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College Student’s Sudden Neck Sensation Uncovers Life-Changing Diagnosis
Maddie King was a healthy 19-year-old college student getting ready for the once-in-a-lifetime experience: spending a semester overseas in Los Angeles.
She was unaware that her body was silently fighting a rare type of cancer that had gone undiagnosed for years until she started to notice firm lumps in her neck.
Her diagnosis of stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the most severe type of blood disease, completely upended her existence.
Maddie, who is now 25 years old, told FEMAIL, “By the time they found it, it was all through my neck and chest, including a 9cm tumour in my lungs.”
Source: Freepik
The symptoms, which by themselves didn’t appear urgent, began with a cough, some light night sweats, and the finding of a few unexplained lumps.
“I didn’t have any idea anything was wrong until about three months before my diagnosis. I’d never noticed the lumps before, but they must have been growing for years,” she said.
Due to the equivocal results of scans and biopsies, her specialists in Sydney were first uncertain.
Despite being given antibiotics for what doctors thought was pneumonia, Maddie couldn’t shake the uneasy sensation she had.
“I was Googling everything. And eventually, it all started pointing to cancer. I was hoping it was something else – tuberculosis, a lung infection – anything but that,” she said.
A bag full of medical records and a feeling of anxiety accompanied her to the United States.
It was the university doctor in LA who finally urged her to take urgent action: “You need to fly home and get an excision biopsy.”
In October 2019, she made her way back to Sydney. She received a formal diagnosis a few days later.
“The diagnosis actually came as a relief,” Maddie admitted.
“After months of not knowing, I could finally make a plan.”
However, she was rushed into a maelstrom of visits with oncologists, haematologists, and even reproductive specialists very quickly, leaving little time for her to understand what was happening.
“They talked about fertility on the day of diagnosis. Within a week, I was doing IVF injections to preserve some eggs before chemo,” she said.
Six rounds of intensive chemotherapy and a month of radiation therapy made for a harsh course of treatment.
Blood tests, consecutive medicine regimens, loneliness, and excruciating pain cycles dominated her life for months.
“Chemo completely rips away any sense of normality. You can’t plan your day. You can’t see friends. You’re immunocompromised. I was wearing masks before COVID was even a thing,” she said.
She took a year out from university, which caused her academic life to stall. She became less social. She was frequently too tired to leave the house, much less consider being carefree at the age of 19.
“It’s a very lonely and disorienting time. Everything changes overnight,” she said.
In addition to being a physical struggle, Maddie’s journey also involved emotional and psychological struggles.
She was navigating cancer wards and hormone injections at a time when the majority of her peers were beginning internships, taking vacations, or dating openly.
In those early days, she recalls attempting to divert her attention in order to keep from losing it.
“It was messy. I didn’t have the tools back then to process it. I just tried to keep going.”
She was largely dependent on her mother and her ex-boyfriend, who supported her during the testing, therapy, and uncertainties.
A terrible family background adds even more pain to Maddie’s story.
Her father passed away from pancreatic cancer when she was sixteen, with little time for therapy.
“He was diagnosed and passed away within a month. He didn’t even have chemo, it was just about managing the pain. Our experiences couldn’t have been more different,” she recalled.
Three years later, she received her own diagnosis, which triggered a range of complex emotions.
“It was confusing. Part of me was relieved he didn’t have to watch me go through it. No parent should have to see their child go through chemo. But part of me wished he was there – I think he would’ve been proud,” she said.
Maddie celebrated five years in remission in March 2025, a milestone that many cancer survivors aspire to.
“I went to Vietnam with my partner to celebrate. It was beautiful,” she said.
Although she no longer has routine scans, she continues to be watchful with blood work and GP visits.
The persistence of chronic health problems serves as a reminder that the fight did not finish with the completion of therapy.
However, she is learning to coexist with them in a gracious, resilient, and appreciative manner.
In retrospect, she thinks she learnt a difficult but important lesson from her journey: No one is too young. Nobody is too healthy. Cancer is indifferent.
She goes on to say that we shouldn’t undervalue the ability of tiny gestures of kindness, like sending a Facebook message, buying a meal, or giving $10, to support someone who is fighting for their life.
Maddie disclosed that she felt less alone because of a group of strangers who were young women with comparable conditions.
“During the whirlwind of medical appointments, I found Rikki and Cancer Chicks,” Maddie says, referring to founder Rikki Stern, who launched the community to support young women with cancer after being diagnosed with Stage 2B Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at 19.
“I just found her on social media. She invited me to join the Facebook group. When I introduced myself and shared my story, the outpouring of support was unbelievable.”
Cancer Chicks became a lifeline, providing real-time guidance, empathy, and optimism for anything from side effect enquiries to deciphering perplexing scan results.
“I was in chemo when I went to their first retreat. I didn’t have eyebrows, and they ran a workshop on how to draw them on. It sounds small, but it made me feel human again.”
Maddie was given a glimpse of the future by the community—a future in which women like her lived, recovered, and started over.
“We’re a small subset of the population – young women with cancer – but Cancer Chicks makes you feel seen. That someone cares. That you’re not forgotten.”
Maddie, who is now healthy and employed in marketing at Magic Brief, a company in Sydney, is enthusiastic about giving back.
By telling her story, she wants to increase awareness of cancer among young Australians and the strength of female-led support groups like Cancer Chicks, which got her through her worst moments.
In the present cost-of-living crisis, she is particularly thrilled about a new relationship between Cancer Chicks and Afterpay that makes charity more accessible by enabling people to donate in installments.
“People always ask me where they can donate, but they think they need to give $100 or $500 to make an impact. That’s just not true,” she explained.
Some of the most heartfelt gifts Maddie got during her treatment were pragmatic rather than extravagant.
“Ready meals, a $15 UberEats voucher, little things like that completely changed my day,” she said.
Donors can make small, regular contributions using the Afterpay model, which helps organisations like Cancer Chicks finance courses, events, and retreats that offer immediate, practical assistance.
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