School teacher Kate Ellison knew there was something seriously wrong with her after inexplicably dropping 15 kilograms in four months last year.
Living in London at the time, the 27-year-old sought answers from several doctors, but her symptoms were repeatedly put down to stress and anxiety, Nine News reports.
On her return to Australia, her fears were confirmed when specialists revealed she had been living with a 1.3 kilogram tumour on her liver.
Kate Ellison (pictured) was told by UK doctors stress and anxiety was to blame for her inexplicable weight loss, but a 1.3kg tumour was found on her liver by Australian specialists
She was found to be affected by a rare neuroendocrine tumour (NET), which commonly go undetected for years due to difficulty involved in diagnosis
‘They think I had this for up to 10 years before I was diagnosed,’ Ms Ellison said.
She was found to be affected by a rare neuroendocrine tumour (NET), which commonly go undetected for years due to difficulty involved in diagnosis.
The malignant growths can begin anywhere in the body and symptoms often mimic those of other common conditions including irritable bowel syndrome and asthma.
‘They can also be very difficult to find because these tumours can be very small,’ Dr Grace Kong, of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre said.
Dr Grace Kong (pictured) said NETs are particularly difficult to find and are often very small
Ms Ellison is receiving treatment for the giant growth, but has her wedding to Jack, who she met while in the UK, to look forward to next year.
Support group, Unicorn Foundation, claims many GPs are unfamiliar with NET and therefore often wrongly diagnose patients’ symptoms.
‘If patients are coming to you on a regular basis, please just question what it could be,’ spokeswoman Simone Leyden said.
Ms Ellison is receiving treatment for the giant growth, but has her wedding to Jack, who she met while in the UK, to look forward to next year