Claire Dougherty, 22, experienced severe neck and ear pain whenever she drank alcohol, prompting her to seek medical help

Doctors discovered a tumor on her trachea, leading to a stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in November 2025

Symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma include swollen lymph nodes, which can cause pain when drinking

A young woman was diagnosed with blood cancer after dealing with a “roaring” pain every time she drank alcohol.

Claire Dougherty — a 22-year-old medical assistant from Philadelphia — loved going out with her friends and grabbing a drink. However, in August 2025, she started experiencing an unusual pain every time she drank alcohol, she told Kennedy News and Media, via the Daily Mail.

“I noticed that the front of my neck felt tense and maybe a little swollen and a little painful to touch,” she said, noting that the pain began at the base of her neck and traveled up to her left ear. “It felt like the most painful spot was my inner ear. I assumed that it was an ear problem that was causing pain in my neck.”

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Dougherty admitted that she wasn’t too concerned about it initially, and simply switched her choice of alcohol.

“For a little bit, every drink was a vodka drink so I kind of told myself maybe it was something [to do] with vodka,” she told the outlet. “[I thought] I had an intolerance to vodka but then eventually I had a gin drink and a wine and they made it hurt too so it didn't really matter what alcohol it was.”

Dougherty said she decided to fight through the pain, still wanting to enjoy herself with her friends despite the anxiety it caused her.

“It was tough because I had no reason I couldn't be drinking, but it would make everything so much worse,” she said. “I was very in my head about it and I got nervous every time I would drink because I was worried that it would make [the pain] bad.”

But in September, Dougherty felt a lump in her throat and visited a doctor, who immediately sent her for a CT scan and biopsy. Her results revealed that she had a tumor on her trachea, which was causing her the longtime pain.

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In November, she was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma include swollen lymph nodes, which can cause pain when drinking, fever, night sweats and feelings of lethargy.

Weeks later, the 22-year-old started chemotherapy, completing six rounds in early February. The treatment was able to successfully shrink the tumor on her windpipes and release the pressure on her airway.

Dougherty is now preparing for 20 rounds of radiation. Recognizing that her situation could’ve been worse, she is urging others to advocate for their health.

“I hated going and getting all of the testing done but it's worth it to know what's going on in your body and to get that peace of mind,” she admitted.

Read the original article on People