A woman from Pennsylvania has shared her challenging journey of convincing doctors to address the intense pain she was experiencing, which was later found to be due to cancer after being initially misdiagnosed.
Brooke Bailey, residing in Northampton, Pennsylvania, US, explained that she was first diagnosed with tendonitis and advised to undergo physiotherapy. However, her condition was far more serious than initially believed.
The young woman, aged 23, began working at a nail salon in March 2025 but soon began suffering from pain in her left hip.
As the pain escalated, doctors diagnosed her with tendonitis, but Bailey suspected the issue was more serious.
Seeking further evaluations, she visited several doctors, and when the pain became unbearable, she was unable to continue physiotherapy. This led a doctor to recommend an MRI scan.
Results from the scan revealed Bailey had two tumors, one located in her femur and another in her groin, and she was diagnosed with stage four Ewing sarcoma, a form of soft tissue cancer.
This diagnosis was unexpected, especially since doctors initially speculated her discomfort may have been due to her height and prolonged sitting in a nail salon chair.
Discussing the pain and the doctors’ remarks, she noted: “In the beginning it was more of an aching, throbbing, on-and-off type of pain.
“Then as time went on, it was radiating and getting worse. It went through my whole leg even down to my ankle.
“Some days were worse than others and I tried to figure out what was triggering it but at the time I didn’t know what it was. Some days the pain would be a three and others it would be a seven.
“The doctors had mentioned that it could be because of my job. They said ‘you’re young and you’re tall, maybe it’s your job’.”
Now undergoing chemotherapy for her tumors, Bailey emphasizes the importance of seeking a second opinion if there’s a suspicion of misdiagnosis concerning health issues.
Despite the gravity of her condition, Bailey expressed a sense of relief in having a definitive diagnosis and understanding her situation.
She is set to complete six rounds of chemotherapy, after which her progress will be evaluated to determine if surgical intervention is necessary to remove the tumors.
Bailey concluded: “I’ve learned that you really are your biggest advocate for yourself and if you don’t like what somebody says, go see somebody else. I wish that’s what I had done.
“You are your person and you need to take care of yourself.
“If that means seeing a different doctor because you don’t like what the first one said to you then so be it.”