Mom’s one-in-a-million cancer mistaken for autoimmune disease

By Emma Dunn via SWNS

A single mom was diagnosed with one-in-a-million cancer - after her bruises and rash were mistaken for lupus.

Hope Law, 37, had always led a healthy active life but started to get a pain in her joints and unexplainable swelling in her knees.

She went to the doctors over 20 times in a year with various symptoms such as heart palpations and swollen hands and feet but she was told it was her anxiety.

Hope started getting really bad bruising, gained weight and was diagnosed with lupus after a rash appeared on her face.

But the medication Hope was put on made her symptoms worse and she couldn't walk three steps without passing out.

She went to the ER and doctors found a 9.5 cm tumor on her adrenal gland after an ultrasound.

Hope was told it could be a very rare cancer called adrenocortical carcinoma and reached out to specialist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland.

She underwent surgery on October 12, 2022 to remove the mass which was then confirmed as cancer.

Hope was put on Mitotane, the only chemotherapy drug available for adrenocortical carcinoma in the US, and responded well.

She is now in her second year of remission and set up a non-profit organization called Adrenal cure collective.

Hope, a business development and sales manager, from Frederick, Maryland, US, said: "My world fell apart.

"All I could think about was my children.

"I need to live for my kids.

"As a single mom there isn't anyone to offload on to.

"For the first year I used to cry all night.

"I was trying to be strong for them and for myself. They also gave me hope."

Hope first noticed her symptoms in early 2021.

She said: "I was healthy. I was active.

"I'm a super active mom.

"The first symptoms I noticed was in my joints.

"I had knee swelling that was unexplained.

"There was swelling in my hands and feet."

Over the course of the year, Hope went to the doctors numerous times but was often dismissed.

She said: "Doctors told me it was anxiety.

"I had extremely high blood pressure. I was hospitalized while my blood pressure was off the charts.

"I started having really bad bruises.

"There were 20-plus bruises on my thighs.

"I thought 'this is really not right'."

Hope was so ill she spent a trip to Disney with her twin boys, eight, and son, 15, in a wheelchair.

When she developed a butterfly rash - indicative of lupus - doctors noticed her inflammatory markers were off and diagnosed her with the autoimmune disease in September 2022.

Hope was given medication to treat lupus but her symptoms got worse.

She said: "I gained 10lbs in 10 days.

"My face was huge. I was struggling to breathe.

"My breathing got so labored I couldn't take three steps without passing out."

Hope went to the ER but was told she was fine but after visiting another hospital an ultrasound revealed the tumor on her adrenal gland.

She said: "They said you have a mass on your adrenal gland.

"It's so rare - the chance it's actually cancer you'd be more lucky to win the lottery twice.

"But given the size they were suspicious."

Hope was told she'd need a biopsy to confirm it was cancer but following her research she discovered it could increase the risk of the cancer spreading.

She reached out to a specialist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital who got her blood pressure under control before she underwent surgery in October 2022 to remove the mass.

It was then confirmed it was cancer and Hope was put on a chemotherapy drug but was told the chances the cancer would return was 90%.

Miraculously, she is now two years into remission.

She said: "I believe they got it out in the nick of time."

Hope decided to start Adrenal cure collective with other patients to help raise awareness and funds for research.

She said: "The collective has given me a purpose.

"It's healing. I have a voice now."

Hope hopes the collective can help others get an earlier diagnosis like she was able to - which stopped the spread of her cancer.