I’m 32-year-old with stage 4 cancer — this is the one mistake I made three years ago

A Canadian woman with stage 4 cancer says she ignored signs of the disease because she believed them to be “eczema-related.”

Taylor Deanne Roy, 32, experienced extreme tiredness and itchy skin for years before medics made a devastating diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last month.

“I have been struggling for three years with itchy skin that was diagnosed as follicular eczema,” Roy who hails from Edmonton, Alberta, told NeedToKnow.

Roy dismissed other symptoms that subsequently developed, falsely believing they pertained to her skin condition. She also admits that she failed to be pushy with dismissive doctors.

“For two years I had become extremely tired and out of shape but I thought it was just part of being older,” she admitted. “[Then] I started getting random pains that I blamed on myself.”

Finally, in September, after discovering a large lump on her neck, she visited a doctor for an ultrasound.

“On October 2 of this year, less than two months after finding the lump, I received my diagnosis for stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that had spread to my lungs and the bones in my spine,” Roy emotionally stated.

“The moment I was told I had cancer it was as if the whole world around me stopped,” the Canadian continued. “I felt like nothing was real for a few minutes.”

Roy is now undergoing treatment and experiences “severe pain, nausea and exhaustion” and some days struggles to get out of bed.

“My body is a stranger, betraying me in ways I never thought possible,” she declared. “Simple tasks that I once did without a second thought, are now sometimes nearly impossible.”

“The hardest part is the feeling of losing myself — losing the independence I worked so hard to build.”

Roy hopes to beat the disease, saying she is in the “fight of her life.”

And despite the daily difficulties of treatment, the inspiring Canadian is now using her TikTok account to share her story and raise awareness.

In a post about the symptoms she ignored, she said that she wished she’d mentioned them to her doctor sooner.

“I think the most I can do with my circumstances is spread enough awareness to people to advocate for themselves and not give up when doctors don’t listen,” she stated.

“If I had been more pushy with doctors, I wouldn’t be stage 4 right now.”