In her early twenties, Rachel Christensen was navigating the typical challenges faced by college students—balancing academic deadlines with a bustling personal life while striving to maintain her health.

When fatigue and anxiety started to creep in, the sales tech worker from South Carolina attributed it to her busy lifestyle.

However, in 2023, she discovered a lump on her neck. Initially dismissing it, she hoped it would disappear naturally.

But by March 2024, with the lump persisting, Christensen consulted an ear, nose, and throat specialist. A CT scan revealed three swollen lymph nodes.

While swollen lymph nodes are often harmless or indicative of a minor infection, they can sometimes be a warning sign of a more serious health issue.

After weeks of uncertainty, April 2024 brought clarity with biopsy results confirming papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the most frequent type of thyroid cancer.

And because it had spread to other lymph nodes, her cancer was metastatic, which makes it harder to treat.  

‘In my gut, I felt something may be wrong,’ Christensen, now 24, said. ‘[It was] terrifying. It honestly did not feel real. 

‘I have the worst hypochondria, so when I read the diagnosis in my portal it was really scary.’ 

Rachel Christensen (pictured here), 24, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year after mistaking her symptoms for exhaustion from a busy lifestyle

Christensen is one of a growing number of young Americans diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Recent estimates found the disease spiked 240 percent between 1973 and 2002 in all age groups overall.

Additionally, a 2025 study found incidence in children, adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 39 in the US surged 137 percent from 1995 to 2014. The highest rate of increase in the study was for PTC, which increased 5.5 percent per year.

Experts believe environmental contaminants like microplastics and pollution, along with growing rates of obesity, could be to blame for the surge, though scans to detect the disease have also become more common. 

The American Cancer Society estimates 44,000 new cases of thyroid cancer have been detected in 2025, and 2,300 Americans have died. About 80 percent of thyroid cancers are PTC. 

The disease is almost three times more common in women, which could be because the female sex hormone estrogen is thought to stimulate the growth of thyroid cancer cells.   

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that produces hormones responsible for regulating the body’s temperature, energy use, heart rate, digestive health and skin, hair and nail growth.

Like Christensen, most PTC patients have a painless lump near the thyroid gland but have few or no other symptoms. 

The overall five-year survival rate for thyroid cancer is 99 percent. In cases like Christensen’s where the disease has spread to other areas, that rate is about 71 percent. 

Christensen, pictured here with her mother, had to have her entire thyroid removed to treat her cancer

Christensen, pictured here after surgery, now has to take hormone therapy to replace hormone levels lost from her thyroidectomy

Less than a month after hearing the life-changing diagnosis, Christensen faced a major five-hour surgery to remove her thyroid and the affected lymph nodes.

‘I honestly just wanted to get it over with,’ she said. 

‘Seeing my scar for the first time was definitely scary as well,’ she added. ‘It’s about two to three inches long on my neck and all I could think about is how it would heal.

‘Now I don’t even care if you can see it. It reminds me of my strength.’

The operation was a success with surgeons removing her thyroid and all traces of cancer.

Christensen is now considered cancer-free following the surgery, but she was faced with a daunting new reality: living without a thyroid to produce vital hormones necessary for regulating metabolism, energy, body temperature and heart function. 

People without a thyroid gland are forced to take hormone replacement therapy to ensure they get adequate levels of the hormone synthetic thyroxine (T4). Without this, patients can suffer from fatigue, dry skin, brittle hair and nails, irregular periods and a slow heart rate, among other issues. 

Left uncontrolled, low thyroid hormones can lead to high cholesterol, heart failure, infertility, depression and cognitive decline.  

Christensen, pictured here, is now working to raise awareness of thyroid cancer warning signs for other young people

Christensen said: ‘My body is constantly fluctuating, so listening to my body is very important. It has been super frustrating both physically and mentally, so I try to give myself some grace and more credit for what I have been through at such a young age.’

Despite the ordeal, she says she is healthier now than when she was first diagnosed. She wakes up at 6am each day and has bloodwork every few weeks to manage her thyroid levels. 

She is also working with a naturopathic doctor to evaluate her diet and focus on her microbiome, a network of healthy bacteria living in the gut that influences digestion, immune health and metabolism.

Christensen also credits her family for being her ‘biggest support system.’

She said: ‘My mom is my biggest advocate and still to this day. [She] helps me navigate this and researches so that I can get to feeling my best.’

Now that she is cancer free, Christensen has also begun posting about her story on social media to help raise awareness for other young people who may dismiss the warning signs.

‘I am finally learning to give myself more grace and credit because living with this is very hard,’ she said.