Woman’s Symptoms Were Dismissed by Multiple Doctors for Being a Busy Mom. She Paid for Her Own Scans, and Then Got a Shocking Diagnosis

NEED TO KNOW

• A woman said doctors dismissed her health symptoms, which included extreme fatigue, hair loss and lumps on her neck, for being a “busy mom”

• She later received a shocking diagnosis and had to get a gland removed

• “I knew something was wrong, but the more they were telling me [there wasn’t], I was starting to think it was in my head,” Kerri Laird said

A woman said doctors continuously dismissed her health symptoms, saying they were from her being a “busy mom.” She advocated for herself and paid for private scans — and eventually got a shocking diagnosis.

Kerri Laird began suffering from extreme fatigue, hair loss, heart palpitations, trouble swallowing and lumps on her neck, among other symptoms, in June 2025, according to Kennedy News and Media.

She visited her doctor six times between June and July, but Laird, 35, said doctors told her that her extreme tiredness was from being a “busy mom,” and that her symptoms were likely from a “virus.”

“I was experiencing extreme tiredness, my hair was falling out, and I just wasn’t right,” Laird recalled. “I went to the doctors about that, and they didn’t do anything.”

Still, Laird explained she “kept going back” to the doctors, but when she finally determined she “wasn’t getting anywhere,” she decided to pay for a private scan for herself.

Laird’s scan revealed “very suspicious” lymph nodes and multiple nodules on her thyroid, but her biopsy came back clear. Doctors then scheduled her next visit for six months later.

However, Laird, from Manchester, U.K., continued to experience pain. “I went back to the doctors again about 12 times, but they just kept telling me there was nothing they could do, and I would have to wait for my follow-up scan,” she said.

“I was just getting ignored, and it was just really annoying, because, obviously, they just weren’t taking it seriously at all,” Laird claimed.

She added, “I knew something was wrong, but the more they were telling me [there wasn’t], I was starting to think it was in my head, because they were making out it was.”

Laird eventually had her second private scan in December 2025. It found that the lymph nodes and nodules had grown.

“I ended up at the hospital, having an ultrasound and seeing an ENT consultant,” she said.

Laird claimed doctors told her that her symptoms couldn’t be cancer, and that her lymph nodes were swollen because her children were picking up germs and passing them on to her.

“I said to them, ‘Can you just do the biopsy, even if it’s just for peace of mind?’ ” she recalled.

After the second biopsy, Laird was given a shocking diagnosis: she had thyroid cancer.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease is found in the thyroid gland, located at the base of the neck, and symptoms can include a neck lump and hoarse voice, trouble swallowing and breathing, as well as a sore throat.

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When she finally got her diagnosis, Laird said she was “relieved” that it wasn’t “all in my head.

She has since had surgery to get her thyroid removed, and Laird is now awaiting additional treatment details.

“I’m waiting for the pathology results to come back from the thyroid that’s been sent off before I know what stage the cancer is,” she said. “I think the recommended treatment is normally iodine therapy or radiation treatment.”

Laird is now encouraging others to “keep pushing” for answers when it comes to their own health.

“A lot of people will probably just walk away and ignore it, but you have to trust your gut if you think something is wrong,” she said.

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