Hastings mum who was told she was 'too young to have bladder cancer' raises awareness following diagnosis

Holly Salmons first noticed her symptoms in September 2021 during a stressful period when her eldest child started school.

Her GP put her symptoms down to IBS – something Holly had dealt with for 11 years – but after months of unbearable pain, the mum-of-two knew something more serious was wrong.

Holly begged her GP for more tests but was told there were no face-to-face appointments.

She said: "I wasn't being heard and my concerns were being belittled.

“The pain was taking over my whole life, and I couldn’t think of anything else. I knew something was wrong.”

Eventually, she spoke to a GP over the phone who sent her for an ultrasound, where the sonographer found a ‘nodule’ inside Holly’s bladder.

While Holly was convinced something was wrong, upon calling the GP for the results, she was told ‘it won’t be cancer, you are too young’.

Two weeks later, Holly was given a cystoscopy where she was told by a Macmillan Nurse that she ‘likely had bladder cancer’.

Holly said: “I got her to call my husband to break the news and to explain everything, as I couldn't absorb anything.

"I had been due to fly on our first family holiday only a week later, a holiday we had in the pipeline for years – cancelled due to covid and my dad’s death in 2020.

"I couldn't bear to cancel something my kids had dreamed of and were so excited about.”

Holly had an operation called trans urethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) the following week without any complications.

She said: “After almost a year of fighting with my GP, suddenly I was being taken very good care of.”

Holly was even able to still enjoy her holiday with her family and flew to Majorca the week after her operation.

Four weeks later, it was confirmed that the tumour had been cancerous but hadn't spread as it was caught in time – though Holly was told there was a 60 per cent chance of recurrence.

Holly has since had chemotherapy and will soon have a cystoscopy to check for any changes, followed by another year of monthly chemotherapy treatments.

Holly said: “It's unknown why a young woman would get bladder cancer; I have baffled all the professionals; I do not drink or smoke or fall into any of the other ‘at-risk’ categories.

“I was around smokers as a child, so maybe passive smoking was a factor.

“The regular patients receiving treatment in the hospital are older men and a few older women. So, it seems I am a rare case."

Organisation Fight Bladder Cancer has been supporting Holly through the experience.

Speaking about the organisation, Holly said: “Fight Bladder Cancer reminds me that I am NOT alone.

“Although there may not be many people in the same boat and the same age as me, I am part of a fantastic group; none of us wants to be part of it, but we are all warriors fighting this awful disease.

“None of us wanted to be here, yet we find ourselves part of this amazing family, all fighting for one thing, more awareness and support.”