A young woman given a shock diagnosis of blood cancer after test results came back normal has warned others to ‘always listen to your body’.

Marly Garnreiter, 27, initially thought her night sweats and itchy skin were caused by anxiety and grief that resulted from losing her dad Victor, 58, to colon cancer, in January last year.

Her GP agreed after routine tests results came back perfectly normal.

However, out of curiosity she plugged her collection of symptoms into the artificial intelligence chatbot, Chat GPT.

‘it said I had blood cancer,’ said the strategist, from Paris, France.

‘I ignored it. My friends were spectical when I told them, and said I should only consult real doctors.’

It wasn’t until almost a year later that she Ms Garnreiter returned to the doctor, after noticing two further unusual symptoms. 

‘Around Christmas time I started to feel something was wrong,’ she said.

Marly Garnreiter was given the correct diagnosis from Chat GPT almost a year before doctors confirmed her illness

Marly Garnreiter was given the correct diagnosis from Chat GPT almost a year before doctors confirmed her illness

‘I had a pain in my chest and I was tired all the time.’

Her GP referred her for scans which subsequently highlighted a ‘big mass’ on her left lung. 

Medics took a biopsy of the growth and found it was Hodgkin lymphoma – a deadly type of blood cancer.

Around 2,100 people are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in the UK each year.

It is an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, which is a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body that are responsible for getting rid of waste and fighting infections.

In Hodgkin lymphoma, the cells within this system develop abnormally and form swellings near the lymph glands, such as in the neck, armpit and groin. 

The damaged cells also lose their infection-fighting properties, making patients more vulnerable to infection.

Hodgkin lymphoma can develop at any age, but it mostly affects men between 20 and 40 years of age and those over 75.

The 27 year-old has urged others to always listen to their body

The 27 year-old has urged others to always listen to their body

She now has to undergo six rounds of gruelling chemotherapy to kill the disease

She now has to undergo six rounds of gruelling chemotherapy to kill the disease

 The prognosis for the disease is generally positive with treatment – some 85 per cent of patients will live for at least five years. 

Ms Garnreiter said her diagnosis sparked ‘a lot of anger’.

‘I felt like everything was unfair. I didn’t want my family to go through this one more time.’

Ms Garnreiter was offered the chance to undergo fertility-preservation treatment before starting chemotherapy in March this year. 

She will have four to six cycles of the gruelling drug therapy.

Despite the tough road that lies ahead, she is feeling ‘confident for the future’. 

‘It’s really important to listen to our bodies,’ she said. ‘Sometimes we tend to lose our connection with our inner self.

‘It’s important to be in tune.’

 Symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma can vary widely, as not all patients will develop obvious swellings or growths. 

Night sweats, unintentional weight loss, a high temperature, persistent cough and itchy skin are all other, lesser-known symptoms. 

For some patients, the collection of abnormal cells happens in the abdomen, inside the body, leading to digestive symptoms like indigestion and abdominal pain.

Persisitent tiredness and excessive bleeding can also be signs, as can pain in the lymph glands after drinking alcohol.

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