A mum who discovered she had cancer after she cut her hand while serving a roast dinner said she had attributed the symptoms to menopause.
Jennifer Vaughan, 54, from Wembley, London, brushed aside several months of feeling back pain and hot sweats, believing her body was simply transitioning to a new stage of life.
The former teacher said she now owes her life to a random accident which led her to discover that she actually had kidney cancer.
Jennifer was cutting up chicken for a roast dinner with her family in October 2017 when her hand slipped and she sliced the index finger on her right hand.
The cut, while deep, did not need immediate medical attention, however, she went to her walk-in GP later that day to get it bandaged properly.
A week later, Jennifer noticed discolouration on the top of her palm, beneath the cut finger, about the size of a fifty pence piece.
She returned to the GP who prescribed two courses of antibiotics and carried out a blood test, just to be sure – which came back with an unusually low white blood cell count.
Her GP referred her to her local hospital but Jennifer claims consultants were at first "dismissive" of her worries.
But the concerned mum pushed doctors for an ultrasound and CT scan and after a check-up at her local hospital, she was given the worst news of her life.
A CT scan had found an enlarged mass on her left kidney.
Four months later, in April 2018, an ultrasound confirmed Jennifer had Stage 3 kidney cancer.
Jennifer said: "I felt completely numb. I couldn’t believe it.
"It took me a long time to understand what I’d just been told and comprehend what might be next for me.
"It's just something I never thought I would have. It doesn't run in my family.
"I've never smoked, I don't drink, I lead a healthy lifestyle. So it was a lot to take in.
"I had been experiencing hot sweats but wrote it off as the menopause and my bad back from moving stuff about as a teacher.
"It was something I had just put to the back of my mind and I never thought it would be cancer.
"My daughter Rhea was studying for her A-levels at the time and I just didn't have the heart to tell her I had cancer.
"She knew I was going to hospital but I tried so hard to put on a brave face for her."
At the time, no other organs had been affected but Jennifer would need to get her kidney removed.
However, six months later, Jennifer was dealt another blow when she was told the cancer had spread to her lungs.
"I just thought 'Here we are again", said Jennifer.
"It's absolutely horrifying to hear. I thought it had gone.
"But you either live with cancer or you die from cancer and I want to live like my grandma and live to 103.
"I was determined to tackle it head-on."
In April 2019, she started immunotherapy treatment in a bid to help her immune system work properly and attack the cancer cells.
The process was tough on Jennifer's body, with her swollen ankles, insomnia, and diarrhoea.
Jennifer said: "Of course, I still get the awful side effects now but the way I see it is I'm alive and around to feel them.
"I'm still on this earth even if it means feeling dreadful some days."
In 2022, her condition is stable and she is now receiving oral immunotherapy and targeted treatment to battle the cancer.
Jennifer is helping fellow cancer survivors as a coach through working with Kidney Cancer UK.
For Kidney Cancer Awareness Week, she has decided to share her own story in order to encourage others to get tested if they experience strange symptoms – especially Black people.
Jennifer added: "People in the Black community don't really speak about how they are feeling and will hide it.
"I help to coach others living with cancer now which is so rewarding and at the moment I see it as my purpose.
"But when I turn up to classes or go to events, I do notice I am the only Black woman there.
"I want others to reach out, get the help, it will save your life.
"If I hadn't had pushed to get the scans which picked up the mass, I wouldn't be here, and there's probably a lot more just shrugging it off."
