'I thought my son just had whooping cough - but it actually turned out to be cancer'

A mum has told how she thought her teenage son had whooping cough only to be stunned when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Caroline Chung's son Liam Jones, 14, has stage two Hodgkin's Lymphoma, an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.  

He first started displaying symptoms including a dry cough and being tired but Caroline, 39, just thought he had a '100 day cough', also known as whooping cough.

Now after his diagnosis, Caroline is urging parents to not listen to what other people think and trust their instincts about their children's health.

She said: "He used to be out with his friends all the time - he was also having naps. But I thought he had a hard day at school and I didn't think too much of it."

"But now I know there were signs and people were saying to me that it would just be the 100-day cough. You never think it's going to be sinister like it is.

"Just don't ignore a cough - I let people convince me it was the 100 day cough even though I had an instinct. I suppose it was denial, I didn't want to think the worst."

Caroline first realised something was wrong with Liam when he developed a dry cough and looked paler and skinnier than usual.  She originally thought it was a '100 day cough' but then the schoolboy discovered a lump on his collarbone which hadn't been there before.

The mum-of-two contacted the doctors and he went for an ultrasound and a X-Ray. Caroline then received a call at 3am from Alder Hay Children's Hospital in Liverpool, and they were transferred there by ambulance.

Liam was then told he had stage two Hodgkin's Lymphoma earlier this month but Caroline is relieved because it is treatable. She said: "The doctors said it was stage two so it's treatable and that was kind of a relief."

"To hear those words that it was curable and that it wasn't terminal was just music to my ears. I knew it would be a journey and that it wouldn't be nice, but I knew he was going to survive. "That was the best thing I could have heard."

Liam is currently having chemotherapy and he may need radiotherapy, depending on how his body reacts.  Caroline, of Cheshire, says the teenager has "barely complained" about everything he's been through and has just "accepted that this is his story."

She said: "He's so courageous. When had to go to Alder Hay, we had a few tears between us but ever since then, he's not cried and he's barely complained.  He's accepted that this is his story."

"He's been poked and prodded by surgeons and nurses and he's had had heart scans, CT scans, biopsies and PET scans - literally everything.  Liam has been amazing throughout."

Caroline is a single mum to Liam and his sister Olivia, eight, and owns a hair and beauty salon.  When Liam was diganosed, Caroline realised she would have to stop working so a Go Fund Me page has been set up to support the family.

They have also gone to live with Caroline's best friend, footballer and singer Chelcee Grimes, as she lives closer to Alder Hey Children's Hospital.  

Caroline said: "I'm self-employed and I'm a full-time parent - if I'm not working, then I'm not earning."

"That was kind of scary for me because I was thinking 'how am I going to pay for my bills?' so it was quite frightening."

"My friend has set up a GoFundMe page which was just amazing - the love and support of everyone has been overwhelming."

"That's given me the peace because I know I can use that to pay some bills."

"I have to use physical contact for work, so when his immune system starts deteriorating I won't be able to touch clients and then go home. You never think in a million years that this will happen to you and you don't prepare for it."

You can donate to the fundraising page here.