A 34‑year‑old woman dismissed stage 3 cancer as nothing more than “sitting too long.” Courtney Liniewski, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, brushed off the pain she felt — only for heartbreak to strike months later. Now, she hopes to warn others and raise awareness about the one symptom she initially ignored.
At the end of 2021, Courtney Liniewski sensed something was off. For months, she’d been dealing with back pain, but she chalked it up to long hours at her desk.
“I was experiencing intermittent back pain, but it was really sharp and intense,” she told Unilad. “It was right below my shoulder blades, in the mid‑sternum area in my back. I just thought I wasn’t moving enough and was being lazy. I sat down a lot for my job and was at my desk most of the day.”
By January, her symptoms grew stranger — and seemingly unrelated. She began losing hearing in her left ear, and her nose wouldn’t stop running.
The “weird symptoms” didn’t make sense, and she knew something was wrong. In January 2022, Liniewski woke up after hearing what she described as a loud bang inside her head.
According to Newsweek, she managed to fall back asleep, but when she went to work the next morning as a crisis counselor at an inpatient psychiatric hospital, she noticed her face had drooped.
Diagnosed with stage 3 cancer — after dismissing one key symptom
A colleague rushed her to the emergency room, fearing a stroke. But her brain scans came back normal. With a history of migraines and anxiety, she was sent home.
She accepted the results — until everything changed a month later. Courtney developed chest pain and couldn’t climb a single flight of stairs without losing her breath.
In February, during a vacation to Mexico, her life took a dramatic turn. On the first morning of the trip, she woke up with a large lump on her neck.
“My immune system was clearly reacting to travel or stress. I’ve always been prone to getting sick when I travel, but this time it was like my body finally showed me something. The lump was about 4.1 cm, and it’s what led to my diagnosis,” she told Newsweek.
“Without it, I wouldn’t have met the criteria typically associated with my type of cancer. I don’t fit the demographic, since it usually affects elderly white men.”
Helping others recognize red flags
Liniewski was diagnosed with Grade 3B Follicular Lymphoma, a rare form of non‑Hodgkin lymphoma that accounts for about 20 percent of cases in the U.S. It typically grows slowly and affects adults around age 60, according to the American Cancer Society.
Without treatment, Courtney would have died within a month. Thankfully, her cancer was treatable. Today, she is three years cancer‑free, though she continues regular check‑ins with her oncologist, always aware of the possibility of recurrence.
Now, the mom hopes her experience helps others recognize unusual symptoms and push for answers.
“You can’t stop pushing for it [a diagnosis] because cancer care has come a long way and people are surviving cancer significantly more than they used to,” she told Unilad. “I think people should know that it’s okay to advocate for yourself if something is wrong.”
Congratulations on being cancer‑free, Courtney — and thank you for using your story to help others. Please share this article on Facebook to spread Courtney Liniewski’s message.
