Rare illness turned me into ‘an old lady’ expecting tot
A DERBYSHIRE woman says she is overjoyed her baby girl has overcome the odds after she developed a condition that turned her into “an old lady” while she was pregnant.
Lisa Nicholas was 12 weeks pregnant with Lizzy when she was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease, a rare condition that left her with symptoms of rapid ageing.
The illness, caused by having too much cortisol hormone, left her with high blood pressure, weakened bones and thinning hair.
The 37-year-old was told by doctors she had developed a non-cancerous tumour on her adrenal gland in her kidney. This not only caused the illness, but also put her unborn child at risk, with an increased chance of miscarriage.
The mum-of-five made the brave decision to continue the pregnancy, putting off surgery that was needed to remove the tumour.
Lisa, a kitchen assistant, said: “I was ageing 10 times quicker than I should have been. I felt like an old lady - my hair was thinning and falling out. I was constantly breaking bones – I broke my ankle twice – once putting the kids socks on and another time getting off a spin bike.
“It’s extremely rare to fall pregnant with this condition and I am terrified about losing Lizzy.
“She’s such a little fighter and, after removing the tumour, my symptoms have pretty much gone.
“I’ve gone back to being a 37-year-old, not the 88-year-old woman I was turning into.”
Lisa, who is also mum to Charlie, 19, Millie, 14, Rosie, 12, and 11-yearold Evie, said she had been experiencing the unusual symptoms for years and had realised they were getting worse.
They include high blood pressure, weak bones, bruising easily and weight gain. Lisa - who lives in Buxton with her husband, Gareth Nicholas, 33, a tree surgeon - said: “I had the issue for years and it was getting worse. I was constantly black and blue from bruising easily.
“I was in my 30s and taking tablets for high blood pressure.
“After testing, doctors finally discovered it was Cushing’s disease.
“It was nice to have some answers, but it got more complicated when I found out I was pregnant.”
Lisa discovered she was 12 weeks pregnant with her fifth child when she was diagnosed. Doctors warned her that Cushing’s disease could be dangerous to pregnant women.
The high levels of cortisol can cause complications such as diabetes, cardiac failure, and even death.
At 18 weeks, Lisa was told she had no choice but to have surgery to remove the tumour.
She said: “We didn’t plan to have another baby but when I found I was pregnant, I was so excited. I had a miscarriage before I fell pregnant with Lizzy, we think it may have been due to Cushings, which we didn’t know at the time. I knew the dangers but I couldn’t give up on my baby. I was offered an abortion but I said no – I wanted to see it through.
“At 18 weeks doctors said if I didn’t remove the tumour then I was going to die.” At 21 weeks, Lisa underwent a life-saving operation at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, in November 2018. Medics successfully removed the tumour, along with the adrenal gland, but Lisa had to be closely monitored for the rest of the pregnancy. She said: “I went for regular scans and towards the end, doctors noticed she had stopped growing. “Things didn’t change so I had a planned c-section booked. It was like a scene from Casualty - there must have been 20 doctors delivering her.”
Lizzy arrived on February 6, 2019, at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport weighing a tiny 2lb 15oz. Lisa was kept in intensive care and Lizzy was transferred to Oldham Hospital, and then transferred back to Stepping Hill where she was kept on the neonatal ward. Lisa said: “I was so poorly and so was she. They had to get her blood pressure down and kept her on oxygen. “At first, I couldn’t hold her, I could only see photos of her. When I finally saw her in the incubator she was so tiny.” After eight weeks, Lizzy was able to go home but she continued to receive oxygen. In August 2019, she was finally removed from oxygen and has been doing well.
Lisa said: “There were lots of ups and downs during her time in hospital. She is still very small and struggled to gain weight - we discovered she’s allergic to milk. “Otherwise she’s doing amazingly and started to crawl.”
Lizzy is still very small and struggled to gain weight – we discovered she’s allergic to milk.
Lisa Nicholas