I had to give birth to cancer tumour
Receptionist 21, from Hereford, was delighted when she found out she was pregnant – but heartbreakingly discovered it was a cancerous tumour in her womb
I felt relieved they didn’t think it was an ectopic pregnancy but was devastated to learn that I wasn’t pregnant any longer.
It was so upsetting, my emotions had been everywhere and I cried for the baby I’d lost. Sadly, one week later, I was bleeding again. Doctors performed an ERPC, where pregnancy tissue is removed from the womb.
Two days after the procedure doctors gave me a blood test which showed that my hormones had dropped.
But two days later I had another test and my hormones had shot right back up – as if I were still pregnant.
It was so confusing, no one knew what was going on inside me.
So I was referred to Charing Cross Hospital in London as they suspected something more serious was happening.
I was diagnosed with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), which had caused a tumour to grow in the womb.
Medics again removed the womb tissue and a biopsy confirmed that it was cancerous. Doctors told me that GTN was an incredibly rare illness only treated by two hospitals in the UK – and Charing Cross Hospital handles only 120 such patients a year.
In July 2016, two weeks later, I underwent more tests. I was taken for a chest X-ray and a full body MRI which showed there was a tumour the size of a foetus in my uterus and it was cancerous.
They could not operate as there was a large blood vessel running into it which, if cut, could cause me to die from blood loss. My mind went into meltdown. I went from being overjoyed and planning to welcome a baby into the world, to instead doctors telling me that I had a tumour and if they tried to cut it out I would bleed to death. It was really distressing.
I was given eight sessions of a low-dose chemotherapy starting from July which stopped the tumour from growing. But worse was to come. I woke up with agonising pain at 5.30 one morning in September. When I called my doctor, he confirmed I was effectively in labour.
I was taken to Hereford County Hospital and told I’d have to give “birth” to the tumour, which weighed around one pound.
It was really traumatic. First, I was in a side room of A&E and then had to be taken to the women’s ward where heavily pregnant women ready to give birth were. It was heartbreaking.
After 30 hours I expelled the tumour on the toilet. It was such a traumatic experience. In December I was given the all-clear and am now in remission and hoping to get back to work soon.
Once recovered, Christopher and I plan to try for a baby.
Doctors see no reason why I can’t have babies in the future, but they told me the chances of this happening to me again are higher.
Becoming pregnant came as a big surprise, but now becoming a mum is something I really hope will happen in the near future.
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), where the heart’s muscle wall becomes thickened.
I had a stroke at 22, after which my only hope of survival was a heart transplant. On June 9, 2006, I got the call that would save my life. I was part of a trial where the transplant heart is kept pumping with blood instead of being frozen.
Ten years on, I’m doing the British Heart Foundation’s London to Reading bike ride to show how great it is to be alive.