Mother-of-three, 38, diagnosed with rare cancer after begging doctors to investigate ‘fatty lump’ for TEN years: ‘They said it was a harmless lipoma’
It took Melissa Fellows a decade to get doctors to take a painful fatty lump on her stomach seriously – and when they finally did, they told her it was a rare cancer that would eventually kill her.
The mother-of-three, from Hull, East Yorks, first complained about a lump in 2009 but was told it was a harmless fatty lump called a lipoma – but despite it growing and causing her extreme pain, it was not properly examined until 2019, by which time it was too late.
She said: ‘I had a tiny lump inside the left-hand side of my stomach which you could only notice when I laid down.
‘I went to the GP to say I had a positive pregnancy test and to check the lump.
‘The GP checked it and told me it wasn’t attached to anything and they are quite common.
‘He said they were cosmetic and I had nothing to worry about.’
However, as the years passed the lump got bigger and bigger, until it weighed 3 stone and was the ‘size of a toddler’.
It was in 2011 that Ms Fellows first noticed the lump had grown so went back to her GP who referred her for a scan but she never received an appointment.
Melissa Fellows was repeatedly told her huge tumour was just a harmless fatty lump
During her next two pregnancies, doctors, nurses and midwives all reassured Ms Fellows she had a lipoma – a bundle of fatty tissue.
In 2017 she started suffering ‘horrendous’ pain and noticed the lump was growing at an alarming rate.
While pregnant with her third child she was sent for an urgent ultrasound but again was told the growth was harmless.
In 2019, Ms Fellows says the growth was so big she was struggling to walk upstairs or do every day tasks.
She said: ‘I had to wear baggy clothes to cover it up, but by the end that didn’t work and people would stare.
‘I became very self-conscious about it and stayed at home. Every medic told me it was cosmetic and harmless and I believed them.
‘I looked into having it removed and it would have cost me £10,000. I just thought I’d have to learn to live with it.
‘My mental health really suffered.
Ms Fellows was actually living with a rare cancer called a liposarcoma
In 2019, the lump was finally removed after scans revealed it to be cancer
‘I was always quite slim and weighed about 10 stones, but this lump was like carrying around a fully grown toddler on my hip.
‘I just knew this wasn’t normal and something was really wrong.’
After the pain became unbearable, she was referred to a consultant plastic surgeon who ordered scans and a biopsy on the rugby ball-shaped tumour.
She had a CT and MRI scan and biopsy which confirmed her worst fears and she was immediately referred to a specialist in Leeds General Infirmary.
She was diagnosed with liposarcoma, a rare type of cancer that develops in fat cells, usually in the muscles of the arms, legs or abdomen.
It typically affects people aged 40 to 60 but has been known to occur at any age.
Symptoms are vague and easily confused with everyday complaints like indigestion, stress and fatigue, which often leads to considerable delays in diagnosis.
Signs also vary depending on where the cancer grows.
Ms Fellows with her three children
Ms Fellows and her husband Adam took legal action against the NHS
Sarcoma UK claims that around 16 people are diagnosed with the cancer every day in the UK, approximately 5,900 each year.
Around 88 per cent of these sarcomas are in soft tissue, and the rest are in bone.
In June 2019 surgeons removed Ms Fellows’ 30cm by 30cm tumour removed by surgeons who said it was ‘one of the largest’ they had ever seen.
Over the next six months, she underwent gruelling chemotherapy but the cancer had spread and she was told it was terminal.
She said: ‘My world fell apart but at last I felt believed.
‘After I had the tumour removed the doctors told me it weighed a whopping three stone and was the biggest tumour they had seen.
‘When I finally got the diagnosis it was strangely something of a relief, as I was finally believed, but by then I was told it had spread.’
Despite seven further operations to remove more tumours, she was given the heartbreaking news the cancer was terminal.
She described the lump as being ‘like having a toddler on her hip’
Surgeons said the 30cm x 30cm tumour was one of the biggest they had ever seen
Ms Fellows and husband Adam, 37, took legal action and this year received a six-figure payout from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Trust admitted that Ms Fellows could have been cured of cancer if she had been properly treated when she first complained about the lump.
She is now campaigning for a new Melissa’s Law to force GPs to send patients for scans if they notice any abnormal lumps on any part of their bodies.
‘I’m now living with a time bomb and having to approach every day as if it could be my last. With three children, it is heartbreaking,’ she said.
‘My message to others would be not to allow any doctors to dismiss lumps, especially if they continue to grow like mine did.
‘I was told with mine that it was ok because it was moving, and that meant it had not attached to anything and therefore it wouldn’t be cancerous. That proved to be a nonsense.
‘If I’d have been sent for a CT scan or a biopsy at any stage from 2009 onwards I wouldn’t be in this awful position I find myself now.’
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is run by NHS Humber Health Partnership Group.
Interim CEO Lyn Simpson said: ‘Firstly, I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mrs Fellows.
‘We deeply regret that she did not receive the timely care she deserved.
‘An investigation was conducted into Mrs Fellows treatment in 2023 and the findings were shared with her, followed by a letter of apology for the failings in her care that were identified.
‘Since this incident occurred, we have put measures in place to prevent any repeat of such errors, including improved training.
‘We are committed to learning from this case and continuously improving the safety and quality of care for all our patients.’
Ms Fellows feels like she was failed by the medics she crossed paths with during her decade begging for a diagnosis.
She said: ‘I just feel so sad and so badly failed by the dozens of doctors and nurses who examined me.
‘If I had been tested earlier the chances are I would be cured by now but instead I’m terminally ill.
‘I don’t know if this will be my last Mother’s Day.
‘I’ve got three children and it breaks my heart not knowing how much time I’ve got left to see them grow.’
