Courtney's Story - "Listen to your body and your gut, you know your own body better than anyone."

In October 2021, 21-year-old Limerick local Courtney Smith was outside a restaurant with family and friends when she suddenly fainted. During this time, Courtney banged her head and was worried about a concussion. It was decided that she should be brought straight to the emergency department to get examined.

"I had a bit of flu-like symptoms at the time, so they wanted to do a chest x-ray to investigate but nothing unusual appeared. They let me know that they thought it was a urinary infection that caused the fainting.” Courtney recalls.

Months later in February 2022, Courtney was started to feel unwell again “I had a chesty cough that I could not shift. I was coughing up phlegm, I couldn’t sleep. Looking back I also had other more unusual symptoms, I was losing weight and had itchy skin. I would wake up in the middle of the night dripping in sweat.

When I went to get checked out, they told me they thought it was a viral infection and I most likely also had asthma, I was given an inhaler and tried to put my worries to the back of my mind.” Courtney adds.

In May, Courtney knew in her gut something was wrong “I would be laughing with friends and I wouldn’t be able to stop coughing or catch my breath. I went to the Ed Sheeran concert and all the smoke made me react terribly also.”

Courtney had health insurance with Laya and decided to go into her local centre to get another opinion at the end of May.

 “They brought me back in for a chest x-ray and said something had shown up that needed further investigation so they booked me in for a CT scan. The next day I was down in Waterford and they called and told me I needed to come in straight away to discuss my results.
“That two hour drive home was torture. When we went into the consulting room, I knew straight away from the atmosphere, it would be bad news.” She states.

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“One thing that brought me so much comfort, through my diagnosis, treatment and even my break-up, was my dog Stitch. We got him a month into treatment, and I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

Courtney received a diagnosis of stage three Hodgkin’s Lymphoma “hearing that news, I had no words. I had never even heard of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma before. They then began telling me about all the tests and treatment I needed, it was all so much.” 

Before beginning chemotherapy, Courtney went through pre-treatment egg retrieval which involved injections every day for two weeks. In July, she began her twelve rounds of chemotherapy.

“I had a few side effects from the chemotherapy but I got through them. I actually met some wonderful people during this time, everyone in there really related to what each other was going. I worked right through my treatment, in our local Bowling Centre and also doing the social media for some local businesses.

 
However then in October my boyfriend ended our relationship. That was a low point for me, on top of everything, I didn’t deal with it well. At this time my hair was really falling out also so I just decided to shave it all off.”

At Christmas Courtney was experiencing extreme back pain, a MRI showed that she had developed a fracture in her back “It’s been a rough few months, I am currently in a brace for my back but I won’t have another scan regarding my cancer for another three months.  
“One thing that brought me so much comfort, through my diagnosis, treatment and even my break-up, was my dog Stitch. We got him a month into treatment, and I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

On advice she would give to others, she says “Always look out for yourself, and advocate for your health. Listen to your body and your gut, you know your own body better than anyone. If you need to, get a second opinion if you aren’t happy, you won’t regret it.

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