"WHEN SHE FOUND OUT SHE HAD CANCER WHILE PREGNANT, SHE HAD ONE THOUGHT: 'JUST SAVE MY BABY'" - London, Eng; Apr. 21, 2016 | http://www.lifenews.com/2016/04/21/when-she-found-out-she-had-cancer-while-pregnant-she-had-one-thought-just-save-my-baby/[AS I SEE IT: I love to share these stories because Christians tend to concede abortion is a viable option when the mother's physical life is in danger. But these stories remind us that a mother's love for her unborn can sometimes remove their fear of death and put the life of their unborn ahead of their own need for survival. I say, never underestimate the power of a mother's love.- Stan]
Kimberly and Adam with both their children
A mother’s love for her child is a special bond.
There are many wonderful and inspiring stories of the lengths which different mums have gone to to keep their children safe – even going so far as to put their own lives in danger to keep their little ones safe. For Kimberly Boreham, that danger came when she discovered she had cancer while she was 16 weeks pregnant.
Ultrasound scan - Without telling her husband, Kimberly went for secret blood tests when she noticed a lump on her neck, hoping the mystery swelling was just something to do with over-active hormones. On the same day, she had an ultrasound scan which revealed she was carrying a baby girl. But while giddy with excitement at the prospect of her son Parker having a little sister join him, she couldn’t help but fear the worst.
Good news and bad news - “I didn’t tell my husband Adam because it was a big day for us – it was the day we found out we were having a little girl,’ she told MailOnline.“It was a really mixed day. At this point I was trying to tell myself it was nothing and it was probably my pregnancy playing havoc with my immune system.“But it snowballed when they came back and didn’t give the results we expected.”
Cancer diagnosis - A few weeks later Kimberly was called in to see a consultant where she and husband Adam, 39, were given the devastating diagnosis that she had grade three cancer of the tonsils. It was treatable, but only if it hadn’t spread to the chest or elsewhere in her body, she was told. However, treatment would naturally carry a risk to herself and her unborn baby.
“He just came straight out with it and said it was cancer. It was a complete bombshell and is still. I was holding out for anything else.“It was such an out of body experience. He said ‘yes, you have got cancer’ and I looked at my husband and burst into tears. I completely forgot I was pregnant and just thought I was going to die.”
“I wanted to protect the baby” -But then moments later when the consultant mentioned the pregnancy, her worries immediately turned to the baby.“I put my hand on my bump and thought, “oh no”. I wanted to protect the baby, my health was secondary. I just felt completely responsible for the baby inside me. “It was incredibly difficult. I spent the night in tears lying on my son’s bedroom floor because I didn’t want to leave him. “I was thinking I won’t see him grow up and he’s not going to have a mummy. It was devastating.”
All a blur - Kimberly says that the next few days passed in a blur before she decided she had to ‘pull herself together’ and focus on beating the cancer. A whirlwind of appointments followed in the next few weeks including one with her obstetrician who warned doctors would ask her if she wanted to keep the baby. To her horror, she was told they might suggest she had the baby delivered from as early as 24 weeks, if she decided to keep her. “I can remember thinking ‘that’s tomorrow’.
A mother’s instinct - “It was crazy, I couldn’t contemplate the baby would be anywhere near ready.
“There was no way I wasn’t keeping the baby though, no question at all. I’d seen the scan and we’d bonded; it’s a mother’s instinct to want to protect the baby.” Doctors explained if she underwent surgery to remove the cancer, she could continue with the pregnancy for longer – giving both mother and baby the best chance of survival. As with all operations, the surgery carried some risks but medics agreed to monitor the baby throughout the four-hour procedure at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.
‘Just save my baby’ - She was also adamant the surgeons looked after the unborn child ahead of herself but was advised she was their priority. “I said if anything goes wrong, just take the baby – but the doctors said wasn’t how it worked and they would be looking after me. “I was told the only way they would deliver her during the operation would be if I had a full cardiac arrest and they needed to save me. Then they would take the baby out. “It was horrible going in for the operation. I was holding onto my bump and asking her if she was all right and telling her everything would be OK.”
Holding newborn Darcey’s hand (left) and cuddling together in hospital (right)
Successful surgery - The surgery was a success and Kimberly had her tonsils, the infected area surrounding them and her lymph nodes removed from one side. She then faced an agonising wait to find out if the cancer had spread to her chest.Thankfully, scans revealed it hadn’t. She spent the next 10 days in hospital before discharging herself so she could recover at home. However, the effects of the surgery meant she struggled to eat or drink and had to relearn how to do it again.
Recovery and birth - The recovery took about six weeks until doctors would allow her to have further treatment – at 34 weeks – when the baby could be born. She was then induced so she could have a natural birth and avoid the need for further surgery.“We’d got to 34 weeks and that was the magic number,” Kimberly said. “I was booked into be induced on the Saturday morning and then to have chemotherapy just over a week later.
Darcey Boreham - After a complicated induction, baby Darcey was born on August 10th weighing 4lb 9oz. “She was a tiny thing. She cried straight away which was amazing, it was such a feeling of relief. I got to have a quick cuddle before she was whisked away. “She did really well. She spent 11 days in hospital and was on oxygen for a couple of days.“It was just a case of building up through feeding and weaning her off the oxygen until she was ready to come home.”
Mother and baby - Kimberley started six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Addenbrookes Hospital while Darcey was still in hospital. Little Darcey then became a regular visitor to the chemotherapy ward, enjoying cuddles with her mother, proving popular with the other patients on the unit and giving her a much needed boost during treatment. Their time together helped the pair to bond as the cancer treatment robbed her of the chance to breastfeed her daughter, which Kimberley described as a real struggle.“It made it that much more bearable for me,’ she said.
Kimberly with Darcey and Parker
Bonding together - “The treatment made me very sick and she really helped me through it. “Not being able to breastfeed her was difficult for me as a mum but I have to look at the fact that she’s here and she’s healthy.”
Future - Now the family [is] looking to the future. “We just feel so lucky that we got to 34 weeks and gave her the best possible chance of her lungs being ready. At that gestation, every day counts for so much.“We are so lucky to have this little girl, she is absolutely amazing.
“My husband has been a rock” - “My husband has been a rock and brought Darcey and Parker in to see me most days I was in hospital which got me through.‘Being a mum to both of them is a blessing. I feel I helped get Darcey through and then she helped me to get through the chemotherapy sessions. I looked after her and then she’s looked after me.”
A happy ending for the whole family
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
LifeNews Note: This originally appeared at the SPUC web site.
Kimberly and Adam with both their children
A mother’s love for her child is a special bond.
There are many wonderful and inspiring stories of the lengths which different mums have gone to to keep their children safe – even going so far as to put their own lives in danger to keep their little ones safe. For Kimberly Boreham, that danger came when she discovered she had cancer while she was 16 weeks pregnant.
Ultrasound scan - Without telling her husband, Kimberly went for secret blood tests when she noticed a lump on her neck, hoping the mystery swelling was just something to do with over-active hormones. On the same day, she had an ultrasound scan which revealed she was carrying a baby girl. But while giddy with excitement at the prospect of her son Parker having a little sister join him, she couldn’t help but fear the worst.
Good news and bad news - “I didn’t tell my husband Adam because it was a big day for us – it was the day we found out we were having a little girl,’ she told MailOnline.“It was a really mixed day. At this point I was trying to tell myself it was nothing and it was probably my pregnancy playing havoc with my immune system.“But it snowballed when they came back and didn’t give the results we expected.”
Cancer diagnosis - A few weeks later Kimberly was called in to see a consultant where she and husband Adam, 39, were given the devastating diagnosis that she had grade three cancer of the tonsils. It was treatable, but only if it hadn’t spread to the chest or elsewhere in her body, she was told. However, treatment would naturally carry a risk to herself and her unborn baby.
“He just came straight out with it and said it was cancer. It was a complete bombshell and is still. I was holding out for anything else.“It was such an out of body experience. He said ‘yes, you have got cancer’ and I looked at my husband and burst into tears. I completely forgot I was pregnant and just thought I was going to die.”
“I wanted to protect the baby” -But then moments later when the consultant mentioned the pregnancy, her worries immediately turned to the baby.“I put my hand on my bump and thought, “oh no”. I wanted to protect the baby, my health was secondary. I just felt completely responsible for the baby inside me. “It was incredibly difficult. I spent the night in tears lying on my son’s bedroom floor because I didn’t want to leave him. “I was thinking I won’t see him grow up and he’s not going to have a mummy. It was devastating.”
All a blur - Kimberly says that the next few days passed in a blur before she decided she had to ‘pull herself together’ and focus on beating the cancer. A whirlwind of appointments followed in the next few weeks including one with her obstetrician who warned doctors would ask her if she wanted to keep the baby. To her horror, she was told they might suggest she had the baby delivered from as early as 24 weeks, if she decided to keep her. “I can remember thinking ‘that’s tomorrow’.
A mother’s instinct - “It was crazy, I couldn’t contemplate the baby would be anywhere near ready.
“There was no way I wasn’t keeping the baby though, no question at all. I’d seen the scan and we’d bonded; it’s a mother’s instinct to want to protect the baby.” Doctors explained if she underwent surgery to remove the cancer, she could continue with the pregnancy for longer – giving both mother and baby the best chance of survival. As with all operations, the surgery carried some risks but medics agreed to monitor the baby throughout the four-hour procedure at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.
‘Just save my baby’ - She was also adamant the surgeons looked after the unborn child ahead of herself but was advised she was their priority. “I said if anything goes wrong, just take the baby – but the doctors said wasn’t how it worked and they would be looking after me. “I was told the only way they would deliver her during the operation would be if I had a full cardiac arrest and they needed to save me. Then they would take the baby out. “It was horrible going in for the operation. I was holding onto my bump and asking her if she was all right and telling her everything would be OK.”
Holding newborn Darcey’s hand (left) and cuddling together in hospital (right)
Successful surgery - The surgery was a success and Kimberly had her tonsils, the infected area surrounding them and her lymph nodes removed from one side. She then faced an agonising wait to find out if the cancer had spread to her chest.Thankfully, scans revealed it hadn’t. She spent the next 10 days in hospital before discharging herself so she could recover at home. However, the effects of the surgery meant she struggled to eat or drink and had to relearn how to do it again.
Recovery and birth - The recovery took about six weeks until doctors would allow her to have further treatment – at 34 weeks – when the baby could be born. She was then induced so she could have a natural birth and avoid the need for further surgery.“We’d got to 34 weeks and that was the magic number,” Kimberly said. “I was booked into be induced on the Saturday morning and then to have chemotherapy just over a week later.
Darcey Boreham - After a complicated induction, baby Darcey was born on August 10th weighing 4lb 9oz. “She was a tiny thing. She cried straight away which was amazing, it was such a feeling of relief. I got to have a quick cuddle before she was whisked away. “She did really well. She spent 11 days in hospital and was on oxygen for a couple of days.“It was just a case of building up through feeding and weaning her off the oxygen until she was ready to come home.”
Mother and baby - Kimberley started six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Addenbrookes Hospital while Darcey was still in hospital. Little Darcey then became a regular visitor to the chemotherapy ward, enjoying cuddles with her mother, proving popular with the other patients on the unit and giving her a much needed boost during treatment. Their time together helped the pair to bond as the cancer treatment robbed her of the chance to breastfeed her daughter, which Kimberley described as a real struggle.“It made it that much more bearable for me,’ she said.
Kimberly with Darcey and Parker
Bonding together - “The treatment made me very sick and she really helped me through it. “Not being able to breastfeed her was difficult for me as a mum but I have to look at the fact that she’s here and she’s healthy.”
Future - Now the family [is] looking to the future. “We just feel so lucky that we got to 34 weeks and gave her the best possible chance of her lungs being ready. At that gestation, every day counts for so much.“We are so lucky to have this little girl, she is absolutely amazing.
“My husband has been a rock” - “My husband has been a rock and brought Darcey and Parker in to see me most days I was in hospital which got me through.‘Being a mum to both of them is a blessing. I feel I helped get Darcey through and then she helped me to get through the chemotherapy sessions. I looked after her and then she’s looked after me.”
A happy ending for the whole family
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
LifeNews Note: This originally appeared at the SPUC web site.
No comments:
Post a Comment