A first-time buyer from Nottinghamshire initially believed the itchy red rash on her chest was caused by the stress of moving house, only to discover she had a life-threatening form of blood cancer.
Ignored Symptoms
Faith Hinitt, 27, from Retford, experienced an itchy red rash on her chest in June 2023. She initially attributed it to the stress of receiving a job promotion and moving to a new home. The holiday park assistant manager also dismissed extreme fatigue, hip pain, and night sweats as side effects of changing contraception and the stressful move.
Diagnosis
After failing to respond to treatment for a gum infection, a dentist requested a blood test in October 2023. Two days later, on October 7, Faith visited A&E and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a rare and aggressive blood cancer. She has since undergone several rounds of chemotherapy and is awaiting a second stem cell transplant in June, hoping to enter remission.
Sharing Her Story
Since her diagnosis, Ms Hinitt has shared her journey with AML on Instagram, gaining over 30,000 followers. She told the Mirror: 'In May 2023 I started feeling really, really tired and exhausted. At the time I'd just had a job promotion, and I was buying a house - they're two really big life changes happening at once. Buying a house on your own is obviously very, very stressful so I was blaming my tiredness on that. I also had a couple of rashes come up during that summer, which I put down to the stress of buying my first home. I was having night sweats, but I'd swapped my contraception so I thought it was because I'd come off the contraception. I blamed it on my hormones, like a normal 25-year-old would. You don't think these are all symptoms of blood cancer.'
What is Acute Myeloid Leukaemia?
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells. It is a rare type of cancer, with around 3,100 people diagnosed each year in the UK. Symptoms develop in weeks and become worse over time. They include looking pale or 'washed out', feeling tired or weak, breathlessness, frequent infections, unusual and frequent bruising or bleeding (such as bleeding gums or nosebleeds), and losing weight without trying. The cause of AML is often unknown, and chemotherapy is the main treatment, required as soon as AML is diagnosed.
