'I had all the classic UTI symptoms but tests came back negative. An ultrasound revealed the truth.'

When Amy Schutze started experiencing discomfort while going to the bathroom in July, the 17-year-old from Perth assumed she was suffering from a urinary tract infection (UTI).

The pain was sharp, she was constantly exhausted and the urge to urinate would come on suddenly. However, after going to the toilet she'd feel like her bladder wasn't fully emptied.

Amy initially chalked her fatigue up to the pressures of being in her HSC year; she had no idea it was something more sinister.

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Then the blood in her urine started getting "progressively worse."

In pain, but not overly concerned, she went to her GP. All her tests for a UTI came back negative. Amy's doctor was concerned enough to send her for a CT scan and ultrasound.

"My GP had concerns about bladder stones and then that was when they found the tumour in my bladder," Amy told Mamamia.

"It was shocking. I was just a normal 17-year-old. I'm sporty, I'm healthy. I was just shocked more than anything."

Amy Schutze received the diagnosis just weeks ago. Image: Supplied.

The tumour measured 5cm.

Now, bladder cancer is extremely rare in young people, and almost unheard of in teenagers; the average age of diagnosis is 74 years in males and 75 in females.

Within weeks, Amy found herself navigating a world of urologists, surgeries, and consultations; all while grappling with the life-changing diagnosis.

She has since undergone two surgeries, and her next will take her to Melbourne. It's a complex procedure that will see her bladder removed entirely and a "neo-bladder" reconstructed from part of her small intestine.

"When you hear of cancer, you immediately think about chemo. The most confronting thing was probably the fact that I thought it would be a few months of chemo and then good to go," Amy said.

"But really my body is never going to be the same again. That was kind of the hardest thing to wrap my head around."

Doctors are stumped about the cause of Amy's cancer, as it's commonly linked to smoking, exposure to certain chemicals or a family history of it.

None of them fit in Amy's case.

Amy is undergoing a complex procedure. Image: Supplied.

"This whole process. It's been sort of wait-and-see, because it's so uncommon, and it's so rare they're just kind of approaching it step-by-step," she said.

"Every time we get answers, there are more questions."

For Amy, the diagnosis has come at an age where she should be focused on navigating school corridors and exams.

Conversations that most young people never have to think about — like fertility — have suddenly become a part of Amy's daily life.

"It's quite confronting, because it's not something I've really thought of at all," she said, adding she had her first appointment with the fertility specialist this week.

@amy.schutze #fcancer #fyp #fertility #cancer #journey ♬ all night - driel

In mid-August, surgeons removed Amy's main tumour, but in doing so they found eight to nine smaller tumours in her bladder.

Because everything is in such early days, Amy does not have a prognosis yet, but her doctors are not leaving anything to chance.

"After the first surgery, they found that my cancer is 10 per cent micropapillary and 90 per cent urothelial, which is the main type of bladder cancer, and then the 10 per cent micropapillary meant that it's invasive and aggressive, so prone to spreading. That's why I'm getting my next surgery," she said.

Amy's specialists have reportedly told her that the youngest person they'd previously performed a bladder reconstruction on was in their 40s.

Because of her young age, Amy is charting new medical territory. Image: Supplied.

That surgery, scheduled for early November, will be performed in Melbourne using robotic-assisted keyhole surgery, which is a cutting-edge technique not available in Western Australia.

At 17, the teen is charting new medical territory.

"Normally they do an open surgery for older patients, but because I'm so young, they want to do keyhole to minimise the time of recovery," she said.

Despite the fear and unknowns, Amy remains grounded, supported by a close network of friends and family. She also credits her mental resilience to work she's done previously with the youth mental health charity Zero2Hero.

Her message to others is clear and urgent.

"If you think something is wrong, or not quite right with your body, just get tested and speak up with yourself," Amy said.

"I know I was lucky to have such an amazing GP who persisted with testing, but I know there's definitely some out there that would've ruled it off as a UTI straight away."

A crowdfunding page has been set up for Amy.

Amy will be documenting her treatment on TikTok. You can follow her here.

Feature image: Supplied.