A Surrey woman's stomach bug and bloating turned out to be a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.

Jess Gibelli, 28, started experiencing nausea, sickness, severe fatigue and bloating in November 2025 but she initially put it down to a sickness bug.

She was working two physically demanding jobs as a florist and running her own event décor business - Viva La Fiesta - and she'd go straight to bed after work without having any dinner.

But when her heart rate suddenly shot up to 160 while lying down in December 2025, Jess was rushed to hospital and doctors found a 30cm abdominal mass on an ultrasound.

She had an emergency surgery to remove the tumours and later an operation to remove her ovaries and to have an ileostomy.

Jess was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Burkitt lymphoma in January 2026 and has been an inpatient in hospital for three months.

She is now receiving aggressive chemotherapy - due to be completed in April.

Jess, of Addlestone, Surrey, said: “ It started mid November 2025 with a few days of what seemed to be a sickness bug.

"But I couldn’t shake this feeling off after, I knew something didn’t feel right but could never have guessed it was cancer.

"I was just so drained, struggling to get through the day and coming home from work and going straight to bed, which is so unlike me.

"I was in pain and uncomfortable in my abdomen and my work is physical so it had a big impact on my day. I was slowly unable to go to work and this got me down.”

On December 21, 2025, Jess was rushed into St Peter's Hospital with a heart rate of 160 and above where doctors discovered a 30cm abdominal mass on an ultrasound on December 23.

On Christmas eve she was told it was cancerous.

Following a colonoscopy appointment, on December 27, Jess was at her parents’ house lying flushed and boiling on the sofa so was taken into A&E.

There, she was diagnosed with a sepsis-level infection and doctors had to drain fluids out of her chest. She has been an impatient in hospital ever since.

Just over a week later, Jess was taken into intensive care at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey.

She was surrounded by eight consultants and they said they needed to perform a high-risk, emergency surgery within hours to remove the rapidly growing abdominal tumours.

During the first operation, surgeons had to pause the operation and Jess was placed into a medically induced coma to allow her body to rest.

Jess was returned to surgery the next day where both of her ovaries were removed and she was given an ileostomy.

Several days later, the final test results revealed Jess was diagnosed with high-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin Birkitt lymphoma.

Jess said: “At the start everything felt uncertain, we didn’t have many answers, but this was due to me being so unwell and therefore biopsies couldn’t be completed.

“There was a weird sense of relief and worry when Burkitt lymphoma was finally diagnosed and things moved very quickly after that and a treatment plan was put in place. I was still in shock that this was happening.

"Some days still now even going through treatment I have times where I think how is this happening and why to me.”

Jess was transferred to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea to their critical care unit.

She is completing her third round of four of aggressive chemotherapy, her current course of treatment due to be complete by April.

As Jess is self-employed with no source of income. Jess’s sisters Sophie and Danielle set up a GoFundMe page to take the edge off the financial stress.

So far, the page has raised over £16,000.

Sophie Wainwright, 32, a hairdresser, said: “Jess is the funniest, craziest, loud, outgoing person who everyone gets on with.

“She is so unbelievably strong, she has hardly ever complained.

"We have all had our down days especially at the halfway point knowing she had two more rounds of chemotherapy to go.

“It is a testament to how tough, popular and well-loved she is that we have received such support, it is overwhelming."

Sophie said the staff at St Peter’s Hospital and Royal Marsden Hospital have supported Jess along the way.

She said: “The consultants were so calm and reassuring, had answers and a plan.

“There is a lot of trauma to process as she’s so young. Four weeks before Jess had been at work, she had been relatively OK.”

Sophie looks forward to when Jess is discharged and they can host a big celebration in the summer with family, friends, doctors and nurses.

Jess said: “Thank you to everyone who donated on the GoFundMe, everyone has been so supportive and generous.

“I hope by me sharing my story it has raised awareness for anyone else experiencing similar symptoms and I just encourage everyone to go and get checked.”

You can support Jess by following this link.