What you need to know

• Holly Thursby started experiencing unusual neck pain after drinking wine.

• The 28-year-old mother of two was later diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

• She said pain from drinking is a lesser-known side effect of the disease, but she is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

A young woman had an unusual reaction to drinking alcohol and discovered she had blood cancer.

In December 2024, Holly Thursby, a 28-year-old from Sunderland, England, had just given birth to her son, when she started experiencing unusual neck pain when drinking wine, she told Kennedy News & Media. daily mail.

“After I ate, [my son] Jack, I’ll have some wine with my meal. I had pain in my neck and behind my left ear. I could drink prosecco, but sometimes it hurt and sometimes it didn’t. Lager doesn’t hurt, but wine really hurts. ”

Additionally, Ms. Thursby found herself feeling very itchy and exhausted.

“I was devastated for a long time,” she told the outlet. “I’m unbearably tired and have to take naps during the day, which is not particularly normal…I complained that my skin was really itchy. My legs were unbearably itchy.”

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Thursby said she thought being a busy mother with a toddler and a new baby at home might be the only cause of her fatigue. But in January 2025, she decided to see a doctor. But when she talked about her symptoms, doctors “blamed it on hormones,” she said.

“I listened to what my doctor said and didn’t think about anything else,” she told the outlet.

A few months later, Thursby discovered a lump in her neck and went back to the doctor. Eventually they sent her for a CT scan and biopsy.

In October 2025, she received a “heartbreaking” diagnosis of stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. According to American Cancer SocietySymptoms of Hodgkin’s lymphoma include swollen lymph nodes, which can cause pain when drinking, fever, night sweats, and fatigue.

“When I talked to my blood cancer doctor, she said she’s been working there for 17 years and she’s only seen this cancer once,” Thursby said. “But pain when drinking alcohol is actually a known side effect of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “It’s due to the acidity of the wine, not the pain you get when you drink other alcohols.”

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Slusby, an elementary school teacher, began chemotherapy to treat her cancer in November and plans to continue chemotherapy for the next few months. She told the magazine that she lost her mother to a blood disease when she was young and now worries that she won’t be able to participate in her children’s lives.

“The worst part is not being able to take care of the boys,” she says. “I’m scared that I’m going to die, that I’m going to be separated from my children. I can’t leave them without a mother. I grew up without a mother and it was horrible. I can’t do that to my children.”

Despite the unknown, Thursby said she has received a lot of support and is trying to be optimistic now that her diagnosis is confirmed.

“We’re all devastated, but now we know it and we have a treatment plan and that’s what we need,” she said. “I’m just doing the best I can for them. I’m telling myself this is temporary and I need to keep moving forward.”

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