It started with a sudden droop on one side of her face—and that’s when she knew something was seriously wrong. Doctors dismissed it as a panic attack. But while on vacation, she discovered something much more alarming hiding beneath the surface.
When 34-year-old Courtney Liniewski from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, began feeling sharp, stabbing pain in her back, she brushed it off as the result of being too sedentary. “I figured I was just being lazy,” she told the Daily Mail. “I sat all day for work, so I assumed the pain was from that.”
But a month later, in January 2022, things took a frightening turn. Courtney heard what she described as a “loud pop” in her head—and suddenly, the left side of her face went slack. A doctor assured her it was nothing serious, calling it a migraine coupled with a panic attack. Relieved yet uneasy, Courtney went back to work and tried to ignore the growing list of strange, inconsistent symptoms.
Every night, she noticed her hearing fading in her left ear, and her nose began to run incessantly. She also suffered from fatigue, random night sweats, and unexplained weight loss—which she blamed on the new medication she was taking for weight management. Despite it all, the doctor’s earlier reassurance echoed in her mind, convincing her she was fine. But something deeper was festering.
Everything changed during a trip to Mexico the next month. Her neck swelled dramatically, as though she were having an allergic reaction, and breathing became difficult. “I couldn’t climb stairs, and my chest hurt so much,” she recalled. Alarmed, she headed to the hospital soon after returning home.
Scans revealed a shocking truth: stage 3B follicular lymphoma, a rapidly spreading type of blood cancer. In her chest was a tumor the size of a grapefruit, showing that the disease had already migrated from her lymph nodes—those tiny glands responsible for filtering fluids in the body. “I was hysterical. I did a lot of crying and panicking,” she admitted. “All I could think was the absolute worst.”
Ironically, she now believes that trip saved her life. “My body reacted to the stress of travel—it forced my immune system to show me something was wrong,” Courtney said. “Without that neck swelling, I might never have known. I don’t even fit the usual profile for this cancer.”
Follicular lymphoma typically affects people around 60 and impacts men and women equally. Though treatable, it’s generally considered incurable because it often returns. Studies show that 60 to 70 percent of patients see their cancer come back, as surviving cells can linger undetected long after treatment. Around 15,000 Americans are diagnosed each year, most when the disease has already reached an advanced stage.
Because this type of lymphoma develops slowly, symptoms are often vague or absent at first—fatigue, weight loss, or swollen lymph nodes can easily be dismissed, as Courtney’s were. Yet by the time it manifests clearly, it’s often more aggressive. According to the American Cancer Society, about 58 percent of patients with advanced forms survive for at least five years after being diagnosed.
Courtney underwent six intense rounds of chemotherapy over six months, achieving remission by July 2022. She still goes for scans every three months, and so far, her cancer remains under control. “It was an incredible feeling to hear I was cancer-free,” she said. “But part of me was—and still is—terrified. With such an aggressive cancer, there’s a strong chance it’ll return someday.”
Now, she’s using her experience to encourage others to listen to their bodies. “Cancer treatments have improved so much. People are living longer, fuller lives after diagnosis,” she says. “But if something feels wrong, don’t ignore it. Push for answers. Advocate for yourself.”
And here’s the part that might spark debate—how often do patients, especially women, get dismissed when describing unusual symptoms? Should the healthcare system take cases like Courtney’s as a warning about how easily early signs of serious disease can be overlooked?
What do you think—was this a medical oversight, or an understandable mistake given her symptoms? Share your thoughts below.
