I thought I had a cold... but after I coughed up a blood clot doctors found stage 4 cancer

Natalie Sue thought small of nan cough that had been bugging her for 2 months. It wasn't uncommon for irritating symptoms to linger aft a cold.

Until that is, she produced thing that looked for illustration it belonged successful a slasher movie.

Ms Sue, an esthetician from St Petersburg, Florida, said on her podcast she would ne'er hide nan time she first coughed up a thumb-sized humor clot: It was Friday nan 13th successful May 2022.

The adjacent day, nan mother-of-one drove herself to nan emergency room.

Subsequent tests would uncover nan family's worst nightmare: she had 4 cancerous tumors ravaging her lungs.

But puzzlingly, it wasn't lung cancer. In fact, nan illness could beryllium traced backmost to a  perchance deadly mole, which she had removed 5 years prior.

In 2017, she visited nan dermatologist astir a suspicious mole connected her neck, which  was subsequently recovered to beryllium a melanoma - nan astir superior type of tegument crab that affects 100,600 Americans per year.

Further tests showed nan illness had not dispersed to elsewhere successful nan assemblage and, aft nan mole was removed, she was fixed nan each clear. 

Natalie moved connected pinch her life, giving commencement to her boy and expanding her business without giving it overmuch thought.

But now, nan illness was backmost - and pinch a vengeance. 

She said she will ne'er hide nan look connected nan look of nan radiologist who took nan scans of her lungs. She instantly knew thing was wrong.

A consequent biopsy revealed nan illness had reached shape four, and doctors said her likelihood of surviving complete 5 years were astir 30 percent.

Ms Sue said: 'My bosom dropped. The first point I opportunity to my expert is "Am I going to die?" and he said "I don't know."

'My full world had conscionable travel crashing down.'

When she called her family to show them nan news, they said to cancel an upcoming travel to Mexico - which was intended arsenic nan 'ultimate' family vacation.

But she was wished to spell - acrophobic nan travel could beryllium her past one.

Ms Sue said: 'I thought, we're going to Mexico. I'm not going to regret not going connected this eventual picnic that we had planned for for complete a twelvemonth now. 

'We're going to person nan champion picnic ever and I'm going to bask this picnic for illustration it's my past because I don't cognize what is to travel and I don't cognize what's going to hap successful my future.'

When nan family returned from their trip, she faced 8 months of aggregate rounds of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Ms Sue said her curen near her successful changeless symptom and she was incapable to usability without symptom relief.

'Treatment was brutal,' she said. 'I felt truthful galore aches and pains to a constituent wherever I retrieve laying connected nan sofa successful truthful overmuch symptom that I could not moreover usability without immoderate benignant of ibuprofen successful my assemblage each 4 hours.' 

After her past information of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, Ms Sue became jaundice - nan yellowing of nan tegument and eyes - and had gone into liver failure. She had to instantly commencement high-dose steroids, which she took for respective months.

Melanoma is simply a shape of tegument cancer that is little communal than different types, but much vulnerable - and successful 3 percent of cases, nan superior root of nan crab is unknown. 

The American Cancer Society estimates 100,600 group will beryllium diagnosed pinch nan crab successful 2024, accounting for 5 percent of each caller cancers, and 8,300 group will dice from it, accounting for 1.4 percent of crab deaths. 

The wide life consequence of getting nan crab is astir 3 percent, aliases 1 successful 33 people.  

Rates of caller melanomas alteration - successful group younger than 50, they've been unchangeable among women and person declined by astir 1 percent per twelvemonth successful men since early 2000s. 

The five-year endurance complaint is 94 percent, but that drops to 35 percent for melanomas that person spread. 

Ms Sue's 'cold' first began successful 2022, pinch first symptoms including a strained sound and relentless cough. She'd often request h2o to quench an insatiable thirst. 

There were fevers and sniffles, which she blamed connected her boy being exposed to caller germs astatine school.  But 1 acold and cough proved peculiarly stubborn - sticking astir for 2 months.

She was coughing truthful intensely she would person to measurement distant from clients while doing treatments to person coughing attacks truthful beardown they caused tears to tally down her face. 

Then, she threw up nan humor clot.

Ms Sue said she decided to hold astir 2 months earlier telling loved ones astir her diagnosis, hoping to find support and advice, but besides springiness dream to group who were dealing pinch nan aforesaid thing. 

She revealed nan news connected Instagram and received an outpouring of support. 

Remarkably, successful February 2023, Ms Sue received nan news she ne'er thought she would hear. 

After 276 days, 4 rounds of immunotherapy, a hospitalization for signs of liver nonaccomplishment and six months of high-dose steroids, she was crab free.

'I did it! I hit shape 4 cancer,' she posted connected Instagram.

She said connected her podcast: 'I person nary words. It's conscionable nan excitement to cognize that I battled specified a beast and I sewage done it. With my chances truthful low, not knowing if I was going to make it, not knowing if I was going to live, and to beryllium present coming and opportunity that I americium now NED [no grounds of disease] from cancer... it's conscionable an unthinkable feeling.'