A 19-year-old was shocked to discover her temper tantrums and mood swings were a sign of cancer.
Beth Worley, from Bedworth in Warwickshire, started noticing the bizarre symptoms when she was 17.
Adrenaline surges would leave her feeling hot and breathless, make her heart start pounding and make it seem like she was about to faint.
She would become angry or tearful at the drop of a hat and her mother told her she was having ‘toddler tantrums’.
It wasn’t until doctors diagnosed her with a rare form of nerve cancer in her liver that the reason for the strange events became clear.
She was told she had paraganglioma, which is known to disrupt the hormones and cause spikes in adrenaline, and needed surgery to remove the tumours.
Beth Worley, from Warwickshire, said the symptoms of her cancer included pain in her abdomen and mood swings, which were being caused by a tumour in her liver which was pumping adrenaline into her body
‘I couldn’t control my emotions, Miss Worley said. ‘I would be almost manic one moment, then feeling weepy and irritable the next.
‘Mum said I was like a toddler having tantrums. It was as if all the normal ups and downs that everyone experiences were magnified 10 times over.’
As well as the emotional rollercoaster, Miss Worley also had pain in her abdomen and had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.
But when she was unable to get rid of the symptoms she went back to the doctor and further tests revealed – a year later in 2018, when she was 18 – that she had cancer.
Paraganglioma is a cancer made of tumours which grow in nerve cells which are found around the body.
It can develop in various places and most often affects people aged between 30 and 50.
The tumours are usually slow-growing and benign, but they can be dangerous and spread, as Miss Worley’s was threatening to do.
Surgeons at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital decided to operate in March 2019 to remove the tumour from her liver and growths in some nearby glands.
‘Luckily the cysts in the lymph nodes had contained the malignant tumour and stopped it spreading further,’ Miss Worley added.
‘I was in intensive care for six days and it took me a few months to recover as it was such a big operation.
‘I had been cut open from my chest to my belly but I was determined to get back on my feet again and get back to university.’
Miss Worley, pictured with her sister Lexi, stepfather Ade and mother, Claire, had surgery in Birmingham earlier this year to remove her cancer and then spent six days recovering in intensive care
In around half of patients, paraganglioma tumours produce adrenaline or similar hormones and leak them into the body, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Adrenaline is the hormone which controls the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response and its main functions are increasing the heart rate and blood pressure.
It also tenses muscles to make them faster to react, dilates the pupils to improve vision and expands the lungs to pull in more air.
These effects can make people feel distressed or on edge and make them sweat, get headaches or have flushed skin.
The best treatment option for paraganglioma is usually surgery to remove the tumour and stop it spreading or causing damage by growing.
Miss Worley’s mother, Claire Ingram, said her daughter had been strong throughout the treatment, refusing to give up university and carrying on with her life.
She said: ‘Seeing your child in intensive care with all these tubes coming out of her is so awful, the worst thing for a parent.
‘But Beth has been absolutely amazing through all of this – we are in awe of her.
‘The doctors wanted Beth to leave university in order to deal with her treatment but she simply refused. She even managed to pass her driving test too.’
Grateful for her care, Miss Worley is now backing Cancer Research UK’s ‘Right Now’ campaign, which encourages people to donate, volunteer, fundraise or share their story.
Miss Worley’s emotional state was made worse by adrenaline being pump out by her tumour. Adrenaline is the hormone which controls the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response and its main functions are increasing the heart rate and blood pressure, which make people feel distressed or on edge and make them sweat, get headaches or have flushed skin
Miss Worley, whose friends and family raised nearly £4,000 at Worcester Race for Life in her honour, said: ‘Now, I want to do everything I can to help raise money and awareness.
‘Progress in the fight against this devastating disease relies on everyone who raises vital funds.’
Jane Redman, a Cancer Research UK spokesperson said: ‘We are so grateful to Beth for showing both the realities of cancer and the positive impact research and improved treatments can have on people’s lives.
‘We hope our Right Now campaign will inspire people to take action and play their part in beating cancer.
‘Every action makes a difference and money raised helps to support Cancer Research UK’s vital work. Together, we will beat cancer.’
