Mum told she has incurable cancer days after having twins
26-YEAR-OLD WARNS YOUNG WOMEN TO CHECK FOR LUMPS
A MUM was given the heartbreaking news that she has incurable cancer just days after giving birth to twins.
Lorna Whiston, 26, was forced to give birth early in November order to have scans and get treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer. Now, she does not know how much time she has left with them.
Lorna is undergoing treatment while looking after the newborn twins, Reuben and Arya, as well as son, Mason, three.
It’s the second time Lorna has been diagnosed with cancer, the first being in February 2019.
“I was playing with Mason, who was only one at the time, and he hit my boob and I thought it seemed a bit sore,” she said.
“I felt it and found a lump, but I thought it was just hormonal because I was only 24 at the time and on my period. I had a biopsy and then on February 4, ironically World Cancer Day, I received my diagnosis of breast cancer.”
The young mum’s treatment was vigorous – she had a double mastectomy with reconstruction the following month, froze her eggs and six months of chemotherapy.
After finishing her final round, Lorna rang the bell at The Christie hospital in Withington to signify the completion of her treatment on August 9.
When she turned around, she saw that her fiance Jonny Parkes, 30, was down on one knee, ready to propose.
By January last year, Lorna had been given the all-clear after a follow-up MRI which showed no evidence of cancer. At the beginning of May, she says she had a ‘funny feeling’ and decided to take a pregnancy test, which came back positive. She said: “I was so excited and overjoyed, and both my and Jonny felt blessed, like it was meant to happen.”
Her pregnancy continued normally until after five months Lorna started getting breathless easily, even after just going up the stairs she would want to sit down.
Jonny rang 111, and Lorna was worried it could be Covid, so they went into A&E on November 14 where an X-ray was taken of her chest.
She said: “They didn’t confirm it was cancer but they had a pretty good idea, and wanted to do a full body CT scan to check for any more masses so had to get the twins out.”
Just a week after her biopsy, Lorna gave birth to her twins on Monday 23 November by emergency C-section.
Reuben and Arya were premature, born at 34 weeks and five days, at 5lb 1oz and 4lb 8oz, and were taken to the neonatal ward for care.
Lorna had her full-body CT scan the day after giving birth and, just four days later, was told her breast cancer had returned but this time it was at Stage 4 and terminal.
She said: “It’s hard, I have days where it’s all I can think about; whether Mason and the twins will even remember me because they’re so young.”
Lorna, from Cheshire, is four weeks into her treatment with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and friends have launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to help her complete her bucket list.
So far almost £20,000 has been raised to help the young family buy a house, go on holiday – and for Lorna and Jonny to finally get married.
Lorna wants to use her story to ensure younger women are checking their breasts for lumps.
She said: “You don’t ever think it would happen to someone in this age group, but you never really know.”