A dancer who was diagnosed with cancer at age 21 has revealed how doctors dismissed her symptoms for months as she desperately searched for answers – and how she ultimately returned to the stage after bravely beating the disease.
At the start of 2020, Amina Vargas, now 24, felt on top of the world: she was close to finishing her studies at her dream school and was excited to start her career as a professional dancer.
But all of that changed when she suddenly developed a multitude of crippling symptoms that left her so weak she could barely climb a set of stairs without feeling like she might pass out.
Despite her drastic decline, Amina struggled to see a doctor for months, and when she finally did, she says her symptoms were brushed off.
For 10 months her health deteriorated, however she still had no idea what was wrong with her – until she eventually became so sick she had to be rushed to the hospital.
A dancer who was diagnosed with cancer at age 21 has revealed how doctors dismissed her symptoms for months as she desperately searched for answers
At the start of 2020, Amina Vargas (seen in 2019), now 24, felt on top of the world: she was close to finishing her studies at her dream school and was excited to start her career
However, things only went from bad to worse when she got to the hospital, where doctors performed the wrong biopsy.
It came back inconclusive, meaning she was back at square one.
Finally, after nearly a year of wondering what was wrong with her, Amina was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma – and she felt like her life was over.
But Amina has now beaten the disease and come back even stronger – and she shared her inspiring journey with DailyMail.com in the hopes of raising awareness about self-advocation when it comes to your body.
While chatting with DailyMail.com recently, Amina explained that she was in her fourth year at the acclaimed Alvin Ailey School in the fall of 2020 when she suddenly ‘started getting super fatigued out of nowhere.’
She recalled feeling like she was going to ‘pass out’ just from taking the stairs to get to the train home from class.
She also developed a ‘lump’ in her abdomen, so she decided to bring up her symptoms to her gynecologist, who told her it was most likely a cyst and to ‘wait and see’ if it will ‘go away on its own.’
But things only got worse after that. She soon started suffering from night sweats, fevers, bloating, and severe stomach pain, and it became ‘painful to eat.’
She also lost a severe amount of weight – 25 pounds in five months.
But Amina told DailyMail.com recently that all of that changed when she suddenly developed a slew of crippling symptoms that left her so weak she could hardly climb set of stairs
But Amina struggled to see a doctor for months, and when she finally did, her symptoms were brushed off – and it took nearly a year for her to be diagnosed. She’s seen during her treatment
‘It was awful. I’m someone who likes to be in control of my body. That’s literally what I’m supposed to do [as a dancer],’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘And then here I am like, completely lost. I had no idea what was happening to me. I just know I felt super weak.
Amina was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma in July 2021 – and she felt like her life was over. She’s seen while cutting her hair off
‘And it was my final year of school, like, this is the point where I’m supposed to be auditioning, looking for jobs, putting myself out there.’
Since it was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amina said it was ‘impossible to get a doctor’s appointment,’ despite her worsening symptoms.
And when she finally got to see a medical professional, they quickly dismissed her.
‘They were like, “You’re super healthy, you have no prior conditions. You look like you’re just a little dehydrated, you look a little anemic. We’ll give you something for this,”‘ she recalled.
But things came to a head in June 2021 when she was rushed to the emergency room after a performance in front of her entire school, when her fever reached 104 degrees.
‘I pushed myself past my limit. Finally, my body just snapped,’ she shared. ‘They start doing all these tests and they realized, “Oh, wait. Something is actually wrong.”‘
But despite doctors discovering that something may be seriously wrong with Amina, it would still take more than a month for her to get an official diagnosis.
But Amina has now beaten the disease and come back even stronger – and she shared her inspiring journey with DailyMail.com in the hopes of raising awareness about self-advocation
‘I think a lot of times I’m afraid of being annoying, but when it comes to your body I think you should be annoying. I think you should ask every question,’ she said
The then-21-year-old said she then endured a ‘botched’ biopsy where doctors used the wrong type of anesthetic, which meant she ‘felt everything’ during the procedure.
‘I’m just like on the table, flinching and trying to be tough and hold back tears and not argue with the professional,’ she said.
‘But it was awful. It was so bad. When I left and met my dad outside, I just started crying.’
In the end, she was told the biopsy was ‘inconclusive’ and she’d have to get another.
‘What I wish I would have done differently is confirmed my appointment ahead of time and asked a whole bunch of questions,’ she reflected.
‘I think a lot of times I’m afraid of being annoying, but when it comes to your body I think you should be annoying.
‘I think you should ask every question and try to ease your anxiety as much as possible, because getting to the table and bringing it up there was too late.’
Amina was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, in late July, and she moved back home to Washington, D.C., to be with her family while she underwent treatment.
While she was ‘grateful’ to be back with her loved ones, she recalled feeling discouraged since she assumed it was the end of her dance career.
‘It felt like I was losing everything that I had worked for. I had just signed a lease on an apartment, and I was so excited,’ she continued.
She recalled feeling discouraged since she assumed it was the end of her dance career after she was diagnosed
‘It felt like I was losing everything that I had worked for,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘Right as I was getting to that finish line it just got ripped away from me. It was really hard’
‘I was starting to build a life and build connections and trying to break through in my career.
‘And then, right as I was getting to that finish line it just got ripped away from me. It was really hard.’
Amina underwent chemo for six months, and was declared cancer free in February 2022
But her medical team kept her positive, and she gushed, ‘They were very nurturing, very sweet and very encouraging.’
She said her doctor told her that he was determined to ‘get her dancing’ again, and requested that when she does hit the stage again, she sends him a ticket to her show.
‘I think having that in my mind, when earlier I felt like that was all lost, it really helped me mentally,’ she added.
Amina underwent chemo for six months, and was declared cancer free in February 2022.
Three weeks after she finished treatment, a dancer who she looked up to, named Hope Boykin, reached out to her on social media and invited her to join a dance project she was working on as an assistant, and it was a perfect way for her to ‘get back into movement.’
‘I felt like I had a safe space to kind of fumble around a little bit … I felt like a baby deer walking for the first time,’ she joked. ‘It was the perfect stepping stone.’
In October 2022, she danced for the first time on stage again at the Kennedy Center in New York – and her doctor was front row. And since then she hasn’t stopped dancing.
In October 2022, she danced for the first time on stage again at the Kennedy Center in New York – and since then she hasn’t stopped dancing. She’s seen dancing in January
She told DailyMail.com that she hopes being so outspoken about what she went through will show others who may be battling a similar condition that it doesn’t mean their dreams are over
‘In 2021 I was like, “My life is over. This is it.” ‘But I survived and I fought through that, and now I’m doing things I would have never even imagined before,’ she concluded. She’s seen recently
She told DailyMail.com that she hopes being so outspoken about what she went through will inspire others to advocate for themselves.
She also wants to show others who may be battling a similar condition that it doesn’t mean their dreams have to be over.
‘I hope that my experience can show that there are so many different paths to success. Everyone’s journey is different,’ she concluded.
‘The possibilities for me have expanded, and I’m seeing the world of dance in a whole other way and connecting with artists who I may not have even connected with.
‘This limit or this timeline that we’ve created for ourselves is really a figment of our imagination.
‘[Cancer] may not be where where your life ends. It could be where it begins. In 2021 I was like, “My life is over. This is it.”
‘But I survived and I fought through that, and now I’m doing things I would have never even imagined before.’