A 22-year-old British makeup artist, Demi Wright, passed away just three weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Doctors initially mistook her condition as pregnancy.
The Huffington Post reported that Wright, who hailed from the town of Colchester, started feeling pain in her side last November. She was initially confined to a maternity ward after manifesting symptoms of being pregnant.
But the doctors later found that Wright, who worked for Lancome in Williams and Griffin, was not actually expecting a baby. They discovered that she has been carrying a 12-centimeter tumor that was quickly progressing and emitting hormones akin to those of pregnant women.
Wright was diagnosed with terminal adenocarcinoma and was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge early this year. Adenocarcinoma is a rare and aggressive type of cancer that affects various organs including the breasts, esophagus, lungs, pancreas, colon, and prostate.
Wright's condition deteriorated rapidly. She died on Feb. 23 just three weeks after her adenocarcinoma diagnosis.
"She didn't have a bad bone in her body. She had an infectious, beautiful smile and it showed her personality off," Wright's father Chris, a Captain based at Merville Barracks, shared to the Daily Gazette. "It's been devastating."
Moreover, Mitch Gregory, Wright's boyfriend, said that he felt like they were robbed. "It needs to be stressed how much courage she had. She's our inspiration now," he added.
Since Wright's death, her family members had set up a crowdfunding page to raise money in her memory. As of Friday, they have already reached their goal of almost £2,900, which will be donated to the Cancer Research UK.
According to Dr. Helen Webberley, the dedicated general practitioner for Oxford Online Pharmacy, Wright's case is also known as a molar pregnancy. She explained that a molar pregnancy acts just like the conventional pregnancy, however, it can be detected after the 12-week scan.
"The cells need to be removed and most women can expect a full recovery. However, close follow-up is needed because there is a small chance of developing a type of cancer, as appears to be the case with this patient," Webberley stated. "If a cancer does develop, effective treatment is available and most women can be cured."
