My GP told me neck lumps could be worms from my cats - it was cancer

A mother has claimed doctors warned her that lumps in her neck could be parasitic worms from her two adopted 'street cats' - before discovering they were blood cancer.

Francesca Knee-Wright, 34, from Brighton, first found a 'very small' lump on her neck in April - but since she had only had a baby three months before, she assumed it was just her body changing after her pregnancy.

She said her GP told her over the phone that the pea-sized lump was 'probably just a gland' and to call back in two weeks.

Ms Knee-Wright then began to notice that she was losing a lot of weight, but put it down to doing 'really well' at the gym.

But the mother-of-two was shocked when she discovered two more lumps in her neck a few weeks later and so went to see her doctor in person.

Her GP reportedly suggested it could be a symptom of worms that she might have caught from her adopted street cats - parasites that infect the large intestine.

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However an ultrasound revealed a total of nine lumps in her neck, and in August Ms Knee-Wright was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer affecting the lymphatic system.

According to the NHS, it is 'a relatively aggressive form of cancer that can quickly spread through the body' - but is also one of the 'most treatable' forms of the disease.

Ms Knee-Wright was told she was lucky to have found the lumps when they were still relatively small.

Now she is urging others to speak up for themselves when something doesn't feel right.

Ms Knee-Wright said: 'When I eventually went back to the doctor after finding two more lumps they called me in person and said it might be a virus that you can get when you have cats.

'The doctor asked if I have a cat because sometimes people who have cats get worms, and I did have two cats.

'I adopted them from Spain. They are straightforward Spanish street cats. They have a lot of personality, and cause a lot of chaos.

'In the back of my head I thought 'oh gosh, a lump means cancer'. So in the very back of my head I was thinking cancer but I was clinging to anything that might mean that it is something else, something less sinister.

'So when they said the thing about the cats I thought it could be that.

'I thought it could be a cyst, people always tell you that it doesn't have to be cancer so I was clinging to any shred of hope, hoping it wasn't that.

'I went to the gym a lot and had a baby and thought my body was going through so much change. It was hard for me to know what is normal with the baby.

'I lost quite a lot of weight, but I didn't know if it was because I just had a baby and was breastfeeding or if I was doing really well at the gym.

'I didn't know it meant I was ill. You just think it could be anything, you don't think it's going to be cancer.'

Doctors' reportedly told her that it was 'amazing' she caught it so soon, as people with her condition tend to have 'much bigger lumps'.

Fran said: 'If I hadn't found another one I would have definitely forgotten about it. Life is busy, and it was a very small lump.

'I'm so lucky I caught it when I did. Where would I be now if I had left it for a year?

'My only frustration is that the system is the way that it is. When you call the doctor to say you found a lump, they should see you straight away.

'I don't think it was good enough to tell me it's probably a gland and to call in two weeks.

'It can be intimidating to question a doctor's authority. I'm lucky that I'm the kind of person to say, 'I think I need to see someone in person about this'.

'You just never know. I would hate for someone to be in the same position as me and just forget about it. I'm happy to speak up for myself and speak up for things that don't feel right.'

She admitted that she is concerned over how her condition and hair loss as she embarks on chemotherapy might affect her three-year-old and eight-month-old sons.

Fran said: 'I had to stop breastfeeding my baby much earlier than I intended to. It completely changed how I wanted to parent my children.

'They said that my hair would fall out so suddenly and I was scared my kids would go to hug me and a strand from my hair would fall out.'

Fran decided to 'take back control' by shaving her hair before it had a chance to fall out in order to raise funds for the Little Princess Trust, a charity providing real-hair wigs to children and young people with cancer.

She said: 'As a mum I can't imagine what it would be like for my child to go through something like that, losing all their hair and navigating life.'

In her fundraiser page, Fran wrote: 'Let's be honest, I may be losing my hair but I'm NOT losing this fight. And while I have you, never ignore a lump... Not even tiny ones in weird places.'