Demi Jones has revealed her hospital appointment was cancelled six times before she received her cancer diagnosis last month.
The Love Island star was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, after she underwent surgery to remove a lump on her neck.
Speaking to The Sun, Demi said she first noticed the lump on her neck in January 2019, while she was at university.
The 22-year-old recalled: “I could see it when I swallowed. I kept meaning to tell Mum, but I was so busy preparing for exams I just dismissed it.”
Months later, Demi went to her local hospital for a scan, ultrasound and blood test – but she was told the lump was a harmless nodule.
“The tests all came back completely clear. Even today I don’t know why the ultrasound didn’t show anything,” she said.
Demi went on to appear on Love Island in early 2020, and admitted viewers noticed the lump on her neck and sent her messages on Instagram about it.
“I’d already had it looked at, so I thought I had nothing to really worry about,” she confessed.
Six months later, Demi made another doctor’s appointment after she noticed the lump had grown.
“They referred me straight away, but every time an appointment came through for another scan and blood test it was cancelled,” she explained, admitted her appointment was pushed back six times over seven months.
In late March, Demi was finally called in for her hospital appointment, but again her blood tests and ultrasound appeared normal.
But the reality star pushed for more tests, after she was reminded of her stepfather’s cancer battle.
Demi’s stepdad Adrian was 46 when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma, and given just months to live.
18-months before his diagnosis, Adrian found a lump on his ear, but he struggled to get a referral to a specialist.
“They were about to send me away, but all I could think of was that they did that to Dad,” Demi recalled.
“It was only when they scanned his full body that they found cancer in his chest. So I asked if there were any more tests they could do.”
Doctors then offered to drain fluid from the lump and send it for testing, and two weeks later Demi was told she might have cancer.
“Pretty much as soon as I had walked in the consultant said, ‘We’re really sorry. We think it could be thyroid cancer. We need this cut out of you as quickly as possible’.
“I was in complete shock. It was a cancer I didn’t even know existed, and now I had it. I called my mum, sobbing down the phone,” she said.
The Love Island star underwent surgery to have the lump removed, and three weeks later she received her diagnosis.
“I remember feeling quite numb,” she said. “I had prepared for the worst, but my head still felt like scrambled egg as the doctor explained what needed to happen.”
Thankfully Demi’s cancer is treatable, but she’ll have to undergo surgery to remove her entire thyroid, and will be on hormone medication for life.
“The doctors said I am likely to get tired and have low energy. I might also put on weight or lose it. It’s a bit overwhelming but it is a small price to pay,” she added.
