A 22-year-old woman's trip to Chicago sparked a nine-month quest for answers that ultimately led to news she never could have predicted. Aida Burkins, of Hemet, California, is a proud mother of two young children, ages 1 and 3. Up until February of this year, Burkins' main focus had been raising her kids.
However, that all changed after a shocking diagnosis that followed months of medical tests and unanswered questions. "It all started with my ear not popping after my flight to Chicago in May 2025," Burkins told Newsweek. By the time she got home, her ear still hadn't popped.
In fact, things had worsened considerably. "I started bleeding into my throat, which would only come out of my nose if I was bent at the hip at about 90 degrees," she said. "My hearing got worse and worse.
Then I started getting more tired and losing weight." When Burkins sought medical advice, she was told it was "just altitude sickness" and would eventually pass. Eventually, her doctor determined the bleeding was being caused by a mass blocking her Eustachian tube. She was referred to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.
Several months had passed by that point, and Burkins' hearing continued to deteriorate. "Everything sounded so muffled, and I had a ringing that wouldn't go away," she said. At the ENT appointment, her doctor examined her and discovered a mass.
He said it could be cancer, though that was unlikely given her age, and noted that her adenoids were inflamed, enlarged and needed to be removed. For the next two months, Burkins waited for the results of a biopsy. In the meantime, she noticed the left side of her throat had become very swollen and was obscuring her jawline.
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