“I was almost three months pregnant with my second baby in September 2012 when I felt a lump on my neck.”
“I was almost three months pregnant with my second baby in September 2012 when I felt a lump on my neck. I went to the GP the very next day and he told me it was a benign cyst and put me on the waiting list to see the ear, nose and throat doctor. I would be scheduled an appointment in the new year.
Time went by and the lump was getting bigger and new lumps were forming on my neck. I went to all my pre-natal appointments and everything with the baby was fine. It wasn’t until late October that my consultant saw the lump in my neck and asked me what it was. I said the GP had assessed it was a benign cyst. She said it must be checked out.
I went a couple weeks later and first heard the words, “we think its cancer.” I had to undergo surgery while pregnant at six months. The doctors came back with their findings that I had Hodgkins Lymphoma stage four. It had spread to my lungs, liver, and spleen.
This was before abortion was made legal here in Ireland, before that tragic law was passed and so everyone at Our Lady of Lourdes was going to do everything they could to save me and my little baby. There was hope for the two of us. I was only able to do certain tests to protect the life and welfare of my baby.
As with any surgery or chemotherapy, the doctors told me there would be risks to my baby and to me. However the literature showed convincingly that almost no baby was ever harmed by going through the chemotherapy they had planned for me. But they said, ”there is always a small chance things could go wrong.”
With an anxious and troubled heart I went through chemotherapy for three cycles while pregnant. The delivery of the baby was a scheduled cesaerean so that it would coincide with my chemotherapy which kills my immune system so that I wouldn’t be at a great risk of infection.
On March 19th, 2013 our second baby Joseph Francis was born a healthy 8 pounds 7 ounces with a full head of hair. The nurses had warned us he might have alopecia from the chemo, But he proved them wrong. The Doctor’s tested his umbilical cord and there was no trace of chemo in his body.
I am so happy no one ever mentioned the word abortion to me. I know that in most other countries in the world they would have advised me to abort my baby to save my life. I am so grateful I lived in a country whose medical professionals did everything they could for my baby and for me.
Sadly the abortion law was passed last year. The truth behind the abortion smokescreen is that in cancer while pregnant there is hope for two. There is always a better choice than abortion.”