Holly Stubbs with her family Credit:   © The Land of Holly/Facebook (2)  https://www.facebook.com/thelandofholly

Mom, 28, diagnosed with terminal tongue cancer after doctors insisted lump was a pregnancy side effect

Story by Vanessa Etienne

May 29 • 3 min read

Key takeaways

• Medical Journey: Holly Stubbs, 28, was repeatedly misdiagnosed during pregnancy; what doctors called a pregnancy granuloma turned out to be tongue cancer, later spreading to her lungs.
• Advocacy & Resilience: Despite painful treatments and setbacks, she emphasizes trusting your instincts and advocating for your health: *“You know your body best.”*
• Outlook & Hope: Now terminal, Holly is exploring palliative care and immunotherapy, staying optimistic for her children and encouraging others to push for answers.

“All we can do now is hope for a miracle,” Holly Stubbs says, after learning there are no more curative treatments for her cancer

NEED TO KNOW

• Holly Stubbs was misdiagnosed multiple times before learning her tongue cancer had become terminal and spread to her lungs
• The mom of three endured months of painful treatments and advocated for her health despite repeated dismissals by doctors
• Stubbs encourages others to trust their instincts and push for answers, saying, “You know your body best”

A mom is navigating a terminal cancer diagnosis after doctors insisted she had nothing to worry about.

In February 2025, Holly Stubbs — from Seaham, England — was 28 years old and 31 weeks pregnant with her third child when she noticed a lump on her tongue. After talking to her dentist, she was told she had a pregnancy granuloma, a noncancerous growth that would go away after giving birth.

But by April, the lump had “grown significantly” and started causing her pain when she ate. She was reassured that the lump was a pregnancy granuloma, but after pressing for firm answers, she underwent a procedure to have it removed and biopsied.

Holly Stubbs showing the lump on her tongue Credit: The Land of Holly/Facebook

Shortly after, the hospital called and told her to come in immediately. Stubbs had stage 1 tongue cancer. She was told she needed to give birth to her son as soon as possible so she could begin treatment.

“I spent all day wondering if my children would grow up without a mother, if my baby would be born safely, why I was told countless times ‘it couldn’t be cancer’ because I didn’t smoke or drink,” she wrote on Facebook.

Holly Stubbs after having the lump on her tongue removed Credit: The Land of Holly/Facebook

Stubbs safely gave birth to her son in June. Scans had shown that her cancer hadn’t spread, but in July she underwent a preventive neck dissection to make sure.

During the procedure, doctors discovered that her cancer, in fact, had spread. She would require additional treatment.

“The scans were wrong. It had spread and it was complex in the way it jumped levels of lymph nodes,” she said. “It could be anywhere in my body at this rate.”

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Holly Stubbs after her neck dissection Credit: The Land of Holly/Facebook

In August 2025, Stubbs began six weeks of high-dose radiation. The treatment left her dealing with excruciating side effects for months, including a bout of pneumonia that forced her to spend Christmas in the hospital. She wrote on social media that she was unable to speak or eat and “too weak” to walk upstairs or hold her children.

Luckily, she said scans showed “no evidence of disease” and that she was on the road to recovery.

But in early 2026, Stubbs started experiencing pain in her jaw that doctors repeatedly told her was due to wisdom teeth. She knew something was wrong and pushed for answers once again.

Holly Stubbs during radiation Credit: The Land of Holly/Facebook

In April, the mom of three was told she could receive new scans “if it’ll make you happy.” Her results later revealed that her jaw pain was caused by another tumor.

In an emotional update on May 8, Stubbs said she has a 2.5-centimeter tumor and her cancer is now terminal.

“That’s not even the scary part. It’s now metastasized to my lungs,” she said. “If you Google the survival rate of stage 4 tongue cancer, which is where I am right now, doctors are suggesting I’ve got months, not years.”

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Holly Stubbs Credit: The Land of Holly/Facebook

Stubbs said doctors are looking into immunotherapy treatment, but they made it clear that it’s just palliative care at this point.

“It’s not curative anymore,” she added. “That wasn’t an option because it’s gone too far and all we can do now is hope for a miracle.”

Despite her prognosis, Stubbs is remaining optimistic. “You just have to crack on really, especially with three kids,” she told ChronicleLive. “You can’t stop and mope about.”

She also encouraged her Facebook followers to advocate for their health if something feels wrong, hoping others don’t go through what she did.

“Advocate for yourself. Remember, you know your body best. Don’t let someone play roulette with your life just because they’re the specialist.”

Read the original article on People

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