{"id":926,"date":"2025-04-27T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/?p=926"},"modified":"2025-05-01T19:36:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T19:36:29","slug":"i-was-8-months-pregnant-when-i-got-my-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/27\/i-was-8-months-pregnant-when-i-got-my-cancer-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"I was 8 months\u2019 pregnant when I got my cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"I\t<\/div>
It was eight months into the pregnancy that I finally realised something was very wrong (Picture: Nikki Penrice)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I didn\u2019t think anything was especially wrong when I ended up in hospital in the middle of my second pregnancy, four years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was violently ill with my first child, Reggie, so when I got the crippling symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum \u2013 also known as extreme morning sickness<\/a> \u2013 when I fell pregnant with my second, Connie, it came as no real surprise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t worried that I was in and out of hospital for months, living off Lucozade and anti-sickness tablets \u2013 dehydrated and exhausted. Even after five months of relentless sickness, when I was hit with severe diarrhoea<\/a>, I put it down to medication and pregnancy hormones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was eight months into the pregnancy that I finally realised something was very wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was at home and trying to get through the day with an active preschooler when I felt an intense pain rip through my belly and back. I didn\u2019t know if it was labour or if I had an infection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amidst the pain, I managed to dial my mum\u2019s number, who called an ambulance and I was taken into hospital where I was given an ultrasound to check my kidneys.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"I\t<\/div>
They told me there was a mass on my bowel (Picture: Nikki Penrice)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I was being scanned by the sonographer, she paused. I was in so much pain and my heart was racing \u2013 something felt wrong. She went to get a colleague to check something she didn\u2019t understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The silent pause while I waited for both sonographers to check me over lasted for what felt like a lifetime. Then everything came crashing down on me when they told me there was a mass on my bowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After that, everything happened in a blur.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

An MRI confirmed the insidious mass and more tests were ordered, including a sigmoidoscopy \u2013 an examination of the lower part of my colon \u2013 and a scan. I couldn\u2019t have any sedation as I was pregnant, and I couldn\u2019t have any family with me due to Covid.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was tough and lonely, but I just focused on keeping my baby safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following a biopsy, I was told I had bowel cancer <\/a>and I needed to deliver my baby as quickly as possible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"I\t<\/div>
My surgeon Kat Baker (right) told me my operation was scheduled a few weeks later, (Picture: Nikki Penrice)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think I went numb at that point. I don\u2019t remember taking it all in. I was so focused on getting Connie out safely that I buried it and decided I would face everything else after she was born and safe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

They told me I couldn\u2019t have a C-section<\/a> since they had to perform surgery for the tumour and couldn\u2019t open me up twice. It was a startling thing to hear, but again, I dug it deep down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I chose to be induced on 21 December. It was a 12-hour labour and Connie was breech, but like a miracle, she turned at the last minute.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t believe it when she\u2019d arrived after going through so much. I was so happy she was safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My surgeon Kat Baker told me my operation was scheduled a few weeks later, on 17 January and that I should go home. She told me to enjoy Christmas as much as I could and allow my body to semi-recover before the surgery.<\/p>\n

I tried to have a good time and be as normal as possible but the operation was lingering at the back of my mind.\u00a0I was with Connie, my miracle, and so she got me through it, until Christmas Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

I cried for two days because everything I had been through came crashing down on me<\/p>\n

Quote<\/title><title>Quote<\/title><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I spotted <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/11\/11\/going-loo-30-times-a-day-see-blood-19729391\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/11\/11\/going-loo-30-times-a-day-see-blood-19729391\/\">blood in my poo<\/a> and I felt so unwell I had to go back into hospital, where I stayed under supervision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For the first few days I was out of it. As I started to come round everything hit me. <\/p>\n<p>Reggie came in at one point, but I didn\u2019t want to scare him. The nurses gave him a stoma teddy to take him so he could understand what was going on. Connie was brought in twice, but those days were tough and very tearful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks later, while in hospital my bowel perforated, which can be fatal. The pain was unlike anything else and everything suddenly became an emergency. It was horrendous. For the first time I really thought I wasn\u2019t going to make it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t remember much that happened after that but I was rushed in for emergency surgery to remove the tumour, and a wash-out \u2013 where they wash the infection out of your abdomen.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"383\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22964881 lazyload\" alt=\"I found out I had bowel cancer when I was pregnant\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_248619851-eea0-e1745488202298.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>It was hellish but an incredible success (Picture: Nikki Penrice)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When I came to, my body was still open from the top of my tummy to the bottom. Because it was an emergency, they couldn\u2019t do keyhole surgery and they couldn\u2019t close me up because they had to do the surgery in two parts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I had to lay there for two days with a line in my neck which fed me and gave me medication. I don\u2019t remember much about this time. Two days later, I went back into surgery and they did another wash-out and <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/01\/13\/im-out-to-prove-that-you-can-still-be-sexy-with-a-stoma-bag-18087167\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/01\/13\/im-out-to-prove-that-you-can-still-be-sexy-with-a-stoma-bag-18087167\/\">put a stoma in<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was hellish but an incredible success. They removed the tumour completely and took 75 lymph nodes to check and not one of them had cancer in. It was the best of a rubbish situation but all the cancer had gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On January 17, I was able to leave the hospital and go to my mum\u2019s house to recover. I cried for two days because everything I had been through came crashing down on me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I couldn\u2019t wait to spend some time with Reggie \u2013 he was only four and didn\u2019t really understand what was happening. I had barely seen him since and couldn\u2019t wait to hold him and my newborn daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"405\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22964873 lazyload\" alt=\"I found out I had bowel cancer when I was pregnant\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_248619855-e8ae-e1745488119276.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>I feel incredibly lucky that the cancer was found later on in my pregnancy(Picture: Nikki Penrice)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was so hard missing those first few weeks of Connie\u2019s life. When I got back, I was still in recovery and unable to be the mum I wanted to be. It was five weeks before I could hold her properly or change her nappy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I started preventative chemo on my birthday in February for three months all while navigating being a new mother again. Luckily, I had no horrendous side effects from the infusions and tablets but mentally, the juggle was incredibly tough.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In May, I finished my chemo and celebrated with a break with my family to Warwickshire and later I had a <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/05\/11\/casualty-star-shalisha-james-davis-celebrates-one-year-cancer-free-18768315\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/05\/11\/casualty-star-shalisha-james-davis-celebrates-one-year-cancer-free-18768315\/\">cancer-free party<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I had another operation in July, carried out by the same surgeon via keyhole surgery and I am now stoma free.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I feel incredibly lucky that the cancer was found later on in my pregnancy so that Connie had the chance to arrive safely. She is my miracle child.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But then we experienced further heartbreak. In June 2023, My dad, who was a massive part of my support system helping look after the kids while I was in hospital, had been told he had three months to live after his cancer returned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tBowel cancer symptoms\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>Kat Baker, Trustee at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justgiving.com\/oocct\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.justgiving.com\/oocct\">Occtopus Charity<\/a> and Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals, says if you experience any of the following symptoms, to get them checked with your GP.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Persistent changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhoea, constipation, or changes in stool consistency\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Abdominal pain or discomfort that persists without an obvious cause\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"4\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unexplained weight loss or fatigue\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"5\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Feeling that the bowel does not empty completely after a bowel movement\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"6\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Feeling an urgent need to go to the toilet but nothing happens when you get there\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>A palpable mass or lump in the abdomen\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We had only 17 days together and I was devastated to lose him. There was so much trauma happening around me at a time I was supposed to be enjoying motherhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I am now on a five-year surveillance programme, which means I have blood tests and yearly scans. My aim now is to live as healthy and happily as possible and raise awareness about stoma use.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a tough road \u2013 I have been verbally abused for changing my stoma bag in a disabled toilet, which left me feeling scarred by it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To celebrate, two and a half years after the diagnosis, I got \u2018lucky\u2019 tattooed on my arm \u2013 now every time I look at it, I\u2019m reminded of everything I survived.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I have been raising money for Macmillan and Cancer Research UK with sponsored walks and I am raising awareness about ultra-processed foods online \u2013 I want younger generations to be mindful about healthy eating. <\/p>\n<p>I am part of the purple sticker campaign, which aims to raise awareness and encourage businesses and public spaces to improve disabled toilet accessibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The doctors and the support I have had have been incredible, and I am now in counselling as I process what I have been through.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But going through something like that \u2013 it stays with you. It\u2019s traumatic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I still get anxious when I have to go to the hospital. It was the worst thing that could have happened but I had the best outcome.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And for that I am ever grateful.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>As told to Sarah Ingram.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:jess.austin@metro.co.uk\">jess.austin@metro.co.uk<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Share your views in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was eight months into the pregnancy that I finally realised something was very wrong (Picture: Nikki Penrice) I didn\u2019t think anything was especially wrong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":934,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions\/934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.troop956.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}