30-year-old woman diagnosed with rare terminal cancer after suffering migraines

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A brave West Lothian woman has spoken of being diagnosed with a rare form of terminal cancer after seemingly suffering little to no red flag symptoms.Alanna Aitken, from Livingston, was told that she had stage four terminal bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) in May 2021.The rare type of cancer is very uncommon in those under the age of 70 and Alanna is hoping that by sharing her story she will be able to help raise awareness of the condition.The 30-year-old says that she began suffering from tiredness and migraines but after having blood tests taken by her GP in May, she was told that everything was fine.Edinburgh Live reported she later became breathless at work and was taken to A and E where she was given the devastating news that she was suffering from cancer.“I was diagnosed on May 19 2021.

I did not have many symptoms but I was chronically fatigued and was tired all the time”, she said.“I thought it was a case of running a busy dance school and burning myself out.

I suffered from migraines and went to the GP to get blood tests carried out.“They told me that everything was fine but then at work I was breathless and was taken to A and E where I was told I had cancer.

It was very sudden and happened all in one day - there was no cough or obvious symptom.”Alanna, who lives with her partner Nicola Walsh, 34, with whom she has been with for five years, runs AJ Dance Centre with hundreds of students in Falkirk.She says that cholangiocarcinoma is a rare form of cancer and says that she believes she is the only person in Scotland under the age of 70 with the diagnosis.Alanna added that those who are given the diagnosis tend to only have two to five years to live but that she has not wanted to know her own prognosis so