A teacher from south London who thought her persistent cough was a lingering Covid symptom was diagnosed with stage three thymoma cancer, a rare form of cancer affecting the thymus gland in the chest.
Michaela Riley, then 34, contracted Covid in February 2021 and found her cough would not go away, with symptoms still present 19 days later. The mum-of-two from Lewisham was preparing to return to the classroom after a period of home teaching, but her mother urged her to go to A&E because of the pain she was experiencing.
Diagnosis after scans
Following a series of scans, doctors found she had a 6.4cm thymoma. 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."
The diagnosis came after an x-ray, ECG, CT scan, MRI, biopsy and PET scan. According to Guy's Hospital, approximately 380 people are diagnosed with thymus gland cancer across the UK every year, the majority of whom have thymomas.
Treatment and surgery
Michaela requested a referral to Guy's, having previously received treatment there for meningitis when she was 11. Because of her age at diagnosis, she was offered egg freezing treatment at Guy's Assisted Conception Unit before beginning treatment.
She endured 21 rounds of chemotherapy to reduce the size of the tumour before undergoing a five-hour operation. Michaela said: "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."
In September 2021, consultant thoracic surgeon Professor Andrea Bille led the specialist surgical team who performed the operation. The procedure is complex because the thymus gland sits close to critical organs, including the heart and major blood vessels. Professor Bille opened Michaela's chest to remove the thymoma and a portion of the thyroid. The cancer was in the superior vena cava, a major vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the upper body to the heart, and it was necessary to rebuild the vein and part of the pericardium.
Recovery and family
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."
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 Michaela 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."
