Surrey teen who says she mistook symptoms of stage four cancer for exam stress is now offering advice

Odille at hospital recieving chemotherapy treatment at hospital
-Credit: (Image: Odille/CarFest)


A Surrey teen who put her swollen glands down to exam stress was later diagnosed with stage four cancer. Odille Sellick, from Bletchingly, was 16 years old when she was issued the earth-shattering news that she had Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Now 18 and in remission, Odille’s doctors estimated she had been living with the cancer for around a year before she was diagnosed in 2022. When Odille noticed lumps on her neck, she went to her GP.

Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a cancer that attacks the lymphatic system in the body. It causes painless swelling of glands that don’t subside, night sweats and unintentional weight loss. Odille found herself feeling exceptionally fatigued, impacting her beloved ballet classes.

Odille said: “I thought it was exam stress. The doctor said they would need blood samples, and he offered to do the biopsy in his lunch break. I wasn’t very symptomatic considering the cancer was advanced.”

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Odille after she had shaved her head and lost her eyelash during chemotherapy
During chemotherapy, Odille was shocked with how fast her hair fell -Credit:Odille / CarFest

As soon as Odille received the diagnosis, she was faced with the impossible task of facing her future fertility. Many 16-year-olds don’t give parenthood a second thought, but Odille now had to decide whether to have her eggs frozen.

Opting for the procedure meant Odille’s life-saving treatment would be pushed back a month. Odille said: “I had to get back to the hospital by 5pm that day, my parents told me to do what was best for me. The worry was that I would get really sick, and a month can mean a lot when cancer is advanced.”

Without treatment, it was estimated that Odille had around three to six months to live. Odille was given brentuximab, which is chemotherapy with antibodies attached to it, attacking cancer cells.

While on chemotherapy, Odille had to be extremely careful where she went and what she ate. The type of cancer she had made her immune system weak, combined with the strong medication she was given.

This meant no school, limiting going out with friends and eating well-cooked food to avoid any chances of food poisoning. Odille was given her medicine at the hospital and would have to sit with others who also were receiving chemotherapy for up to six hours, as the medicine was delivered via drip.

Odille said: “I’d sometimes get to sit with others of a similar age. We’d sit down and joke, ‘What are you in for?’ like it was a prison.”

Regular scans were taken to see how her body was responding to treatment, Odille said: “I’d get a stomach drop feeling every time I walked back into that room, remembering the time I was diagnosed.

“It was scary, and I’d worry ‘Has it come back?’ I tried to distract myself from it and try not to think about it, there’s nothing I can do if it has other than have treatment again.”

Speaking on how cancer impacted her busy teenage social life, Odille said some of her classmates faded out of her life while she was receiving treatment. It can be difficult for peers to understand and come to terms with.

Odille said: “Some stopped speaking to me, especially when I lost my hair and started like I was a cancer patient. My hair went and so did my eyelashes, no one was trying to be mean or a bad person, they just didn’t know how to react or didn’t feel like they could be themselves.”

Odille with short hair, smiling and wearing a pink cardigan
Odille, who is now in remission after receiving treatment -Credit:Odille/ CarFest

One piece of advice Odille would give other teens out with a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer is to ask questions. Odille said: “I like it when they ask questions and try to understand. It’s part of my life, I couldn’t really get away from it.”

For those going through chemotherapy, Odille says to bite the bullet and shave your hair off. “It was pretty refreshing, and I was surprised by how quickly my hair fell out after starting chemo. I didn’t think it would happen to me,” Odille said, “I looked like Golem from Lord of the Rings. My hair was so patchy.”

Odille clung to her remaining strands of hair, but after clumps began to fall, she took the leap and shaved her head. “It’s a shock and an adjustment,” Odille said, adding: “After treatment, I shaved it for the first couple of months, because when my hair first began growing back it was quite wispy, this helped it not look so thin.”

This summer, Odille will be attending petrol head Chris Evans’ Car Fest as a Teenage Cancer Trust ambassador. Odille found solace in the community, that held events for teens with cancer to escape their everyday battle.

Sam Ryder, Beverley Knight, and Scouting for Girls will be rocking the stage, and Odille is most excited to see Olly Murs perform. All proceeds from the event are donated to charity, Young Epilepsy, Teenage Cancer Trust and BBC Children in Need have all benefited from the event.

If you’re interested in participating, you can find out more about Car Fest here.

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