Student, 19, who turned down chemo to save baby
She even continued degree ... and now has a healthy son
A STUDENT who was diagnosed with cancer refused chemotherapy after she became pregnant – and even managed to get top marks in her university exams as she dealt with the ordeal.
Aspiring doctor Abbie Colvin, 20, discovered she was pregnant shortly after she learnt she had cervical cancer.
realising it might be her only shot at motherhood, she made the difficult decision to delay her chemotherapy treatment for eight months until after baby oscar’s birth.
Since then Miss Colvin has not only been juggling raising her son, now aged seven months, with undergoing treatment, but also refused to defer her university studies and recently achieved top marks in her second-year exams.
Last night Miss Colvin, an undergraduate in biomedical sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: ‘ When the doctors said I was pregnant I was absolutely ecstatic. I’d only recently been told I’d never be able to have my own children, so (I knew) I absolutely had to keep him. When oscar was born it was literally magical - like a miracle.
‘And in the seven months since I’ve raised a seriously happy and healthy baby, had three rounds of chemo and still got a first. Not to blow my own trumpet, but I am proud.’
Miss Colvin and delivery driver partner, oakley Buchanan, 21, had been together just two months when she visited a sexual health clinic, in September 2016, complaining of pains and bleeding. Although too young to qualify for a routine smear test – they are only offered to women aged 25 to 40 on the NHS – doctors agreed to investigate and discovered abnormal cells on her cervix. After further tests they delivered the devastating news Miss Colvin had cervical cancer.
Medics told Miss Colvin she was unlikely to ever have children and may eventually need a hysterectomy. She was due to have laser treatment to target the cancer cells in April last year, when, during a routine urine test, they realised she was already pregnant.
After making the decision to postpone her chemotherapy, Miss Colvin was induced three weeks early and oscar was born on december 12, weighing 7lbs 6oz. Miss Colvin is on her third round of chemotherapy. determined to pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor, she has now transferred onto a course which includes a Phd in medicine.
‘oscar is a miracle because I was on the contraceptive pill, it was like it was meant to be,’ Miss Colvin, of Poulton, Lancashire, added. ‘He came just at the right time – exactly when I needed him. I’m undergoing really intensive chemotherapy now. I didn’t lose my hair the first time around but this time I have. I’m booked in to have a hysterectomy if my next scan doesn’t come back clear. But if I’m not able to have any more children I don’t mind because I have oscar.
‘Battling cancer at such a young age has changed me. I’ve realised there is no point sitting worrying about silly things, like washing up or little arguments.’