A 34-year-old woman dismissed stage 3 cancer as “sitting too long.” Courtney Liniewski, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dismissed the pain she felt, only to have heartbreak strike just months later. Now, she wants to warn others and raise awareness about this one symptom she brushed off as nothing.

At the end of 2021, Courtney Liniweski from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, felt something was wrong. For months, she had back pain, but at first, she dismissed it and blamed it on sitting down for too long.

“I was experiencing intermittent back pain but it was really sharp and intense,” she told Unilad. “It was right below my shoulder blades, in the mid sternum area in my back. I just thought I wasn’t moving enough and I was being lazy. I was sat down a lot for my job and I was at my desk most of the day.”

In January, Courtney’s symptoms increased, but they didn’t seem to connect. She explained that she began losing hearing in her left ear and that her nose was always running.

The “weird symptoms” didn’t add up, and she understood something was wrong. In January 2022, Liniewski woke up from what was described as a loud bang in her head.

Per Newsweek, she explained that she was able to go back to sleep, but when she went to work in the morning as a crisis counselor at an inpatient psychiatric hospital, she noticed her face had drooped.

Courtney Liniwski was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer – dismissed this one symptom
A colleague of hers brought her to the emergency room, suspecting a stroke. However, the brain images came out fine. Liniewski had a history of migraine and anxiety, and she was sent home.

She accepted the results, but a month later, everything changed. Courtney suffered from chest pain and couldn’t even walk up a flight of stairs without losing her breath.

In February, a month after first being sent to the emergency room, a vacation to Mexico saved her life, she explained. On the first morning, she woke up with a large lump on her neck.

“My immune system was clearly reacting to travel or stress. I’ve always been prone to getting sick when I travel, but this time it was like my body finally showed me something. The lump was about 4.1 cm, and it is what led to my diagnosis,” Courtney Liniewski told Newsweek.

“Without it, I wouldn’t have met the criteria typically associated with my type of cancer. I don’t fit the demographic, since it usually affects elderly white men.”

Wants to help others identity red flags
Liniewski was diagnosed with Grade 3B Follicular Lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It accounts for roughly 20 percent of cases in the United States. Usually, it’s a slow-growing condition that affects adults, with an average age of 60, per the American Cancer Society.

Without treatment, Courtney would’ve died within a month. Luckily for her, it was treatable. Today, she is three years cancer-free but still has regular appointments with her oncologist as she fears the cancer could return.

Now, the mom hopes her story can help others recognize unusual red flags and seek medical attention.

“You can’t stop pushing for it [a diagnosis] because cancer care has come a long way and people are surviving cancer significantly more than they used to,” Courtney told Unilad. “I think people should know that it’s okay to advocate for yourself if something is wrong.”

Congratulations on being cancer-free, Courtney, and thank you for helping others. Please share this article on Facebook and spread Courtney Liniewski’s story.