I was told I had tonsillitis — I correctly diagnosed myself with leukemia

Using the internet to self-diagnose isn’t usually recommended, but the move may have saved one young British mother’s life.

Chloe-Leigh Todd, 22, said she started experiencing throat soreness, vomiting, night sweats, and weight loss in February 2020. She claims a doctor diagnosed her with tonsillitis by telephone four months later, but Todd doubted that opinion.

“Everyone knows their own body, and I just knew it was something serious,” the stay-at-home mom told SWNS.

“The doctors were putting it down to other things — but I was adamant they were wrong.”

That’s when Todd turned to Google.

“I checked and saw I had every symptom on the whole website — everyone had thought I was crazy when I said it, but I knew I wasn’t,” she explained.

She said she booked an in-person doctor’s visit, where she underwent a blood test. Todd reported her results came back abnormal, and she was sent to the hospital, where she was told she indeed had leukemia — and was “weeks away from death.”

“When the doctor confirmed it, I thought I was going to die,” Todd recalled of receiving the news.

“I was happy to have the diagnosis, but I went numb, hearing it is a big difference. The doctors told my mom in a different room, she broke down — I could hear my mom screaming,” she remembered.

The next day, Todd began treatment at Newcastle Freeman Hospital in England.

She said: “I had a bone marrow biopsy and [was] told I was weeks away from death. The cancer was everywhere in my blood. Doctors told me they didn’t know if chemotherapy would help, but they were willing to give it a try.”

Six rounds of chemotherapy eradicated most of the cancer, Todd said, leaving her with a more optimistic mindset.

“Looking back now I am numb to it — everything I was being told is a blur. I was looking at the world so differently asking, ‘Why me, what have I done to deserve this?’” she recounted.

“The hardest part of it all is I thought I might not be here to watch my son grow up.”

But in September 2020, Todd was put on a bone marrow donor registry. A 27-year-old man presented as a 100% match, and she had the transplant in October 2020.

“I spoke to my donor in March 2023, I had butterflies in my stomach,” she shared. “We were talking like we have known each other my whole life. We have this connection that nobody will be able to understand.”

“We will always have that bond, I am still here because of him,” Todd recognized.

After the successful operation, Todd underwent another bone marrow biopsy to make sure everything was working properly. She said she was told she is cancer free.

“When I received the news I picked up my son and cuddled him too tight,” she remembered. “It was amazing to know it had all gone, it was the best day ever.”

“I rang the bell in March 2021, It is an amazing feeling. I had my little boy in my arms with me,” she added.

Todd said she now suffers from graft vs host disease, when donor bone marrow or stem cells attack the recipient’s own cells.

But with cancer behind her, she is ready to face any challenges that may come her way, for the sake of her son.

“No matter what I am going through, I am always positive and have a smile on my face. No matter how ill I am, I will put my child first,” she vowed.

“I feel so grateful and thankful. I would rather go through this than not be here at all.”

She declared: “It is a bittersweet situation — I am alive to tell my story.”

Leukemia symptoms include:

• Skin looking pale or “washed out”
• Tiredness
• Breathlessness
• Losing weight without trying
• Frequent infections
• Having a high temperature, and feeling hot or shivery (fever)
• Night sweats
• Easily bruised skin