When Kiri noticed a tiny lump on her neck, a doctor told her to ‘stress less’ and assured her there was ‘nothing to worry about’ – but deep down, she knew something wasn’t right.

Trusting her doctor’s words, the 25-year-old ignored the hard lump at the front of her neck for nine months – until she finally got it checked after experiencing extreme fatigue, dizziness, brain fog and difficulty swallowing food.

‘I was constantly at the doctors. I kept being told that I was fine but there were always little things going on that I knew were not right,’ Kiri, from NSWtold Daily Mail.

‘I didn’t really look after myself so I just believed the doctors when they said I was fine and needed to take care of myself better and stress less.’

Despite voicing her concerns earlier this year, the doctor once again dismissed her symptoms – but still referred her for an ultrasound ‘just in case’.

At just 25, Kiri’s world came crashing down when she was told she had thyroid cancer that had already spread to her lymph nodes and the fatty tissue around her neck.

According to the Cancer Council, thyroid cancer develops slowly without obvious signs or symptoms. The average age of diagnosis is 53 years old.

‘I wish I hadn’t left it so long before getting checked and I wished I would have pushed the doctors for more answers and further testing,’ she said.

‘When she told me it was nothing to worry about, I felt off but I just left it. If I had of pushed for more answers back then, maybe it wouldn’t have spread.’

Before her devastating diagnosis, the young woman was living a ‘very simple’ life working as a dog trainer in Wollongong.

She spent much of her time with her beloved assistance cavoodle Kali, and the pair often went on adventures together.

In May 2024, she first noticed a small, unusual lump on her neck that wasn’t visible to the eye – but when her doctors seemed unfazed, she carried on with her life.

‘The doctor brushed me off and said it was nothing,’ Kiri said.

However, she soon began experiencing symptoms that only got worse.

‘I was extremely fatigued to the point I struggled to do much, I was getting dizzy all the time, my brain fog was terrible and I had developed a lump that made it quite difficult to swallow,’ she explained.

‘I was told by my doctor that most of the time you can’t feel the lump because it can be behind the thyroid gland so people shouldn’t just look out for a lump.

‘I ignored my lump for about a year until I finally decided to just go get it checked out and see what it was.’

She visited a doctor in February this year when her lump had grown to the size of a 10 to 20 cent silver coin.

As a precaution, she got an ultrasound before being sent for an urgent biopsy a week later. Just two weeks later, she underwent surgery to remove a part of her thyroid and lymph nodes.

‘The ultrasound and biopsy suspected cancer,’ she explained.

Following her surgery, she was diagnosed in April with stage one papillary thyroid carcinoma, the most common form of thyroid cancer.

In her case, Kiri said things could have been worse if she had waited any longer.

‘I was diagnosed with stage one based off the size of the lump. It would have been stage two given the features of the cancer – however the lump was small,’ she said.

‘My cancer was very small and it spread, if I had of left it who knows what could have happened.’

Scary time

When she finally received her official diagnosis, the cancer had already reached her lymph nodes and the surrounding fatty tissue in her neck.

‘It was scary,’ Kiri said.

‘I didn’t know much about the thyroid… People just kept telling me it was “the good cancer”, which made me confused because no cancer is good.

‘I was worried about what was going to happen.’

She underwent her second surgery, during which the rest of her thyroid removed.

‘However there were complications and a vocal chord was paralysed,’ she said, adding that she fortunately regained her voice six weeks after the procedure.

On top of her cancer, Kiri was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland.

Challenges

One of the biggest challenges she’s faced has been her body struggling to adjust to living without a thyroid.

‘I’m still extremely tired, my hair is falling out, weight gain and my mental health, especially from Hashimoto’s,’ Kiri said.

‘A lot of people don’t understand that your thyroid is your control centre so I’m not going to be able to function like people with a thyroid until I balance out, get my medication right and learn what foods do and don’t agree with my body.’

Her parathyroid was damaged during the major surgery so she still has to take calcium supplements. The parathyroid is a small gland next to the thyroid that releases a hormone to control calcium levels in the body.

She’s now bracing for a round of radiation in the hope it will destroy any remaining cancer cells.

‘Now I’m getting a radioactive tablet that I will stay in isolation for a few days before getting a scan to see if the cancer is still there or spread,’ she explained.

‘I’m hopeful at the end of the road now thankfully, it’s been a long year of constant appointments, blood tests and surgeries.

‘But I have a round of radiation and hopefully I’ll be told I’m cancer free. After that, it’s just check ups every few months from there.’

Warning signs

She hopes her experience can encourage everyone to watch for the warning signs of thyroid cancer, no matter their age.

‘If you feel tired or something doesn’t feel right, push the doctors for tests and don’t let them dismiss you,’ Kiri said.

‘My thyroid levels on my bloods came back normal. I was just lucky enough to have a specialist that did a full thyroid panel and didn’t dismiss me.

‘A lot of the symptoms you feel when you’re stressed or run down could be signs of an autoimmune condition so don’t let them just tell you it’s ‘anxiety’ – it’s better to be safe than leaving it to get worse.

‘And if you feel a lump in your throat, don’t leave it.’

When she was diagnosed, Kiri said she felt ‘left in the dark’ because she didn’t know anyone going through what she was experiencing.

She began documenting her journey on social media in the hope of connecting with others facing a similar situation.

‘When I started going through this, I felt so alone and lost,’ she said.

‘I was searching and searching for someone I could to relate to or even find out what to expect because the anxiety of not knowing what’s coming is scary.

‘I have learnt through all of this and speaking to others that are going through the same is that they are dismissed constantly by doctors being told they are stressed or the lump is probably nothing because they are too young.

‘We need to start advocating for our health more and not just take a doctor’s word of dismissal when we know something isn’t right.’

For anyone going through cancer, Kiri said: ‘Try to connect with others going through the same and support each other – that’s what really helped me.

‘Another big thing for me was to avoid a negative mindset. If I was negative about my situation I’d feel even worse – sick, tired and depressed.

‘I started to adopt a positive mindset like, “Yes, I have cancer but I have amazing doctors and I can get through this”, and it’s really helped me get through this.’