts to ask your doctor.

Chances of cancer recovery increase significantly with early detection, so it’s important to address any warning signs of thyroid cancer (or any cancer, really) with a medical expert as soon as possible.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.