Mum gets 'rare upon rare' diagnosis after going to GP with a cough

A mum-of-three received a devastating rare diagnosis when she thought she had a chest infection. Alison Varley had been given antibiotics when she was struggling with a cough.

But a scan later revealed the 42-year-old had goblet cell carcinoma - and the type she has is 'like no other in the world'. Alison has been receiving cancer treatment at The Christie in Manchester, as well as St James' Hospital in Leeds and Basingstoke Hospital.

She was diagnosed in 2021 six months after the birth of her second daughter Delilah, YorkshireLive reports. Alison, who shares Daisy, 4, and Charlie, 20, with husband Matthew, begins her first round of chemotherapy today (March 18).

READ MORE: 'I hated dad for what he'd done - but still wondered if he's proud of who I am'

Alison, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, said: "I thought I had a chest infection and couldn't breathe very well. I went to the doctors and was given a week's course of antibiotics. They didn't touch it. I went back and had three more days and my husband said to call 111 and they sent an ambulance.

"They did a CT scan and found five litres of fluid in my right lung. They tried to drain the fluid and did a CT scan and found a large mass on my ovary."

It was found the cancer had started in Alison's appendix and then travelled into her bowel, ovary and rectum. She said: "It's rare upon rare upon rare. There is no one with my cancer. The genetic make-up of it is like no other in the world. There are people with goblet cell, but not the genetic make up.

"That's why they're struggling with me because there is no one in front of me [with it.]" Alison said she underwent immunotherapy which caused a growth in the cancer.

She said: "They stopped that immediately. If a cancer grows