‘Chemo combined with the pregnancy sickness was absolutely horrific’
MUM HAD TO HAVE HER BREAST REMOVED AFTER FINDING LUMP
A BRAVE Bridlington mum had to have one of her breasts removed while she was pregnant with her son after she was devastatingly diagnosed with cancer.
Hayley Cragg, 34, was 18 weeks pregnant with her son Louie, when she was horrified to find a lump on her breast.
The mum-of-three said: “If I hadn’t got pregnant I wouldn’t have realised I had cancer.
“The cyst was pregnancy related, so when I went to get it checked out that’s when they found it. The chemotherapy combined with the pregnancy sickness was absolutely horrific – it was the toughest time of my life.”
Not only was Hayley worried about her own life, she was also terrified for her unborn baby and how the cancer would effect him.
She was referred to a breast cancer unit at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, where she went for multiple biopsies to reveal the extent of the cancer.
Doctors informed her it was worse than they originally thought and at 23 weeks Hayley was forced to have a mastectomy to remove one of her breasts.
After the successful operation she underwent three rounds of gruelling chemotherapy while battling all the discomforts of a normal pregnancy.
Hayley, who worked as carer before falling ill, said: “When they did the operation they removed the cancer completely, but the chemo was to ensure that it didn’t come back.
“I had three rounds while pregnant and that combined with the morning sickness was just horrific.
“I don’t know if I could have done it without my baby boy who was giving me strength every step of the way.”
Doctors delivered Louie earlier than planned so they could administer Hayley three more rounds of intense chemo and she was induced at 35 weeks. He was born completely healthy, despite the trauma his mother had been put through during her pregnancy.
Brave Hayley then battled through the rest of her treatment, which concluded in April. And, after a short burst of radiotherapy next month, she expects to be given the all-clear.