Dad, 29, With ‘Swollen Face’ Was Told By Doctors He Had A Sinus Infection And Prescribed Nasal Spray: It Turned Out To Be Cancer

But Nathan was told he was "too young for cancer" at just 29 years old.

"I was worried at this point and first contacted my GP, who tried to diagnose me via telephone and left me a steroid nasal spray for chronic sinusitis, which is an inflammation of the facial sinuses," he told BelfastLive. "This did not work at all."

He used the spray for about a week, but his sinus pressure persisted. In addition, he began experiencing other symptoms, including breathing problems and swallowing issues.

"Food would get stuck in my windpipe and water made a strange gurgling noise as I drank," Nathan said. "I became very worried again and I contacted my GP and begged for a face to face, as I knew something wasn't quite right."

But again, his doctor wasn't convinced there was something sinister about Nathan's symptoms.

"I explained everything that had been going on and the GP said that it sounded like acid reflux and it had damaged my windpipe," Nathan explained. "I was prescribed an antibiotic and an antacid tablet and also got my bloods checked. The tablets made me feel even worse, and to top it off, when my blood (tests) came back, the results were, 'You have a small bit of inflammation, probably due to the sinusitis.'"

"I was not happy at this point," he continued, "but I trusted my GP and I wasn't one to second guess a medical professional. From here my jaw was pushed out of alignment and I started to bite the inside of my face; the swelling was very bad."

His symptoms still got worse, but in November, an episode occurred that sent Nathan to the hospital and gave him his real diagnosis of lymphoma.

Nathan was vomiting over the toilet and passed out. He hit his head and gave himself a black eye and a concussion, so his then-pregnant wife rushed him to the hospital.

There, he was put through a battery of tests, and eight hours later, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. The stage and type of his cancer remains unclear.

Related: Sneaky Lymphoma Symptoms Often Lead to a Late Diagnosis

"That week in the hospital I could not breath, eat or drink," he said. "I was in critical condition (and) given only days to live if they didn't start emergency chemotherapy."

"Thankfully, my body handled the chemo very well and I slowly recovered," he added.

He explained that once he was stable, he and his wife were told Nathan had three masses growing throughout his body a 12.5-centimeter mass in his chest, an 8-centimeter mass in his lung and a 4-centimeter mass in his pancreas.

He went through 12 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by three weeks of radiation. Now, "I am in remission and thankful for the wealth of knowledge at the … hospital able to save my life," Nathan said.

"Today I feel good, I almost feel normal again."

Understanding Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system that affects infection-fighting cells called lymphocytes. And there are more than 40 different types of lymphoma. (It remains unclear what type of lymphoma Nathan was diagnosed with, as previously mentioned.)

"Lymphoma is split up into a number of different categories," Dr. Elise Chong, a medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, previously told SurvivorNet.

"The first distinguishing breakpoint, if you will, is non-Hodgkin lymphoma versus Hodgkin lymphoma," she added, "and those sound like two different categories. But non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprises the majority of lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma is a single specific type of lymphoma."

What Kind of Lymphoma Do You Have? Why Your Type Matters

Hodgkin lymphoma has distinctive, giant cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. The presence of these cells, which can be seen under a microscope, will help your doctor determine which of the two lymphoma types you have.

There are a few other important differences between non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma to note. For one thing, non-Hodgkin lymphoma is much more common. And you're more likely to be diagnosed with it after age 55. People usually develop Hodgkin lymphoma at a younger age.

It should be noted that another difference between these two types of lymphoma is that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to spread in a random fashion and be found in different groups of lymph nodes in the body, while Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to grow in a uniform way from one group of lymph nodes directly to another.

These two different types of lymphoma behave, spread and respond to treatment differently, so it's important for you to know which type you have.

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