“It was like the light just disappeared from her eyes,” the woman said when recalling the months before her daughter’s diagnosis

A mother in England said doctors told her that her daughter’s fatigue, aches and mood changes were just growing pains — until she spotted a “golf ball”-sized lump in the 11-year-old’s throat.

Cheryl Barber, of London, said she first became concerned about her daughter Tamelia Felway in September 2022, when the then-9-year-old began complaining of persistent tiredness and pain in her legs, according to Kennedy News and Media.

“It was like the light just disappeared from her eyes,” Cheryl recalled, adding that Tamelia became so tired that she even gave up her favorite activity: dancing.

“She had danced since she was 4 years old, but she just couldn’t do it anymore because she was just too tired after school,” Cheryl said. “She didn’t want to go anywhere anymore, she was too tired.”

As Tamelia also began gaining weight and experiencing mood swings, Cheryl sought medical advice.

She said blood tests came back normal and that doctors attributed her daughter’s symptoms to “growing pains,” puberty and childhood development.

“I was told from the blood tests and examinations of her legs and back that everything was all clear and okay,” Cheryl said. “After being told it wasn’t anything sinister, I just thought it was just how she was growing up.”

“I didn’t believe it was growing pains,” she added. “I knew in my gut something wasn’t right.”

Two years later, in September 2024, Cheryl says she noticed a large lump on Tamelia’s neck.

“I just noticed a lump one Saturday morning when she walked downstairs and it was just there — big and bold in your face,” she said.

“It was in the middle [of her throat] but leaning more toward one side and it was like a golf ball,” Cheryl continued. “Immediately alarm bells rang. I felt completely sick and went into a massive panic.”

After more than a year of appointments and testing, the lump was surgically removed and doctors confirmed that Tamelia had thyroid cancer in November 2025. She began radiation treatment in May 2026.

“[Doctors] think the cancer could’ve been there for three years,” Cheryl said.  “At that time I was kind of led to believe it wasn’t anything sinister.”

Looking back, Cheryl wishes her concerns had been taken more seriously.

“I’m frustrated and angry that there was nothing pointed in any direction for doctors to pick up when I knew in my gut something wasn’t right,” she said.

Now, Cheryl, who is also mother to a 2-year-old toddler, is encouraging other parents to trust their instincts if they believe something is wrong with their child.

“Just follow your gut because I knew it was something else, so that’s why I carried on,” she said. “I didn’t believe it was growing pains but the process of going through anything right now is so long.”

In a GoFundMe established to help support Tamelia during treatment and recovery, the family shared that Tamelia ultimately had to have an additional surgery to have her entire thyroid removed, and she will now be on “lifelong medication.”

“All donations would go toward bringing a little joy to Tamelia and her little sister and anything they may need,” the family said, adding that they hope to eventually “give Tamelia some joy back from all the years that she has been unable to do the things she loves.”

Source: https://people.com/mom-says-daughters-growing-pains-were-diagnosed-as-thyroid-cancer-12012702