I thought my rash was just an allergic reaction to makeup – the truth was horrible but I was told ‘you can’t be sick’

A WOMAN mistook her cancer symptoms for an allergic reaction.

Antonia Rubio, 25, naively believed her rash was due to makeup – but she was actually in the early stages of thyroid cancer.

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She now wants to raise awareness about the signs to look out for before it’s too late.

The singer, from Jersey, said: “I went from having a rash on my face to going into anaphylactic shock whilst having dinner with my housemate.

“I couldn’t breathe and I thought I was having a heart attack. It was scary.”

Antonia’s ordeal began with red marks on her face, which quickly turned into life-threatening recurring anaphylactic episodes.

She initially thought she was allergic to makeup, perfume, or body products, so she stopped using them completely.

But after numerous hospital admissions, where she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, Antonia was informed that it was, in fact, thyroid cancer.

“It was very difficult to be diagnosed with cancer at age 20,” said Antonia.

“I felt like I was falling behind and all my friends were ahead of me to get on with their lives.

“It took me a long time to accept my diagnosis and grieve the life I thought I would live.

“I felt a mix of emotions, including relief, that after three years of feeling unwell, I finally received an answer.

“It wasn’t the answer I wanted; but once I was diagnosed, it meant I could start treatment and fight the disease head on.”

Antonia, who was studying at the University of Brighton, had 10 anaphylactic episodes over the course of a year.

The potentially fatal reaction causes blood pressure to drop, airways to narrow, and pulse to be weak.

Each time, she was sent by ambulance to hospital – but the cause remained unknown.

“Because it was at the height of Covid, they didn’t have time to run tests on me to get to the root of the problem,” she said.

“I restricted my diet to try and control the crashes, but even things I thought were safe, like bananas, gave me a rash.

“I lost about 3st, but I put that down to my new diet.

“I kept going back to the doctors, but they thought I was just anxious or a hypochondriac

“As I was a student, they asked me if I smoked or drank, but I didn’t do either because I was very worried about my health.”

I was told I ‘looked too good to have cancer’, but what does cancer look like?

Antônia Rubio

Concerned about her studies, Antonia decided to return home in February 2021 to continue her degree remotely.

While there, his condition worsened.

“I had a lump in my throat and was tired all the time,” she said. “I would come home from work and sleep.

“I remember thinking I wasn’t living the normal life of a 24-year-old and my friends said I wasn’t as loud or fun anymore.

“It wasn’t a criticism, they were genuinely concerned about me.

“I thought there was more going on with my body, so I persisted and didn’t take no for an answer.”

Antonia visited an otolaryngologist, who detected a 2 cm nodule in her throat and sent her for an ultrasound and a biopsy, which gave inconclusive results.

Unprepared to give up the fight, she attended a private clinic to have the lump removed in March 2023, after reading about Love Island’s Demi Jones’ experience with thyroid cancer.

A week later, she had the disease confirmed and, in April 2023, her thyroid was completely removed.

Antonia said: “After having two surgeries in a short space of time, I woke up and couldn’t speak.

“I started to panic and cried because I love singing. I couldn’t sing for three months.

“I was really upset about it, but my voice came back and now I’m practicing every day.”

Antonia is sharing her story with the help of the Teenage Cancer Trust as part of their #BestToCheck campaign, which encourages people to be aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer.

She said: “I just knew something wasn’t right. You know your own body better than anyone else.

“Ask yourself, ‘Am I feeling different? Am I more tired than usual? Do I feel itchy? Have I been losing weight for no reason?’

“I was told that I ‘looked too good to have cancer’ and ‘You can’t be sick, you look too good’, but what does cancer look like?

“Comments like this invalidated a lot of what I went through.

“I think college students need to be more vigilant because they are responsible for their health as they don’t have parents pestering them to go to the doctor.

“I think they’re also more likely to think it’s a newer flu or that they’re just overwhelmed by trying to balance their college work and social life.”

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Antonia added that during the treatment she was in “survival mode” but assumed things would return to normal once it was finished.

Unfortunately, it has been “difficult to get back to socializing again.”

“People think I don’t need support anymore, but I still do,” she said.

“They don’t realize that once you have cancer, it will affect you forever.

“You’re still part of that club you never wanted to be part of.

“My friends are engaged, moving in with their partners and having kids, but I don’t know what’s in my future.

“There are a lot of things you don’t realize will be affected, like your fertility; I’m planning a baby shower for one of my friends and I realized I don’t know if I can have kids.

“You have to just deal with these things as they come.

“It used to scare me not knowing what the future held and I had a set path in mind, but now I find it exciting.

“I want to enjoy being healthy and happy.”

Antonia, who wrote a song about having cancer in her 20s, currently works as a financial administrator but hopes to teach music in the future.

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