Entertainment
Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips shares touching message of support to Demi Jones after thyroid cancer diagnosis
Shaughna Phillips has shared a touching message to Demi Jones after the Love Island star was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 22,
The reality star, 27, took to Instagram after Demi broke the news of her diagnosis, voicing her support for her fellow Islander.
Sharing a clip from their time in the villa, in which Shaughna is seen instructing Demi to put her game face on at a recoupling, she sent the same vibes for her recovery.
Shaughna wrote: ‘My sweet, gentle, beautiful girl, the same message I was giving you in the video applies today more than ever. Game face on my girl, you’ve got this.’
She added: ‘I love you soooo much! And I am SO lucky to have you in my life.’
Earlier, Demi had revealed the lump she had had removed from her neck recently was in fact cancer.
She shared a photo of an NHS leaflet about thyroid cancer, adding: ‘Check your lumps. Hi guys, I got my results today and unfortunately I have thyroid cancer.
‘The tumour has been removed but I’m now due to have more surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid.
‘I’m staying very positive and I’m a strong girl so I’ll be fine, thank you for your love and support always. I’ll bounce back stronger.’
Demi told Metro.co.uk earlier in the month: ‘I actually noticed the lump in January 2019. It was my third year at uni and it was while I was writing my dissertation and exams so that just engulfed my life.
‘Then six months later once I’d finished and had my degree, I mentioned it to my mum and she went into panic mode and was like, “What the hell? Why haven’t you said anything?”
What is thyroid cancer?
Thyroid cancer is a rare type of cancer that affects the thyroid gland, a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones.
It’s most common in people in their 30s and those over the age of 60. Women are 2 to 3 times more likely to develop it than men.
Thyroid cancer is usually treatable and in many cases can be cured completely, although it can sometimes come back after treatment.
Symptoms of thyroid cancer can include:
- a painless lump or swelling in the front of the neck – although only 1 in 20 neck lumps are cancer
- swollen glands in the neck
- unexplained hoarseness that does not get better after a few weeks
- a sore throat that does not get better
- difficulty swallowing
The main treatments are:
- surgery – to remove part or all of the thyroid
- radioactive iodine treatment – you swallow a radioactive substance that travels through your blood and kills the cancer cells
- external radiotherapy – a machine is used to direct beams of radiation at the cancer cells to kill them
- chemotherapy and targeted therapies – medicines used to kill cancer cells
Information from the NHS
‘We went straight to the doctors and apparently it’s very common – 1 in 3 women have a thyroid nodule but they said it looks good, we’re sure it’ll be fine.’
Demi had the golf ball-sized lump removed and had been awaiting the results, which showed that the growth was cancerous.
She previously said on social media: ‘Please don’t put off getting lumps checked. If appointments keep getting cancelled then you need to chase it up.
‘I was supposed to have this appointment six months ago. At my scan they said “everything looks fine” and went to send me on my way.
‘I challenged it and asked if they could do more, in which they said “oh well we can test the fluid if you want us to?” Thank god I asked as it was the fluid that came back potentially cancerous. Always push!’
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