Woman’s severe face swelling turns out to be rare cancer

By Emma Dunn via SWNS

A woman who thought she was having an allergic reaction when her face swelled up was diagnosed with a one-in-a-million cancer.

Melinda Nelson, 35, had just completed a triathlon when she started to notice her face was looking rounder and she was losing muscle from her legs.

Her hands, feet and stomach swelled too and Melinda thought she could have been having an allergic reaction but her tests came back normal.

Melinda went for a scan which revealed she had a 24cm tumor - the size of an American football - on her adrenal gland.

It was secreting too much cortisol and causing Cushing's syndrome and Melinda's symptoms.

But after finding a specialist doctor Melinda was told she likely had a very rare cancer called adrenocortical carcinoma.

She was taken for a six-and-a-half hour surgery to remove the tumor and was formally diagnosed five days later.

Melinda was treated with a chemotherapy pill after the operation but was given the devastating news her cancer had returned and spread to her liver, lungs, spine, hips and shoulder three months later.

She now has stage four cancer and takes immunotherapy medication to stunt the growth of the tumors.

Melinda, a technical writer, from St Peterborough, Fla., said: "My face started getting really big.

"They call it moon face.

"My stomach started swelling as well. My hands and feet too.

"I thought I was having a type of allergic reaction.

"I was pretty unrecognizable."

Melinda first noticed her symptoms in January 2021.

She said: "I was working out twice a day. I was barely sleeping but I felt really good.

"Then I went to New York and I started to notice my legs were losing muscle.

"My face looked a bit rounder."

She thought she might been having some allergic reaction and went to see a doctor who noticed she had very high blood pressure and put her on medication in August 2021.

But Melinda's symptoms continued and she started getting more swelling in her face, stomach, hands and feet.

She said: "My face continued getting really big.

"My hair started falling out.

"I developed hair growth on my face.

"I thought maybe this is hormonal."

Melinda returned to Florida in October 2021 and booked herself several different appointments to get things checked out.

She had more allergy testing for all the states she had just visited but nothing showed up.

She said: "My doctor said 'I'm concerned about how much your stomach is swollen'. She ordered a scan."

Melinda was then called back in and told she had a 16cm tumor on her adrenal gland.

Melinda started researching and found an adrenal specialist who identified her cortisol levels were seven times higher than they should be.

She said: "The doctor called me and said 'I'm 99 percent sure you have this rare cancer'.

"She was so graceful with me.

"It was very shocking but part of me was so relieved that someone knew something was wrong with me.

"Living undiagnosed was scarier.

"Hearing you have cancer at 32 is awful but I'm glad there was some kind of plan going forward."

Melinda was then taken for surgery in November 2021 to remove the tumor.

She said: "We found it was folded inside of me and ended up being 24cm."

The cancer diagnosis was officially confirmed five days later.

Melinda had to take a chemotherapy pill for six months but was give the devastating news that the disease had come back and spread in March 2022.

She started infusion chemotherapy and had targeted radiation.

Melinda said: "We found out the tumors were growing. It was a really scary time for me."

She then started immunotherapy and a different chemotherapy pill which worked to shrink the tumors.

Since August 2022, Melinda has had "stable shrinking tumors."

She said: "I feel only recently I've started to look like myself again.

"I didn't even recognize myself when I looked in the mirror - I was still so swollen.

"I hope I don't have growth again and I out live the cancer.

"Cancer is a huge part of my life but it is not going to define me.

"There is still so much to life."

Melinda has helped set up a non-profit organization called Adrenal cure collective - https://www.adrenalcurecollective.org/.

She said: "A big part of our mission was to create more awareness, funds, and help give people hope."