My baby turned out to be a deadly tumour
Scan showed ‘pregnancy’ was a rare form of cancer
IT WAS supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life.
But when expectant mother Debbie Robb went for a pregnancy scan, it turned out what was inside her was actually a rare and deadly form of cancer.
She and husband Ian had spent nearly three months looking forward to the prospect of becoming parents.
The couple, from Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, started trying for a family soon after they were married, and were elated when a pregnancy test came back positive last year.
But their joy was short-lived when a scan to check the heartbeat at 12 weeks revealed there was no baby, only a collection of abnormal cells.
Mrs Robb, 38, said: ‘The two of us were just ecstatic when we found out I was pregnant, and all our family was chuffed to bits for us. It was what we had always wanted.
‘Then I went for my scan. One minute I was pregnant and the next I was told I had to get rid of it because it was not a viable pregnancy. It had all gone wrong, it was just a big cluster of cells.’
The transport co-ordinator had surgery the next day to remove the tumour and three weeks later she was rushed 500 miles to London’s Charing Cross Hospital for the start of six months of gruelling chemotherapy.
Mrs Robb, who made the 1,000-mile round trip six times, is now cancer free and the couple plan to try for a baby again this year. She said: ‘The chemotherapy seems to have done the trick. These cells just multiply and multiply and I was fortunate it was contained. Now there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a happy ending.’
Mrs Robb suffered gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, an extremely rare molar pregnancy which mimicked the signs of pregnancy, with cells forming abnormally in the uterus instead of into a foetus.
Now, she will take to the catwalk in a charity fashion show along with 24 other cancer survivors in a bid to raise money and thank some of the medical staff who helped her through her ordeal.
She said: ‘It’s scary to think I had that growing inside me and I didn’t feel ill. I had never heard of it.’
Mrs Robb had severe morning sickness and her baby bump was starting to show, despite only being a few weeks gone.
This was because in molar pregnancies the placenta produces higher levels of the pregnancy hormone, which exaggerated her symptoms.
Molar pregnancies affect around one in 1,200 pregnancies and while most cases are non-cancerous, about 10 per cent develop into the illness.
‘But as the condition is so rare, coupled with the fact that every pregnancy is different, nothing seemed untoward for Mrs Robb.
However, the cancerous tumour had filled her womb and she and her husband, who works in the oil industry, were warned the condition could potentially spread to her lungs. Fortunately, it was contained to her uterus and last July she was told she was cancer free.
But Mrs Robb was never able to fully grieve for the baby she thought she was carrying. She said: ‘I was preoccupied with treatment.
‘It was a very stressful time. I never doubted we would get to the end of it, it was just a case of getting there.’
Next month, as the couple set their sights on trying for a family once again, she will take part in a fashion show to raise money for the charity Friends of Anchor, which supports the cancer wards at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where she was also treated.
The couple have been told there is no reason why they would not be able to become parents in the future.
To support Mrs Robb visit, mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/debbierobb.
‘It was just a big cluster of cells’