20 Weeks Pregnant; I was given the all clear to cancer

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Ok where to start, my little girl has just turned 2. She is my first and only child. However there was a time in my pregnancy that I thought that she would never arrive and I would never be able to have any more children. It all started at my dating scan – me and my partner were watching this tiny baby on the screen when the sonographer started scanning the top of my stomach with a look of concern on her face. ” have you ever had endometriotis?” she asked.

I said not that I knew of. She said that I had a mass sitting on top of my womb and would need to speak with the consultant. She reassured me that the baby was fine and said that I was 13 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I went back to the waiting room and sat looking at everyone’s happy faces, but all I had was a feeling of dread.

I saw the consultant who said that the mass was 20cm by 20 cm and that I would have to have an operation to remove it between 16 weeks and 18 weeks of pregnancy. He also said that there was still a small risk of miscarriage and until they opened me up to see inside, they did not know if my ovaries were healthy or not. I may have to have them removed.

If I had the mass removed before giving birth I risked miscarriage and if I had it after I risked going into premature labour. They would also have to do a biopsy to see if the mass was cancerous.

On the 30th September 2009 at 17 weeks and 1 day pregnant, I went into hospital to have the operation. My main concern and worry was would my baby survive and would I be able to have kids in the future?? I went down to theatre at 11am. I was back on the ward by 2pm and waking up to see my mum waIting for me. I had a cut running from just above my belly button to my pubic bone.

The doctor came round and said that the operation had went well, they had taken part of my left ovary but my right ovary hadn’t been touched. I now had to wait for the next 48 hours as that is how long I was at risk of miscarriage. I was in hospital for 5 days.

The day after my operation the midwife came around to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. After much digging around my belly , she finally found it – there it was like a galloping horse – tears of relief sprung to my eyes. I lost over a stone in weight from having the cyst removed. They do not know how long I had had it for – it could’ve been year.

I was given the all clear for cancer 3 weeks after my operation – right after my scan to identify my baby as healthy and as a little girl. At 32 weeks pregnant I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and had to spend a week in hospital – that week I also got diagnosed with gestational diabetes and had to spend the rest of my pregnancy injecting insulin twice a day. I was induced 3 days before my due date and my little girl arrived 1 day after her due date.

She was perfect! Would I have another baby? the answer is no – I had a not so normal pregnancy and even my midwife used to say how things had not been straightforward. I am also now 38 years old and I honestly believe that my body could not go through it again.

I have also just been diagnosed with having a 5cm cyst on my right ovary and am waiting to see the consultant to see what, if any, treatment I will get. I love my daughter to pieces but I don’t think I could go through it all again

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