My identical twin has cancer — I don’t, but I still suffer same symptoms
These twins are not only seeing double – they’re feeling double, too.
A teenage girl from Scotland has been suffering from symptoms of her identical twin’s cancer – but doctors say there’s nothing wrong with her.
In 2017, Sophie Walker, now 16, was diagnosed with what is called a Wilms tumor, which is a rare kidney cancer that typically affects children, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Her twin sister, Megan, has never had cancer but reportedly has the same exact symptoms as her sibling, according to South West News Service.
Before Sophie was diagnosed, she had a number of symptoms that included stomach pain with cramps reminiscent of a stomach bug, back pain and weight loss – ailments that her twin also experienced, despite not having a tumor.
“When Sophie was first diagnosed, Megan had all the symptoms. People comment on how ill she looks all the time — she’s even paler than her sister,” the girls’ mom, Rebecca Walker, told SWNS.
“Every test under the sun has been done on her, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her,” she added about Megan. “It’s so bizarre.”
Since Sophie’s diagnosis, she has gone into remission twice, but also relapsed four times.
After doctors discovered Sophie’s tumor, she underwent 27 weeks of chemotherapy.
She was in remission until January 2020, when they found “something worrying” on her spine during an MRI.
It turned out that when specialists had gone into her spine to take an initial biopsy, the needle had dislodged more cancer cells — which then spread, reported SWNS.
“Consultants are telling me it’s just a ‘twin thing’ — which I find totally bizarre.”
She then had three weeks of radiotherapy but relapsed again in December 2021.
One year later, she was in remission once again – but just three months ago, doctors told her that she had yet another relapse.
“We went to get Sophie checked out one day and were told by the consultant she couldn’t feel anything there,” her mom said.
“But by the following day, we were called back in. All the consultant could say was that the results were ‘not good’ — and she started to cry.”
It was the first time in six years that Sophie had shed a tear over her illness.
“I was told to take her away and make memories while she’s well enough,” Rebecca said.
However, since the news, Sophie has been struggling “deeply” with both health anxiety and depression.
Meanwhile, Megan has been feeling the same way.
After Sophie got the relapse update in January, her twin also offered to have a “head-to-toe” MRI scan, but again, no illness was detected.
“Consultants are telling me it’s just a ‘twin thing’ — which I find totally bizarre,” their mom said. “I’ve never heard of identical twins getting sick at the same time when one isn’t even ill herself.”
Their mom said that they have a big family of eight kids, but Megan and Sophie have a special bond.
Megan has not left her twin’s side since she became ill and will stay with her in the hospital all night, sometimes even until 3 in the morning.
Her mom said that Megan won’t leave Sophie until she tells her that she wants to go to sleep and is ready for bed.
However, there could be a silver lining – a “little bit of hope,” according to their mom — as a team of oncologists, pediatric surgeons and plastic surgeons will be able to perform surgery on the tumor in her spine.
She was originally supposed to have the tumor operated on in 2020, but due to COVID, the surgery was canceled.
She is waiting for a surgery date to be confirmed, but in the meantime, the family is raising money on GoFundMe to allow the 16-year-old to receive proton therapy in New York.
Their goal is £350,000, which is equivalent to around $433,139.
“We have reached out to a few different medical facilities around the world and have been told of a very promising procedure that would still be curative for Sophie,” Rebecca wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“We haven’t been given a final figure so have to set our target at their ballpark figure until we finalize the costs.”
