When 35-year-old dental nurse Edita Jucaite attended her routine lip filler appointment last May, she had no idea that just days later, she’d sitting in her GP's office being diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer.
Now, a year on and with a lifetime of appointments and ongoing treatments ahead of her, Edita is using her experience to raise awareness of the often-overlooked signs of the disease, after she exhibited a rare reaction to the common cosmetic procedure.
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Edita was no stranger to lip filler when she made an appointment for a top up last year.
"My dentist was in the process of learning how to administer lip filler and botox, and I asked her one day if I could model for her," she told Tyla.
"I’d had lip filler before several times without any reaction at all, so I didn’t think there would be any risk in going ahead with it.
"When the day arrived to undergo the procedure, I firstly received the botox and everything was fine."
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Within seconds of the dentist administering the dermal filler into her lips, however, she endured a sudden reaction.
"When the first injection entered my lip, my lip immediately swelled up,” she said.
"Because my dentist colleague was only just learning to administer the filler, she obviously had a doctor overlooking the procedure.
"He was completely shocked."
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Edita says the doctor on hand informed her he’d never seen such a severe and immediate reaction to filler, which is typically made from synthetic hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural sugar found in the body.
"I reassured them that I bruise easily," she admitted. "I said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s fine, it’ll go away’, and I showed him another big bruise I had on my arm which had appeared out of the blue in the days prior."
The doctor and dentist then advised Edita to be assessed by her GP after being left concerned by the depth of her bruises - even if the appointment simply served to put her mind at rest.
"Both the dentist and the doctor were quite worried. The doctor said, ‘Edita, you definitely have to go and get checked out by your GP’. He thought I was lacking in Vitamin D, or something," she recalled.
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"I had noticed in the three months prior to the procedure that I had started bruising more easily without banging myself."
At this point, Edita was unaware that – as well as the extreme bruising – she had been exhibiting another symptom of the rare blood cancer, but had inadvertently brushed it off.
"I was also losing weight as well without trying – I was like, ‘Oh, great, I’m going to look slim for my holidays’, because my partner and I were about to go to Mauritius," she said.
"I meant to get it checked one day, but only when the doctor and dental nurse recommended it that I thought it best to be checked over."
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Despite initial hesitation, Edita finally saw her GP five days later.
She had no idea when she arrived at her local practice, however, that she’d soon be dealt a life-altering blow – a leukaemia diagnosis.
"I’d made the mistake of searching my symptoms on Google, and leukaemia straight away came up. But immediately, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not possible, I’m only 35’," she said.
"At my appointment, I even joked to my GP that Google told me I have leukaemia, and kind of laughed it off.
"They did the blood tests in the morning, and then that very same day, they left me a missed call whilst I was at work. I called them back and they straight away told me – I had leukaemia.
"By 3pm the same day, I had my official diagnosis."
Edita was dealt the heartbreaking news that she was suffering with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a form of blood cancer that sees the disease developing slowly, with myeloid cells and bone marrow being affected.
These cells multiple uncontrollably and become unable to fight infection.
The symptoms of leukaemia include fatigue, fever or chills, unusual bruising or bleeding, repeated infections, night sweats, rapid weight loss, painful bones and lumps in the neck or armpit.
According to Leukaemia UK, the disease is often discovered too late, with an average of 37 percent of cases being diagnosed in an emergency setting.
"I didn’t know anything about this condition at all, but during my appointment, all I heard was the world ‘leukaemia’," Edita told us.
"I just kept thinking over and over, ‘I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die’."
She was then referred to a specialist clinic in the nearby city of Oxford, where she underwent further tests that would determine the best course of treatment.
"Thankfully, during my first meeting with the consultant, they assured me that I wasn’t going to die from this," she explained.
"It felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders when they told me I was going to survive."
Sadly, however, the nature of the diagnosis meant that she would have to remain on medication for the rest of her life to keep the disease under control.
"They said the disease would pretty much just live in the background of my life. I was still in a state of shock, so it was hard to be happy at that point." she said.
Edita and her partner were subsequently forced to cancel their exciting trip to the east African island at four days’ notice in order to begin chemotherapy.
She was also prescribed the life-long medication of tyrosine kinase inhibitors at this time.
"Gradually, my weekly blood tests became monthly, and eventually started only happening every three months," Edita explained.
"I was quite lucky when it came to chemotherapy because I had the lowest dose possible, and it came in a tablet format, as opposed to being intravenous.
"I didn’t lose any hair at this point. I just felt extremely weak during that point of my life. There are other side affects, though, like nausea.
"I often wake up with a really puffy and swollen face in the morning, but by the afternoon, it has usually calmed down."
Edita also credits her loyal support system with having assisted her through some of her darkest days.
"When I was going to hospital, it was only me and my boyfriend that knew. My mum came to visit me and did all the cooking and cleaning for me when I was exhausted, which was really helpful." she said.
After only a week of chemotherapy, however, ever the warrior Edita was determined to return to work.
"My colleagues were really great," she gushed. "They’d make time for me to go home if I needed to, and they’d make space for me to have a nap at work when I felt weak."
Despite managing the leukaemia in the short term, however, Edita says she still battles some of the symptoms that alerted her to the presence of cancer in the first instance.
"I’m still bruising much easier and deeper than other people, but to less of an extent than before," she admitted.
"But I’d say I'm 99 percent back to my normal self. Obviously, with the tablets, they do tire you. I’m now chronically fatigued, but I’m feeling much better."
"If you see any changes to your body – anything at all – it’s always better to get it checked out, even if you think it could be nothing. As I say, I’d had filler before, but not a reaction like this, and thankfully my doctor picked up on that change." she continued to say.
"There’s no point in taking any risks when it comes to your health. Absolutely do not put off making an appointment.
"It can be hard to find the time sometimes, and getting time off work can be something that people struggle with, but it’s so important. If I’d waited another six months before getting checked out, my leukaemia could have developed to a much more dangerous stage."
"I could have reached the accelerated form of the condition, which would have been much harder to treat."
And when it comes to words of wisdom for someone who has recently received a similarly dreaded diagnosis, Edita says thinking positively is the key to recovery.
"Do not read anything on Google – it’s the worst place for health horror stories. When I was reading about my version of leukaemia, it said I have five years to live, which is the opposite of what the doctor told me." she said.
Tyla chatted to Edita ahead of Leukaemia UK’s Blood Cancer Awareness Month, which kicks off in September and sees leading charities join forces every year for the Spot Leukaemia campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease.
This year, whilst aiming to boost people’s knowledge of the signs and symptoms of the disease, the charities are also raising awareness of the different ways in which people are diagnosed and to improve understanding around the signs and symptoms of leukaemia.
If anyone has any concerns about the symptoms they are experiencing, they should visit their GP and ask for a full blood count test within 48 hours of their appointment to confirm or rule out leukaemia.
For more information, visit Spot Leukaemia here.
Topics: Cancer, Health, UK News, Life, Real Life, True Life, Beauty
Rhianna Benson