A mum-of-two who was turned away from her GP multiple times discovered she had only a matter of months to live after her "annoying" cough turned out to be a deadly cancer. Like many Brit mums in the final few months of the year, Sibylle Schwarz believed a pesky cough she developed late one year was caused by one of the many seasonal bugs that stream forth from the UK's nurseries. The 39-year-old from Germany, who lives in Preston, Lancashire, dismissed the symptom, saying she was "ill for most of that winter".

She trusted her cold-like symptoms would eventually pass, but started to worry after they persisted for three months and went looking for doctor's advice. She later found out the cough was just a symptom of a much more serious disease - but only after she had been turned away from her GP several times. Speaking to Lancashire Live, Sibylle said her symptoms were "really starting to get annoying" between February and March. She had a sore throat and would cough every time she tried to talk, and, by May, developed a "swallowing issue". The mum then started thinking something was "not right".

But when she plucked up the courage to visit her doctor, she claims the surgery receptionist was dismissive and refused to book an appointment while advising her to take a sickness tablet. When she returned in June, a different pharmacist told her to do the same, despite her insistence that she needed to see a doctor. She said: "I went back to the GP in June and there was a different receptionist. But she also said to go to the pharmacy. I told her I really, really needed to see a doctor and she booked me in for an appointment. The GP talked to me a little bit and then agreed to send me to have an endoscopy, just to be sure.

"She put me down on a waiting list and I got a call from that department two months later because I wasn’t listed as urgent." By the time she received the call, Sibylle said, she "already couldn't swallow food". But because she was breastfeeding her baby son at the time, she couldn't be sedated for the procedure, and it was postponed until the end of October. She said: "I lost 25 kilos within those four months. I was in a very bad state. I couldn’t eat. I was losing my hair. My iron level was very, very low. The surgeon told me they wouldn't have put me down for an endoscopy if I hadn’t lost so much weight. They didn’t believe me when I said I couldn’t eat any food.

“Then after the endoscopy, the surgeon apologised for being so presumptuous and told me the news that I had cancer. She discovered it was quite advanced, and that I might have only six to 12 months to live." Sibylle received her diagnosis the day before her daughter's birthday, fearing she wouldn't see her eighth. While it took months for her to be seen by a doctor, Sibylle was able to receive prompt treatment. After a stuttering start to chemotherapy, medics were able to remove a mass from her throat. She is now adjusting to life two years on from her surgery despite the initial devastating prognosis.

She said: "I feel fine now. I can eat most things again, smaller portions, of course, but I have energy. I can take care of my kids." The mum is now looking to the future, and hopes that her story can raise awareness of oesophageal cancer. She had advised people who worry they may have the deadly disease to "push a bit more" when looking for medical treatment. She continued: "You always have to be the bad patient and you always have to push. I was never that person. I always waited my turn. Of course, you have to be polite, but you have to push and advocate for yourself. And if I would have known that, then that might have led to me being diagnosed faster.".