Paige Lloyd, a 29-year-old support worker from Bolton in Greater Manchester, initially assumed her pregnancy caused her breathlessness because her baby girl was positioned high up against her lungs. When the issue returned alongside severe chest pain spreading from her heart to her shoulder, she mentioned it during her 32-week scan, leading to a CT scan that uncovered a mass near her heart.

She received a diagnosis of thymoma type B3, an extremely rare condition affecting one in a million individuals that is frequently mistaken for anxiety early on due to chest pain and pressure. Paige recalled breaking down in tears and begging medical staff to save her baby, never imagining she had cancer.

After trying for four years to conceive through IVF with her 34-year-old partner Richard, she worried constantly about her baby. Doctors advised that an early delivery would allow her to start aggressive chemotherapy. Her daughter, Riven-Leigh, arrived via C-section in December 2025 three weeks early, weighing 6lb 3oz, though Paige missed out on breastfeeding and skin-to-skin time due to her recovery needs.

Beginning in January, Paige underwent five rounds of chemotherapy and major surgery in May to excise the tumor, which was wrapped around blood vessels near her heart. Severe complications followed when a blood vessel stitch ruptured during her recovery, causing internal bleeding, cardiac arrest, a collapsed left lung, partial paralysis of her left vocal cord, and upper chest blood clots.

She spent six days in intensive care and continues dealing with breathlessness, pain, nerve damage, and PTSD. Because remaining cancer cells appeared on later scans, she started daily proton beam therapy. Despite her fears of the cancer returning, she focuses on raising her daughter and making memories.

Symptoms of thymoma

Most people don't have symptoms in the early stages.

Instead, symptoms often arise when a tumor impacts organs in your chest.

They may include:

  • Chest pain or a feeling of pressure on your chest
  • Cough that won't go away
  • Shortness of breath
  • Trouble swallowing

Tumours can block or squeeze the large veins that carry blood to your heart, called the vena cava.

Compression of the vena cava can cause a very serious condition known as superior vena cava syndrome.

If this happens, you may experience symptoms that include:

  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Fatigue
  • Dizziness
  • Headaches
  • Swelling in your neck and face
  • Swelling in your arms and hands
  • Visible veins in the upper part of your body

Source: Cleveland Clinic