By Filipa Gaspar via SWNS
A nurse discovered she had leukemia – after a lip filler procedure swelled her lips.
Edita Jucaite, 36, had similar procedures before without any reaction.
But a lip filler injection last April immediately made her lip swell up and left severe bruising.
The doctor who administered it – who was also a colleague – said she should contact her GP.
She had also been losing weight and just a few hours after the doctor appointment where Edita had a blood test, the surgery called her.
They said she needed to go straight to the hospital as they suspected she did have leukemia.
Further tests confirmed that Edita had chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). She began having oral chemotherapy and she is now in remission.
However, she will be on medication for life to help prevent the cancer from returning.
Edita, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: “Not many people can say that lip fillers saved their life – but I can!
“If the bruising hadn’t happened and I hadn’t been encouraged to see the GP because of it then I may well have put it off again and again which could have then meant the leukemia may have progressed and been much harder to treat.
“I had no idea about the signs and symptoms of leukemia – I was happy to be losing a bit of weight as I was about to go on holiday and I drank a lot of energy drinks which may have disguised my tiredness.
“There definitely needs to be more general awareness of leukemia and what to look out for so more people can be diagnosed in time for treatment to be effective like I was.”
Leukemia Care and Leukemia UK have released new findings from a YouGov poll of 2,000 UK adults which found that less than a sixth (14%) of the UK adult population are able to identify all the four main symptoms of this blood cancer – these are unusual bruising, unusual bleeding, fatigue, and repeated infections.
The organizations say this is contributing to more than a third of those diagnosed finding out the life-changing news at A&E.
Throughout the UK, there are around 10,000 people diagnosed with leukemia every year – and almost 5,000 deaths.
Annually, 37% of those diagnosed with leukemia receive this news in A&E – more than any other cancer type1.
In addition, people diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are disproportionately affected as over half of them are diagnosed in emergency settings.
This type of leukemia is particularly aggressive and develops quickly, so early diagnosis and treatment are even more essential.
Every day, 27 people in the UK are diagnosed with leukemia, and currently, over 50,000 are living with the disease.
Despite common misconceptions, leukemia is not just a childhood disease as it predominantly affects those over 65.
