Jane Heffey, a mom of two from Liverpool says her baby girl is the reason she is alive today, the Liverpool Echo reports. She has overcome cervical cancer after a remarkable series of events during her second pregnancy.
When Heffey was just 20 weeks along with her daughter, she started to bleed and went to the hospital. She assumed it was just "the baby lying on a nerve," but doctors discovered that she had a tumor and, according to the Liverpool Echo, the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
"Words could not explain the feeling when you are given such tragic news especially with us already having an 8 Month old [sic] baby at the time, we where [sic] emotionally shattered as a family and thought the whole world was against us," Heffey wrote on a fundraising page that her family started for the hospital where she was treated.
Heffey underwent one round of chemotherapy while she was still pregnant -- a decision that doctors explained was risky, but necessary to stop the cancer from spreading further, the Daily Mail reports. She then delivered baby Ciara at 32 weeks via cesarean section on April 12, 2012. The baby spent one month in the Liverpool Womens Neo-natal unit before she was sent home.
Heffey resumed cancer treatments three weeks after giving birth. She recounts her journey on the fundraising page explaining that she and her partner Stephen maintained a positive attitude, determined not to let the cancer ruin their lives. The family was given the OK to take a vacation "after 9 cycles of Chemotherapy, 25 sessions of External Radiotherapy and 3 sessions of intrusive Internal Radiation, months of aches and pain, sickness, panic attacks and a constant emotional rollercoaster."
When they returned in October 2012, Heffey got the news she had been waiting for -- the cancer was gone and she could return to enjoying motherhood.
The Liverpool Echo quoted Heffey who is thankful to her daughter for saving her life. "It was only because of her that I discovered I had cervical cancer," she said. But she is also grateful for the doctors and nurses at the Clatterbridge Hospital for the "amazing" treatment she received.
While some may think beating cancer and having two babies are feats on their own, Heffey plans to go big when it comes to showing how brave she can be. On March 24, mom plans skydive in an effort to raise money for the hospital's cancer charity. "I will be scared but I will think of all the people who have helped me through, and of Ciara. She was sent to me for a reason, to save my life. Now I feel like the happiest person alive," she said.
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