Georga

I was 25, working and delighted to have found out I was pregnant. But I didn’t feel well and my local hospital thought I had a chest infection.  

I was having an eye test at the hospital opticians and coming out of one of my scans I started to cough up blood. As a result, I was rushed to A&E and actually ended up staying in overnight. I had many hospital visits for the next 10 weeks, which finally resulted in being sent for a bronchoscopy. I was at work when I received a call about the results of the biopsy. They told they were referring me to see an oncologist. I asked what this meant and they explained that it looked like I had cancer. I broke down. My dad had to come to pick me up as I simply couldn’t move after this news, and certainly wasn’t in the right state of mind to drive home on my own.

I was pregnant with my first child and now I have cancer - it was all a whirlwind. 

Georga

I was told I had stage 2 classical Hodgkin lymphoma at 14 weeks pregnant. I cannot put into words how I felt. I couldn’t talk to anyone as I was told by the medical team that my circumstances were extremely rare. They explained that I had two options; I could terminate my pregnancy or I could leave it a while to see if the tumours got bigger. What was I to do? 

In the end, I needed to start chemotherapy straightaway. Although it was a big decision, I was clear that I wanted to keep the baby as this could be my only chance to create a family. 

A week after being given my exact diagnosis I had a PICC line fitted and chemotherapy was started. I was given ABVD which I was told was safe for pregnant women in their second trimester. Instead of PET scans, I had MRI scans and the baby was being scanned almost every week to check on her health.

After three rounds of chemotherapy the MRI scan showed that the tumour had got smaller, but not small enough. It was explained I could not have more treatment as I was in the final weeks of my pregnancy, as this could cause complications during the labour. I was told I was unable to opt for a ‘C’ section due to being on blood thinners which meant I was a high risk of bleeding. I had to be induced in order to make sure the specialist consultants were working when I was In labour in case of any complications. 

Delilah was born on 2 January 2024 weighing 7lb 4oz and perfectly healthy.

Georga

A week after Delilah was born I had my first ever PET scan which showed the tumours had got bigger. I had a further 3 rounds of chemotherapy, this time being GEM-P, which was difficult.  I was unable to breast feed and all my chemo I had to do alone as someone had to care for Delila. It was only the last two long sessions where the hospital made the exception for Delilah to be with me all day. After my 2nd round of chemo it was explained to me that I would need to have an autologous stem cell transplant using my own stem cells.

It was a difficult decision to have the stem cell transplant, but I knew I needed to do it. With the support from my family I had the stem cell transplant in June 2024 and this was the first time I lost my hair as a result of the LEAM chemotherapy. Whilst in the hospital they allowed us to stay in our own accommodation on site which meant my partner and daughter were able to be with me 24/7 and I could have visitors as long as they were not ill. 

Unfortunately the day after my transplant myself, my partner, Delilah and my mum all got COVID which we caught from another patient whilst having obs a few days before. This was frustrating as the hospital wanted me to be admitted and send Delilah and my partner home, which was over an hour away. Fortunately, I didn’t need any additional treatment as I was medically fit, so I was discharged with a PET scan booked for the end of August. 

Having had a baby and being post-transplant the recovery was extremely difficult. Throughout my whole journey I didn’t know if side effects I was experiencing were as a result of my pregnancy or my treatment. With the fatigue being the worst side effect, when Delilah goes for a nap, I do too. 

Three months post-transplant, I am building myself back up. I know it will be a long journey as it can take a year to get back to 100%. I have good days and bad days with side effects from the transplant still hanging around. I’m managing to get out of the house a lot more and have had a complete change in attitude towards life. If I want something I go and get it and don’t wait around for it - just do it. Life is too short to be waiting around, and you never know what can happen. I never expected to be diagnosed with cancer whilst pregnant at the age of 25. 

The care that I received from my medical team, my partner and family has been amazing and I can’t imagine going through what I’ve been through without them. 

The results from my PET scan have shown the I am in full remission and am able to move on and be the mum I’ve always wanted to be and no longer the cancer patient.