I had Covid symptom that just wouldn't go - doctor's diagnosis was devastating

I had Covid symptom that just wouldn't go - doctor's diagnosis was devastating Michaela just couldn't get rid of the problem - then she got the doctor's diagnosis A mum who believed her persistent cough was Covid discovered she was given devastating news when doctor's found out what it actually was. Michaela Riley was just 34 years old when she contracted Covid in February 2021. Yet the teacher from Lewisham, south London, found that her cough simply wouldn't go away - and she was still battling symptoms 19 days on. The mum-of-two recalls that she was preparing to return to the classroom after a spell of home teaching, but due to the agonising pain she was experiencing, her mum urged her to go to A&E. Following a series of scans, she received the news that she had stage three thymoma cancer, a rare form of cancer affecting the thymus gland in the chest. Michaela said: "I'd had Covid, but there was this lingering cough that wasn't going. "Every time I laid on my back I felt like I was drowning. Like my lung was filling up with water." Following an x-ray, ECG, CT scan, MRI, biopsy and PET scan, Michaela was informed she had a 6.4cm thymoma. Approximately 380 people are diagnosed with thymus gland cancer across the UK every year, the majority of whom have thymomas, according to Guy's Hospital. Michaela's now 13-year-old son was just eight years old at the time. She said: "It really hit me when I got home after numerous investigative appointments at the hospital. I'd just had a PET scan, they suggest that you're not to be around children for a while after. "My son had just come from school. He came through the door excitedly and ran towards me. My mum screamed out, 'No! You can't hug mummy yet'. For the first time I realised there may be a point where my son would never hug me again." Once the diagnosis was confirmed, Michaela requested a referral to Guy's, having previously received treatment there for meningitis when she was 11. Due to Michaela's age at diagnosis, she was offered egg freezing treatment at Guy's Assisted Conception Unit prior to beginning her treatment. She then endured 21 rounds of chemotherapy to reduce the size of the tumour before undergoing a complicated five-hour operation. Michaela added: "Chemo is very tough. You walk in there ready to go and you are absolutely fine, but once treatment starts to take affect you can barely walk out. "My rounds were eight hours long, so I was often the first in and the last out. I was a baby by the end of it. My dad would always come upstairs, pick me up and carry me to the car. You go from being fiercely independent to needing your parents, or whoever is there, to care for you. "I needed someone to parent me and parent my child. Mentally that was a struggle." In September 2021, consultant thoracic surgeon Professor Andrea Bille headed the specialist surgical team who performed Michaela's operation at Guy's. The surgical procedure is particularly complex because of how close the thymus gland sits to critical organs, including the heart and major blood vessels. Professor Bille opened Michaela's chest to meticulously extract the thymoma and a portion of the thyroid. The cancer was in a major vein known as the superior vena cava, which transports deoxygenated (blue) blood from the upper body to the heart. It was essential to rebuild the vein and part of the pericardium - the protective lining that surrounds your heart. Guy's Hospital surgeon on Michaela's case Professor Bille said: "On average a thoracic surgeon may encounter a case like this once a year or even less. Despite being quite rare, here at Guy's, we do probably one a month, because we set up this service. "Michaela has made a full recovery and now she's five years cancer free. If you can perform these surgeries as safe as you can, you can offer these young patients the best outcomes possible. "She can have a normal life, have a family and babies and enjoy her life." Michaela undergoes an annual check-up and scans, and since her treatment she has welcomed a daughter, now almost two, without requiring fertility treatment. This year, the Cancer Centre at Guy's is celebrating a decade since it first welcomed patients, and the mum is championing them for the care she received. She added: "From beginning to end there was no stone unturned. Every time we spoke to somebody it felt like it was very personal. Like they really cared. "Life has looked up ever since. Having cancer and surviving it has given me the chance to start again." For more on thymomas, visit the Guy's Hospital website.