Student's COVID-19 diagnosis leads to cancer discovery

Doctors treating an American student with coronavirus discovered she actually had a rare type of cancer.

Makenna Studer from Minneapolis, Minnesota was diagnosed with COVID-19 in September. But doctors were puzzled as to why she didn't seem to be getting better.

RELATED: Princess Beatrice accused of breaking coronavirus rules

Eventually tests revealed she had leukemia, according to CBS Minnesota.

Studer was shocked.

"It was like I had just been hit by a truck. I wasn't expecting that at all. It didn't even feel real for like a long time," Studer told the TV station.

It's a rare kind of cancer, doctors at the Mayo Clinic said. She has had chemotherapy and has lost her hair and is now preparing for a bone marrow transplant.

RELATED: Teen orphaned as parents die of virus

But catching the virus could have saved her life, doctors said.

Dr Colt Williams told the TV station medics found the cancer early.

"You can argue that with some twist of fate, the COVID-19 diagnosis was a blessing in disguise because it brought her into the healthcare system where she was able to be diagnosed very, very early in her disease course," he said,

The student's family has been sharing updates on a fundraising page.

The first post announced her shock diagnosis.

"As some of you know, Makenna was dealing with some severe symptoms due to COVID," her mother, Pamela Swenson wrote.

"This brought her to the clinic in Mankato both Friday and Saturday.

"Upon looking at her blood work it was discovered that Makenna has Acute Leukemia. She was transferred to Mayo by ambulance last night. They won't let anyone be with her because she's on a COVID floor.

For a daily dose of 9Honey, sign up here to receive our top stories straight to your inbox

"Anyway, we'll hopefully know more in the next few days. They are going to do a bone marrow biopsy tomorrow which will tell us what kind of Leukemia were dealing with.

"We're all very scared."

In an update, a post reveals her sister, Shaynee is going to donate bone marrow for the transplant.

"Other good news is that after Shaynee's secondary testing of her blood and DNA, they found that she is almost a perfect match for Makenna's bone marrow transplant!! 9/10 match!" it reads.

"This is as likely as winning the lottery! We feel like we just did!".