Shafi Islam put it down to a bug he thought he had caught
A man who put night sweats down to a sickness bug was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Shafi Islam, 26, from Tower Hamlets, East London, started getting headaches and was feverish in March but dismissed them for a month as he thought it was a passing illness.
But when his symptoms worsened, a trip to A&E revealed he had a low-grade lymphoma after a biopsy on his armpit. And after a second biopsy on his liver, he was diagnosed with stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that only accounts for 1% to 3% of all large B-cell lymphoma cases.
He is currently undergoing six rounds of chemotherapy. Shafi, who graduated from the University of Greenwich in 2021 with a degree in creative writing, said “One day I just woke up feeling feverish. I had a headache and all I wanted to do was go back to bed.
“It eventually led to really bad night sweats. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with my entire pillow and bed sheets drenched in sweat.
“My stomach became really, really swollen. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had fluid building up in my stomach. Eventually I had four litres drained.”
Earlier in March, he spent a week working as a room survey assistant for London Business school and thought he may have caught something there. It took him a month before going to see a GP, who advised him to buy Gaviscon.
The GP booked him in for a blood test and a stool test and told him to go to the hospital the next day for a chest x-ray, a few days later Shafi went to A&E.
Shafi told Talk to the Press: “It didn’t cross my mind at all that it could be cancer. I was very healthy, exercising regularly and job hunting Monday to Saturday.”
He was originally diagnosed with a low-grade biopsy doctors said the severity of his symptoms didn’t add up, so they carried out a second biopsy on his liver. In June he was told it was stage four – and doctors believe Shafi had a slow-growing form of lymphoma for years without symptoms before it suddenly transformed into a rare, aggressive cancer.
He said: “My doctor mentioned that there’s over a 50% chance of prognosis, which doesn’t seem too optimistic for me. I thought it would be at least 80%.”
Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that begins in the lymphatic system and can spread throughout the body. Shafi began chemotherapy in June just a week before turning 26.
“After my first cycle my whole body was shivering for a couple of hours and my temperature hit 40 degrees. I ended up back in hospital on antibiotics,” he said. “I’ve had so many side effects already. My hair started falling out, so I just shaved it all off.”
Despite the physical and emotional toll, he refuses to stop planning for the future. When he heard the diagnosis he said: “I’ll be completely honest, it didn’t really faze me.
“I just thought in a very practical type of way. I’ll just go through my treatment, get better and move on.”
His life has been turned upside down by the devastating diagnosis, but instead of putting his future on hold, he is still searching for work while undergoing chemotherapy. He said: “I’m more determined than ever to start my career.”
After graduating, he said: “I was applying to apprenticeships and graduate schemes from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm.”
Shafi said he has been rejected hundreds of times, which he puts down to his lack of experience. He had some success with seasonal roles work, such as an ice rink assistant in Winter Wonderland in 2024.
Before falling ill, Shafi had secured a temporary park attendant role through an agency, but was removed from the assignment after being hospitalised before his start date which he said “was heartbreaking.”
“It’s been a thousand times harder because I’m dealing with cancer, the impact on my family and the financial pressure,” he said. “But I’m still job hunting every day and building connections on LinkedIn.”
Shafi says his dream job is in recruitment but says he is “very open minded”. He said: “I want somewhere I can learn, grow and develop.”
Shafi, who has completed his second cycle of chemotherapy, is now waiting for scans to reveal whether the treatment is working. He faces six rounds of chemotherapy in total but remains focused on life beyond cancer. “I’’m trying to plan for my life after treatment and I think I’m going to get through it,” he said.
