Devon woman, 32, with incurable cancer was misdiagnosed with pulled muscle

A woman from Torquay has shared her shock at being diagnosed with cancer for the second time at just 32 years old, and even more so when she was told it had spread to three parts of her body after previously being misdiagnosed with a pulled muscle.

Holly Bedford has been undergoing treatment for stage 4 melanoma cancer for nearly two months and is anxiously awaiting news next week on whether it is working.

Melanoma, also called malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that can usually be treated with surgery if it's found early. It can spread to other areas of the body and the main cause of melanoma is ultraviolet light which comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds.

Holly, an early years practitioner, has epilepsy and hemiplegia migraines. She was first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2019 when she was 27 years old. A cancerous mole was removed and she was given the all clear by medics.

She had been enjoying living a great life, which included living in Australia last year where she met her boyfriend Shane. Then in May of this year she developed a persistent chesty cough. She was prescribed antibiotics by her doctor, which did not work.

She claims her chest pain was diagnosed as a virus and then a pulled muscle. It was only on her fourth visit to the doctor, and after persisting with a request for a scan, that she was finally offered an X-ray.

It wasn't until October 3, that Holly was eventually diagnosed with melanoma cancer stage 4. Treatment was immediately initiated with a type of targeted cancer drug called cancer growth inhibitors.

They work by blocking the growth factors that trigger cancer cells to divide and grow.

Holly said: "I'm very lucky because I'm not really having too many side effects. I feel a bit sick but it's nothing major. I had a CT scan last Friday, November 22, and will be getting the results on December 3 when I see the oncologist.

"I'm very much hoping for some positive results and then I can move on to immunotherapy. When I was told for the second time I had cancer, I had already kind of guessed it was that so I swallowed it, but what I didn't expect was it to be in three places.

"That was the shocking bit and it really annoyed me, and I did get a bit angry that it was not picked up sooner. I guessed it was cancer because I had a lump in my neck and my chest hurt, but I didn't expect it to be in my abdomen.

"I have it on both sides of my tummy. But it's all right now; I've accepted it.

"My cancer can't be operated on. It was explained to me it will always be there but it can be managed to stop it growing and contain it. With the hope of immunotherapy, it will put me in remission. That's what I'm praying for."

Skin cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK. Around 15,000 Britons and 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma each year which is the most common form of skin cancer.

Survival rates have risen from less than 50 per cent to more than 90 per cent in the past decade, but it still kills more than 2,000 people a year. Skin cancers can look very different and the symptoms can vary.

Some of the symptoms are similar to other conditions. Common symptoms of skin cancer include a sore or area of skin that doesn't heal within four weeks, looks unusual, hurts, is itchy, bleeds, crusts or scabs for more than four weeks.

An online GoFundMe page has been set up by Holly's family to help pay for what she needs to beat her cancer and also achieve some personal wishes such as doing a skydive and dining 100ft suspended in the air with the London in the Sky experience. It has so far raised more than £14,000.

Holly's twin sister Nikki Bedford said: "We are on a very positive journey with Holly. While it was a shocking diagnosis, we are very hopeful because as well as conventional treatments, Holly is doing a lot of holistic treatments such as vitamin C infusions, oils from America and an oxygen chamber she is renting on a monthly basis.

"That's why the GoFundMe page is so important as holistic treatments are very expensive."

As well as having the unfailing support of her family - including her twin and sisters Amie, Sarah and Emma - and friends, Holly also has her boyfriend Shane by her side. She met him in Australia, where he lives.

A week after Holly had been diagnosed with cancer, he had flown to the UK and is hoping to stay for six months and then return again as soon as possible.

Holly said: "It is lush he is here with me, but I can't see at the moment as he has a cold so we have to stay in separate houses. I would like to return to Australia and am planning that for the future.

"I have also got my sisters so I'm very well supported. We are a team; I'm not fighting it on my own. I'm very, very lucky."

Holly has expressed vast gratitude to Torquay dad-of-three Scott Davis who was diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer in September 2018, and given just 12 months to live, but believes taking alternative treatments is what has kept him alive to this day with no further signs of active cancer.

Nikki recalled: "He met up with Holly after she received her horrible diagnosis. He was offered only palliative care so he treated his cancer for holistically and has offered advice to Holly. He has been very supportive."

Holly is hoping to be well enough to do a skydive with her sister Amie and niece Jasmine, 16.

Hopeful for the future, she said: "I am very grateful to everyone. It is helping keep me positive. I would like to give a huge thank you to my family as they are my absolute rock."

To donate to the fundraiser, please click here.