- Gemma Osborn found a breast lump when she was 25 weeks pregnant
- She only found it because she was rubbing in oil to prevent stretch marks
- She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 30 weeks pregnant
- At 32 weeks Gracie was delivered by C-section so she could start chemo
- Gracie weighed just 4lb 1oz and had to spend a month in special care
- Ms Osborn had five months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and radiotherapy – she has now been in remission for three years
- She has also had a second child, Finley, despite believing her treatment had left her infertile
By
Emma Innes
09:56 EST, 1 January 2014
|
10:12 EST, 1 January 2014
A mother has told of her heartbreak at being diagnosed with breast cancer while she was pregnant with her first child.
Gemma Osborn, 31, was diagnosed in June 2010 when she was 30 weeks pregnant with baby Gracie.
Ms Osborn, from St Neots, Cambridgeshire, had to have a Caesarean section at 32 weeks so she could begin chemotherapy without her baby being harmed.
Gemma Osborn (pictured with her partner, Peter), 31, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 30 weeks pregnant with their first child, Gracie
Ms Osborn was diagnosed after finding a lump in her breast while rubbing in oil in a bid to prevent stretch marks. Baby Gracie had to be delivered at 32 weeks to allow Ms Osborn to start chemotherapy
She told MailOnline: ‘It was a massive shock. I was only 27 and I had no family history of breast cancer, or of any cancer.
‘The day I was diagnosed was the worst day of my life – it was awful, really awful.
‘I was scared for my life and for my unborn baby’s life.’
Ms Osborn, who lives with her partner, Peter, 29, found a lump in her breast when she was 25 weeks pregnant.
She says she believes the pregnancy saved her life as she only found the lump because she was rubbing oil into her breasts in a bid to avoid stretch marks.
Ms Osborn told her midwife about the lump and was referred to a GP who believed it was a blocked milk duct.
Ms Osborn (pictured with Gracie at her christening) had five months of chemotherapy followed by a double mastectomy and radiotherapy
Gracie only weighed 4lb 1oz when she was born and she had to spend a month in special care. Ms Osborn started chemotherapy nine days after the birth
She was told to return for a check-up three weeks later.
When she saw the doctor again, the lump had grown significantly and she was sent for an ultrasound scan and a biopsy.
On June 4, 2010 she was told she had breast cancer.
She said: ‘When we went to get the results were not really concerned at all – no one thought it was anything.
‘I wasn’t worried at all – we just thought it was the blocked milk duct.
‘When I was told, it was like this massive blow. I just said “I don’t want to die†and the doctor said he’d get me fixed. It was horrendous.’
Ms Osborn (pictured before her illness) said: ‘It was a massive shock being diagnosed. I was only 27 and I had no family history of cancer. The day I was diagnosed was the worst day of my life – it was awful, really awful’
Ms Osborn says her partner, Peter, was her ‘rock’ throughout her treatment and that she believes she would not be here today were it not for him
Ms Osborn and her partner had a meeting with their midwives and oncologists and it was agreed that Gracie would be delivered at 32 weeks and then chemotherapy would begin as soon as Ms Osborn had recovered from the Caesarean.
Ms Osborn, an admin worker and beauty therapist, said: ‘Waiting without treatment was horrendous.
‘I felt trapped in my body and I thought I could feel the lump growing.
‘All the excitement of the baby was taken away and I felt robbed of the labour and birth.’
Gracie was born on June 16, 2010 weighing just 4lb 1oz and had to spend a month in special care.
Nine days after the birth, Ms Osborn started five months of chemotherapy followed by a double mastectomy at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon.
Ms Osborn (pictured with Gracie during her chemotherapy) believed she had been left infertile by her treatment but conceived her second child six months after finishing chemotherapy
In January 2011 she also had a course of radiotherapy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
She said: ‘The care that I received was just amazing. The NHS was amazing – I couldn’t fault them.
‘All of my treatment has been spot on.’
During Ms Osborn’s treatment, she says she was put on drugs to put her ovaries to sleep and stop them being damaged.
As a result, she stopped having periods and believed she was not fertile.
Ms Osborn (pictured with Peter and Gracie during her treatment) said: ‘When I was told, it was like this massive blow. I just said “I don’t want to die†and the doctor said he’d get me fixed. It was horrendous’
However, in the summer of 2011 she took her daughter to the GP and while she was in the waiting room she noticed a sign showing the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
She immediately panicked as she had all of the symptoms and was aware of the link between breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
She booked herself an emergency appointment with the GP and explained she had been feeling bloated and needing to urinate more frequently.
The doctor carried out a pregnancy test and informed Ms Osborn that she was 17 weeks pregnant.
She said: ‘I was so relieved that it was not cancer but I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to keep the baby – I had been told not to get pregnant until two years after I finished my cancer treatment so my body had time to recover.’
Ms Osborn discussed the pregnancy with her oncologist who worked out she must have conceived about six months after her chemotherapy ended.
Ms Osborn believes that having Gracie saved her life and the couple see Finley as their miracle baby
This meant the drugs would have just had time to leave her body meaning her baby should not be harmed by them.
As a result, she continued with the pregnancy and Finley was born in January 2012.
Ms Osborn said: ‘He is our miracle baby. We feel so blessed. I think Gracie saved my life as I wouldn’t have found the lump if I hadn’t been pregnant and Finley is our miracle.
‘I don’t know how he hid away for so long – he is a little fighter, a total soldier. He just battles through everything.’
Finley had to be delivered by C-section at 36 weeks because Ms Osborn developed pre-eclampsia.
He weighed just 4lb 10oz and when he was five weeks old he ended up in intensive care with bronchiolitis – a respiratory tract infection.
Ms Osborn has been in remission for three years but will have regular check-ups for another two years
Ms Osborn (pictured before her illness) and Peter are currently planning their wedding which is set to take place in June 2014
Ms Osborn has now been in remission for three years but will continue to go for check-ups for another two.
She said: ‘We just pray every day that it doesn’t come back. There is nothing else we can do.
‘Peter has been amazing. He is my rock. I protected my mum and dad from how I was feeling but Peter was the person I could be honest in front of.
‘He took the brunt of everything – he shaved my head, he saw me at my worst.
‘Without him I wouldn’t be here today. He coped really well even though he was only 25 and had a new baby and a sick girlfriend.
Ms Osborn said: ‘We just pray every day that it doesn’t come back. There is nothing else we can do’
The couple are now planning their wedding which is to take place in June 2014. Gracie will be a flower girl and Finley, a page boy.
Ms Osborn said: ‘We can’t wait. It should be just perfect.’
For more information about breast cancer, visit the Breakthrough Breast Cancer website.
To support the Woodlands Cancer Centre at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, visit www.hinchingbrooke.nhs.uk
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF BREAST CANCER?
A lump or area of thickened tissue in either breast.
A change in the size or shape of one or both breasts.
Discharge from either nipple or a lump or swelling in either armpit.
Dimpling on the skin of the breasts or a rash on or around the nipple.
Pain in either breast.
Source: NHS Choices
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