A MUM who has never smoked told of her horror at being struck down with incurable lung cancer.
Robyn McLean, 39, got the stage four diagnosis just three days before Christmas.
Robyn was diagnosed with lung cancer just days before Christmas[/caption]
Robyn, with husband Gordon, is now undergoing a targeted treatment focusing on gene mutations.[/caption]
The stunned mother of two said: “I had a tight chest and a sore back and it turned out I was riddled with cancer.”
Robyn, of Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, first visited her GP with chest pains last March who said she had costochondritis — inflamed cartilage.
She went to A&E in the October with the chest and back pain and got more antibiotics.
An X-ray also showed an issue with her lungs.
But it was not until two months later that a CT scan and biopsy revealed her rare ALK-positive adenocarcinoma when she returned to hospital with groin pain and a tight chest.
The beauty salon boss then had an agonising wait until the New Year to begin treatment at Glasgow’s Beatson centre.
South Africa-born Robyn said: “There was a four-week period where I knew I had cancer but I wasn’t getting treated which was really scary.”
In another devastating blow, it was discovered that the disease had spread to her other lung, spine and liver.
Robyn, who is documenting her journey online, is being treated with a targeted therapy which focuses on gene mutations.
It has helped some patients live over a decade.
She said: “I’m hoping to be the person in 10 years standing on a stage talking to people in my position, saying ‘you can live another ten years’.”
You can follow Robyn’s journey on her Tiktok page here and her Instagram page here.