Mum's devastating cancer diagnosis after rare symptom initially missed by doctors

A desperate mum became so determined to discover why she couldn't bend her fingers was diagnosed with - after she used .

Lauren Bannon, 40, felt "let down" by doctors when they dismissed this and her other symptoms, like stomach pains and rapid weight loss, as rheumatoid and acid reflux. Desperate to discover what was happening to her body after months of pain, Lauren disclosed her symptoms to messaging service ChatGPT, which said she may have Hasimoto's disease.

Despite reservations from her doctor, the mother of two insisted she be tested for the condition in September last year and was shocked to discover that Chat GPT was correct. This prompted doctors to carry out scans of Lauren's thyroid, and discover two small lumps in her neck that were confirmed as in October 2024.

Medical research continues into the relationship between Hasimoto's disease and cancer, though some professionals believe the two are linked. However, Lauren, who owns a marketing company, said she would never have found the hidden cancer without the help of ChatGPT - which she credits for helping save her life.

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Lauren, originally from Newry, , noticing that she was struggling to bend her little fingers in the morning and evening in February last year. Her body's immune system was mistakenly attacking the thyroid gland but this went unnoticed by medics.

"I felt let down by doctors. It was almost like they were just trying to give out medication for anything to get you in and out the door... I needed to find out what was happening to me, I just felt so desperate. I just wasn't getting the answers I needed," the mother of two, now living between the US Virgin Islands and Wilmington, North Carolina, US, continued.

"So that's when I pulled up ChatGPT. I already used it for work. I started typing what mimics rheumatoid arthritis and it popped up saying 'you may have Hashimoto's disease, ask your doctor to check your thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) levels'. So I went to my doctors and she told me 'I couldn't have that, there was no family history of it' but I said 'just amuse me'."

After a positive test for Hashimoto's disease, the marketing professional underwent an ultrasound of her thyroid where doctors discovered two cancerous lumps in her neck. In January 2025, Lauren underwent an operation to remove her thyroid and two lymph nodes from her neck but remains under lifelong monitoring to ensure the cancer doesn't return.

Due to not presenting with "typical" symptoms of Hashimoto's disease, Lauren believes the condition, and subsequent cancer diagnosis, would have remained undetected without the help of ChatGPT.

Lauren said: "I didn't have the typical symptoms of Hashimoto's disease, I wasn't tired or feeling exhausted. If I hadn't looked on ChatGPT, I would've just taken the rheumatoid arthritis medication and the cancer would've spread from my neck to everywhere else.

"The doctor said I was very lucky to have caught it so early. I know for sure that cancer would've spread without using ChatGPT. It saved my life. I just knew that something was wrong with me. I would've never discovered this without ChapGPT. All my tests were perfect.

"I would encourage others to use Chat GPT with their health concerns, act with caution but if it gives you something to look into, ask your doctors to test you. It can't do any harm. I feel lucky to be alive."