At 28 years old on the 26th June 2019 at 11 weeks pregnant I was given the news that I had been dreading and praying I wouldn’t hear when the week before I had come to hospital to have 3 biopsy’s taken. Yup I have cancer- Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
I was seven weeks pregnant when my husband looked at me puzzled and asked ‘what’s that on your neck?’. The next day I rushed to my GP surgery to show them the lump we had discovered. They were very pro-active and sent me away for an emergency scan and I also had bloods taken. When this scan came back ‘inconclusive’ I was then referred to ENT to have a biopsy and 6 days later i got the news I was hoping I would never hear. To find out you have cancer and to be pregnant as well is honestly the most horrifying and frightening experience.
Previous to finding the lump I had been feeling unwell but nothing out of the ordinary to me in early pregnancy- fatigue, nausea and I had also become anaemic. I had a persistent rash on my legs but I just put this down to eczema which I have suffered in the past as a child. I’m now currently 28 weeks pregnant and have so far had 6/8 chemotherapy treatments which when I’m finished will be followed by some radiotherapy, however they’re currently unsure whether to give me this before or after giving birth. I have regular growth scans and so far the baby is growing well and my obstetrician is very pleased with his progress.
I’m now looking forward to hopefully seeing in the new year as a new mum of 3 boys and being a step closer to hopefully being cancer free 💪🏻
