I Was Told My Symptoms Were Psychological. One Scan Changed Everything

With the holidays drawing to an end and the new year officially underway, it was time to get back to normality. As a master’s student in the Athletic Training program at Tarleton State University, I have a very demanding schedule, so I was excited to start the new term feeling refreshed. But despite the holiday break, I didn’t feel well rested at all.

By the end of January 2026, I was extremely fatigued, yet it wasn’t the same as just being a bit sleepy. It took me a while to recognize that, so I kept pushing through the tiredness. I’ve always been active, so I thought the fatigue was just a sign that I was taking on too much.

I kept telling myself I just needed to rest or get through whatever I had going on that day. As the weeks went on, fatigue was no longer my only symptom. I also experienced episodes of dizziness, lightheadedness, high heart rate, nausea, gastrointestinal issues, and pain that would come and go.

I felt like my body couldn’t keep up with my lifestyle, but none of those symptoms seemed like they could possibly point to something overly serious. Looking back, I wish I had recognized sooner that there is a difference between being tired and your body telling you that something is wrong. As a graduate student, it was easy to blame the fatigue on school, stress, lack of sleep, or simply doing too much.

But as no amount of sleep seemed to help, I convinced myself that I had postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that can cause a fast heart rate and dizziness when transitioning from lying down to standing up. I honestly thought there were a lot of possible explanations, but cancer was never one of them. Over time, my symptoms became more noticeable and harder to ignore.

The pain would return, and I started experiencing more physical symptoms that didn’t have an obvious explanation. There were periods when I would feel better and think whatever was going on had passed, only for the symptoms to come back shortly after. Eventually, I knew something wasn’t right.