‘OCTOMUM’ FEARED SHE WAS GOING TO DIE
A WOMAN dubbed Octomum after having eight children has been rocked by a cancer scare.
Marie Buchan has had her womb removed following an abnormal smear test result.
But it hasn’t stopped her dreaming of making her family even bigger and she is hoping to adopt another two kids.
Marie, from Birmingham’s Selly Oak, said: “I had the first abnormal smear in March. Like a lot of women, I ignored it.
“Eventually I went to see the doctor, who advised that because I had so many kids the risk of cancer was much higher, and that I should have a precautionary hysterectomy.”
The mum added: “In the end I went for it, and there it was. There were cancerous cells.
“I had no warning, no illness or anything like that. I had no idea what was going on inside my body.
“It was a big shock to think, ‘Oh my god, how far is the cancer gone, can they take it away?’ I thought I was going to die.
“The first time I went to hospital I got all the shopping in and warned the kids that mummy wasn’t very well, not telling them that I might never come home.
“There was always that chance, you just never know. It’s a very emotional time.”
Marie caught the skin infection cellulitis during her recovery and was forced to spend two weeks in hospital.
She had previously thought her brood of eight children was large enough, but when the option of conceiving naturally was removed Marie decided that she wanted more kids.
She explained: “I’m 36, I’ve got eight great kids.
“I was always happy with that, but having this operation, and having the choice to have more kids myself taken away has made me a bit broody.
“I’m now seriously considering adopting. I would like to round my family up to 10 children. That’s a nice round number.”
Marie is also back on her £31,000-a-year benefits, but said she is “sick” of living on handouts. She trained as a motor mechanic but earlier this year moaned she couldn’t find a job as she was “too beautiful” to work in a garage because men kept “perving” over her.
Marie has also been forced to sell the £500 horse she bought earlier this year for just £100 as she’s too sick to care for him, but has vowed to buy another.