“GOING THROUGH CHEMO IN LOCKDOWN WAS TOUGH”
Beth Clyde, 21, from Glasgow, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma less than a week before the first lockdown
I’d been having bad chest infections for months. I was also absolutely exhausted, just struggling through my life. My doctor had tried all sorts of different things – from antibiotics to vitamin injections – but none of them were working. It was during one of these injections that the nurse commented on my cough, thinking there was a chance it was COVID. This was around March 2020, and so much was still unknown about the virus that I was sent for a chest X-ray. That showed I had fluid on my lungs, so
I had to pack a bag and be admitted to hospital straight away.
After three weeks of tests I received my diagnosis. I had stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. I’d never heard of it. I didn’t even know it was cancer when I first heard the words. As I couldn’t have visitors, my phone was on loudspeaker so my mum could hear what the doctors were saying. That was one of the hardest parts, trying to process all the information I was being given without anyone beside me. That, and when I first had to go to chemotherapy.
I was being treated as an outpatient and was dropped off at the door, not knowing what to expect and having to enter alone. But as time went on I got to know the nurses, who would sit and chat with me – I learned all about their lives and they learned about mine. I was also relieved that they now knew what was wrong with me and could treat it.
Because chemotherapy depletes your immune system, I had to shield for four months while living with my mum. I couldn’t see friends or family. But, in a way, that made some moments easier – if I’d been able to see them it would have got really emotional and that would have been so draining. I could just use the time to give in to whatever my body needed – I slept a lot. I also began to open up on social media about my illness, connecting with others going through cancer, and eventually set up my YouTube channel. It’s giving me a new perspective – now I’m in remission, I’m feeling more like myself again. I’ve met so many other women my age going through what I did and want to support them.