A young mum claims doctors said her excruciating back pain was 'bad posture' while working from home - only to find out it was a tumour the size of a baby's head at the base of her spine.
Ellie Chandler first developed back pain after giving birth to twins Brooke and Parker Chandler in December 2019, but as the pandemic hit months later, her symptoms worsened.
The 25-year-old claims she went to the doctors several times around October 2021 as the pain increased rapidly and was told to buy a support pillow and take painkillers, after they claimed it was likely bad posture from sitting at her desk.
The former loan officer even visited an orthopaedic specialist and received a clear X-ray, until her gynaecologist felt the huge mass from inside her rectum and vagina weeks later.
After emergency tests, the mum-of-two was eventually diagnosed mid-December with a rare 5.5-inch (14cm) giant cell tumour in the base of her spine, which had grown so rapidly that she needed a catheter.
She now faces months of intense treatment, with monthly injections to shrink the tumour in the hope of undergoing risky surgery to eventually remove it.
Now Ellie is speaking out to urge people suffering with back pain to take it seriously, as what she thought were simple aches and pains caused by working from home turned out to be an extremely aggressive tumour.
Ellie, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, said: "It went from what I thought was normal back pain from giving birth, then what I thought was caused by working from home and poor posture, to just excruciating pain.
"Giant cell tumours are quite common in young people, in their twenties, thirties and forties.
"Doctors don't necessarily think it's going to be a tumour because you're young and healthy, they think of other things first.
"All that contributed to how it got so massive. It was the size of a baby's head by the time they found it. The measurements were all between 10cm and 14cm when they found it."
Ellie is warning young people that back pain is 'really not normal' and hopes that her story will help people push for answers.
"Back pain is so normalised, especially with people working from home these days, but it's really not normal and you should take it seriously if it's impacting your daily life.
"Especially young people, don't put off going to the doctor. Don't let it get to the point that it's so bad you're having issues functioning.
"Look out for red flag symptoms, so if you're having other symptoms along with back pain, those could be signs that you have a tumour in your spine."
