FRANCESCA Mancini thought the news was bad when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis but her world came crashing down when she was told she had a tumour the size of a grapefruit in her chest.

The 19-year-old from Bishopbriggs was sitting at the top of Arthur's Seat when she got the devastating phone call.

Doctors had found a mass on her thymus, a gland in the middle of her chest cavity.

She said: "It’s funny – rheumatoid arthritis had seemed like the end of the world - a forever thing I’d be stuck with, that would change my life.

"After that phone call, it didn’t seem as bad…”

Glasgow Times:

Francesca, who lives at home with her mum and dad, May and Osvaldo, and five-year-old sister Chiara, was initially diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she complained of fatigue and pain and swelling in her finger joints.

Before beginning treatment, doctors referred her for a chest x-ray and suddenly, Francesca’s world turned upside down.

After an operation to remove the tumour – which was the size of a grapefruit – Francesca received a second, devastating blow.

“Up until then, the doctors had thought it might be benign but it turned out to be malignant,” she said.

“They told me I had stage four Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, which had started to spread to my lung, pancreas, abdominal lymph nodes and the sac around my heart.

“I was shocked. Up until then, the word had never been mentioned. Now I realised what was going on. I was 19 years old, and I had cancer.

“You know the thing I was worried about the most? Losing my hair. I thought – I’m only 19, I can get through chemo. But to lose all my hair? I couldn’t bear the thought of it.”

A fortnight after starting a 14-week programme of intense chemotherapy, Francesca’s hair did fall out, so her mum helped her shave her head.

“She was crying so much, she couldn’t see what she was doing,” says Francesca.

“I know it was just as terrible for her.

“She did make a bit of a mess of it, though.

"The hairdressers at the Beatson sorted it out and in a way it was a relief to get rid of it all, as it was starting to fall out in clumps in my food, on my pillow at night....

“And now it’s starting to grow back again, which is great.”

And on October 9, Francesca got the welcome news that she is in remission.

She said: “The chemo blitzed it.

“It’s the hardest chemo you can get, so I feel quite proud of myself that I got through it.”

Francesca is now planning to resume her course at Edinburgh University, where she is studying biomedical science, and hopes to have a career in oncology.

“One of the downsides of the treatment is that it’s unlikely I will be able to have children,” she said.

“I’d like to do something that combines cancer studies and fertility – if I can’t fix myself, I hope I can help fix other people.”

Francesca is unfailingly cheerful, but she admits there were low points during her treatment when she was stuck inside for days at a time.

Feeling sick and tired, she would escape from the ward to the welcoming wellbeing centre on the Beatson's fourth floor.

“The views over the city are amazing,” said the teenager.

“The windows are huge, from floor to ceiling, so I’d just sit and look out over Glasgow and remember what the outside world looked like…”

The wellbeing centre - a little haven of relaxing therapies, movie nights, chill-out rooms and absolutely no clinical atmosphere whatsoever – is one of the reasons Francesca is doing everything she can to support the Beatson.

She has made a video all about her cancer journey, which will be shown at the inaugural Beatson Ball tomorrow night.

“The Beatson did so much for me and my family,” she said.

“Now I want to do something for them.”

The ball also stars Hue and Cry and features a performance from mind reader Colin Cloud.

“Spotting cancer early means it doesn’t always have to end in doom and gloom,” she said.

“I am a pretty upbeat person – if you don’t laugh, you cry and I knew that crying wasn’t going to make the cancer go away.

“By telling my story, I might be able to help other people.

"And if I can help even just one person, it will have been worth it.”

Some tables for the Beatson Ball are still available - call 0141 212 0505 or email events@beatsoncancercharity.org for details.