A tiny itchy ‘gnat bite’ I mistook for a tattoo allergy turned out to be the first warning sign of silent killer
Young Lives vs Cancer social workers help young people, like Ben, to access financial benefits and provide grants to help with these extra costs.Along with the charity Young Lives vs Cancer, Ben is calling for better financial support towards travel costs for young people with cancer and their families to help with the “astronomical” cost of living.



Altogether, the journeys to and from Guy’s Hospital in London have cost him and his family around £3,000 over three years.Straight away I could see a change in her, and within a week I was in hospital having scans and blood tests – only to be told it was lymphoma.Yes, but I’m sure it’s not that.Was that a lump?
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“At that age, you don’t expect to even contemplate a diagnosis like that… and when you hear the word ‘cancer’, instantly you always think the worst.”“After a couple of weeks, the areas will get red and they constantly come up tanned.”I couldn’t understand what was happening to me when I started itching all over.Deep inside I knew these wouldn’t help – but I didn’t know what would.
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There are two main kinds of lymphoma – Hodgkin Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.After two months of agonising itching, in which it didn’t even occur to me to seek medical help, I was sitting at my desk at work when I just brushed my hand against my neck and shoulder.
Lymphoma can cause many different symptoms, depending on which type of lymphoma it is and where it develops in the body.With the constant itching and now a lump, I finally decided to head to the doctors.Ben then had two biopsies at Colchester Hospital after the lump faile to go away and he was diagnosed with lymphoma in March 2021, aged just 21.Ben recently spotted new lumps on his lower back, which may need to be treated, but he is determined to stay positive and “get [his] life back”.Probably swollen glands, I thought.Since then Ben has had a further six rounds of radiotherapy – seven in total – and this has involved a long journey from his home in Colchester to London every day for a week each time.




In February 2020, Ben Collins, 24, who lives in Colchester, Essex, said doctors found a lump on his back, which was itchy and red and looked like a “gnat bite”.Within days I was at hospital for my first chemotherapy – and was so excited that I would finally get relief from my itching.“It’s surprising how many people can’t afford to get to cancer treatment.”“It was red and raised and it was itchy as well.”By Christine Jennings, Production EditorLYMPHOMA is a term for cancer that starts in the lymph system – a network of vessels and glands that spans your body.“It really hit hard at that point.”Friends and family tried giving me advice, such as “change your washing powder” or “use body cream”.
‘Astronomical’ costs
Doctors subsequently noticed another lump on his back, which they believed to be benign, and he was referred to dermatology – but his appointment was delayed until February 2021 due to the pandemic.“Some people have to travel for hours to get to a specialist hospital and some families don’t have the money to be able to do that,” Ben told PA Real Life.No.“It was awful because I was expecting it to be an allergy, an allergic reaction to some tattoos that I’d had – that was the worst case scenario and they might have to cut out some tattoos,” Ben said.Ben explained that one doctor thought it could be ringworm – a fungal infection – and he was prescribed steroid creams, but this did not improve his symptoms.
What are the signs of lymphoma?
- Swollen lymph nodes, such as in the neck, armpit or groin area
- Night sweats
- Extreme tiredness
- Itching
- Unexplained weight loss
- Fever
- Excessive bleeding, such as nosebleeds, heavy periods and spots of blood under the skin
“So, some people either have to go without the treatment or they might not be able to put the heating on that week.”
- Swelling of the stomach, loss of appetite and other abdominal symptoms
- Coughing, shortness of breath, or chest pain
“You don’t feel anything when you’re having the treatment, but a few days later, it will be warm to the touch,” Ben explained.Describing the lump on his back, Ben said: “It was probably about a centimetre in diameter, so it looked like a gnat bite or a spot.He has since undergone seven rounds of radiotherapy to “blast” the lumps and is currently on an observation period. “I was told: ‘You’ll essentially have the lymphoma for life, unless it gets bad enough that we have to treat you with chemotherapy’.The electrician discovered a lump in his chest in February 2020, but a biopsy found it was “just a fatty lump”.I could definitely feel something – and when I pushed my shoulders back, I could see a swelling.
Staying positive
“My girlfriend and I were sitting in bed, watching The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer, and every single advert was, ‘One in two of us will be affected by cancer in our lifetime’,” he said.I rushed to the ladies but couldn’t see anything, so I moved my hand over the place again.Once there, I told my GP about the constant itching.
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I was constantly scratching and even had my husband attack my feet – which I hate being touched – with a hairbrush.“That crossed out any lines from it being related to the tattoos, but that was quite a surprising one when they said it could be related to my tattoos.”


