Courageous mum who shared blood cancer battle after shock diagnosis now in remission

Ashleigh Palmer, 31, was diagnosed with stage 2 Lymphocyte-rich classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in August 2019, despite showing no signs of feeling unwell.

After discovering a painless lump on her collar bone in May last year, she decided to see a doctor and was referred to Sunderland Royal Hospital for an ultrasound that July.

Further tests led to Ashleigh’s diagnosis and – in September 2019 – she began to undergo chemotheraphy at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

In November, doctors told the Washington mum-of-three that her treatment was working and said she was in remission – a major milestone on her road to recovery.

And now earlier this month, Ashleigh was given the incredible news that she is now in complete remission after finishing her last bout of treatment earlier in 2020.

She told the Echo: “My last chemo was on February 6 and six weeks later I had a PET scan, which is how they detect cancer.

“The scan came back clear of cancer, but showed some abnormalities on my lungs and doctors were not sure what they were.

“Because of the nature of these things, you have to give it a certain amount of time so I had to wait 12 weeks to get it checked out again.

“But there was nothing there, which was great.

“I had the scan on the Thursday and then, on the Friday, I got the call telling me was clear of cancer.”

Over the course of her treatment, Ashleigh had a total of 12 sessions of chemotheraphy at Sunderland Royal Hospital’s Phoenix Unit.

Like other cancer patients, Ashleigh had to cope with the emotional and physical loss of her hair, with the support of Sunderland’s Wonderful Wig Company as well as the toll her illness took on her mental health and well-being.

After coming to terms with her shock diagnosis, the courageous mum decided to share and document her cancer journey through her social media channels and the Echo, in hope it would help others going through their own experience with cancer and raise awareness of the need to get checked.

“I’m hoping that it will reach somebody who needs some hope in that moment,” Ashleigh added.

“It has been nearly a year since all this started – from my diagnosis to treatment and the news that, finally, things are OK. It feels a bit surreal [to get the all clear].

“[But] it shows that treatment can and does work and that early detection is key.

“If I had not gone to the doctors about the lump, who knows if it could have been a stage four or five?

“It’s scary and horrible and people don’t want to talk about it, but you can’t think, ‘It won’t happen to me’ because it happens to people all the time.”

In a bid to thank those who cared for her, Ashleigh and husband Stewart Palmer held a charity party, which raised £3,000 for Sunderland Royal Hospital’s Phoenix Unit.

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