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TV Reporter Gets Diagnosed With Cancer After A Viewer, Who is A Cancer Survivor, Spots A Lump On Her Neck
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TV Reporter Gets Diagnosed With Cancer After A Viewer, Who is A Cancer Survivor, Spots A Lump On Her Neck

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Do you believe in guardian angels? If not, this story might have the potential to alter your views a bit.

Last month, a Florida TV news reporter named Victoria Price got an e-mail from one of her viewers, claiming that she’d noticed something odd about her neck while watching a televised segment. This viewer, who is also a cancer survivor, noticed a lump on the reporter’s neck and encouraged her to get it checked. The reporter went to the doctor and, unfortunately, her results for thyroid cancer came back positive. This week, Victoria finally had her tumor removed.

The TV news reporter Victoria recently shared her incredible story on Twitter

“Turns out, I have cancer,” Victoria announces in her post. “And I owe it to one of our wonderful WFLA viewers for bringing it to my attention.”

“Hi, Just saw your news report. What concerned me is the lump on your neck,” the viewer wrote in the email she sent to Victoria Price. “Please have your thyroid checked. Reminds me of my neck. Mine turned out to be cancer. Take care of yourself.”

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Image credits: Victoria Price

Here’s the e-mail from a viewer Victoria Price received last month

Image credits: Victoria Price

A week later after receiving the e-mail, Price went to see a doctor. She got a blood check which was followed by an ultrasound. The results came back suspicious and because of that, she was referred to a thyroid specialist. Later, the news reporter found out that she had thyroid cancer and that it was spreading to her lymph nodes.

“We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind,” the reporter wrote in her Twitter post

Image credits: WFLA

“As a journalist, it’s been full throttle since the pandemic began. Never-ending shifts in a never-ending news cycle. Adjusting to remote workflows and in my case, taking on a new investigative role. We were covering the most important health story in a century, but my own health was the farthest thing from my mind,” the reporter said in her Twitter post.

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“Until a viewer emailed me last month. She saw a lump on my neck. Said it reminded her of her own. Hers was cancer. Turns out, mine is too,” she continued.

“I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway”

Image credits: WFLA

“COVID created some diagnostic delays but I’ll finally be undergoing surgery this Monday to remove the tumor, my thyroid, and a couple of nearby lymph nodes. Doctor says it’s spreading, but not too much, and we’re hopeful this will be my first and last procedure,” wrote the reporter.

“Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It’s a scary and humbling thought. I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway. Talk about being on your side, huh?” she added.

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“The world is a tough place these days. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Take care of each other”

After the diagnosis, the 28-year-old news reporter emailed the viewer who reached out to her to say thank you, but the viewer didn’t reply to that email for a few days. After that, Victoria Price wrote about her experience for WFLA.com and wondered if the woman was her “guardian angel.” “If you’re reading this, don’t feel obligated to write back. You’ve already done so much more than you may realize,” the reporter wrote in her story.

Soon enough, the viewer wrote back and sent Victoria her number, so she could call her once recovered from surgery.

#CheckYourNeck

Image credits: Victoria Price

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According to the American Cancer Society, More than 52,000 new cases of thyroid cancer are diagnosed each year. Moreover, women are over three times as likely to develop the cancer as men.

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The tricky thing about this cancer is that in the early stages, a person might not notice any symptoms at all. As it grows, a person can start to feel neck and throat pain, can experience difficulty swallowing and vocal changes, and can feel an urge to cough much more often.

Victoria encourages everyone who suspects they might have unusual masses in their neck to not hesitate and go get it checked by a health care provider.

Victoria Price has since received loads of supportive messages. Some people even shared their own cancer stories and gave her some helpful recovery tips

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Julija Svidraitė

Julija Svidraitė

Author, Community member

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Julija Svidraitė is an editor here at Bored Panda who has a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Before starting her journey at BP, she had worked as a social media specialist at a marketing agency. She has also tried herself in a few different fields working as an intern: from practicing graphic design at a social media marketing agency, to being an assistant at a psychiatric hospital. Besides writing, Julija is also very passionate about illustrating, drinking coffee, and watching crime documentaries. You can find her in Bored Panda Office or reach her at julija.s@boredpanda.com.

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Julija Svidraitė

Julija Svidraitė

Author, Community member

Julija Svidraitė is an editor here at Bored Panda who has a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Before starting her journey at BP, she had worked as a social media specialist at a marketing agency. She has also tried herself in a few different fields working as an intern: from practicing graphic design at a social media marketing agency, to being an assistant at a psychiatric hospital. Besides writing, Julija is also very passionate about illustrating, drinking coffee, and watching crime documentaries. You can find her in Bored Panda Office or reach her at julija.s@boredpanda.com.

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Asi Bassey
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Victoria said, “I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway”. I am glad that a stranger was thoughtful enough to point out a possible medical issue, and turned out to be right, literally helping save her life. She probably wasn’t the first to notice it, but decided to say something about it. I disagree with the second part Victoria’s statement though, about strangers having zero obligation to help. I firmly believe that we as humans have the obligation to help one another as much as we have the capacity to do so. None of us is perfect, has it all or knows it all. We grow as a species not by independence but by interdependence. Many thyroid cancers, especially the papillary type, have good prognoses. I eagerly wait for an update story in the near future where Victoria tells us that she’s been declared cancer-free.

Emily Softley
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People like this make putting up with idiots and trolls worthwhile. Feel good stories like this are exactly what we need in 2020.

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Asi Bassey
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Victoria said, “I will forever be thankful to the woman who went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero obligation to, but she did anyway”. I am glad that a stranger was thoughtful enough to point out a possible medical issue, and turned out to be right, literally helping save her life. She probably wasn’t the first to notice it, but decided to say something about it. I disagree with the second part Victoria’s statement though, about strangers having zero obligation to help. I firmly believe that we as humans have the obligation to help one another as much as we have the capacity to do so. None of us is perfect, has it all or knows it all. We grow as a species not by independence but by interdependence. Many thyroid cancers, especially the papillary type, have good prognoses. I eagerly wait for an update story in the near future where Victoria tells us that she’s been declared cancer-free.

Emily Softley
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People like this make putting up with idiots and trolls worthwhile. Feel good stories like this are exactly what we need in 2020.

Load More Comments
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