- Lyndsey Crowder was delighted when she fell pregnant but was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma weeks later
- Doctors said she could terminate her pregnancy or take a huge risk and start life-saving treatment
- Despite battling a tumour the size of a football in her chest she still managed to give birth to a healthy girl
By
Emily Allen
07:32 EST, 1 August 2012
|
07:32 EST, 1 August 2012
A women with cancer who refused to terminate her unborn child for the sake of her own health is finally enjoying life with a healthy little girl and has battled the disease.
Lyndsey Crowder was delighted when she fell pregnant again after previously losing three babies but weeks later she was diagnosed Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and was told by doctors she possibly had just weeks to live.
Doctors gave her three options including terminating her baby for the sake of her own health or taking a huge risk and starting life-saving treatment.
Remarkable: Lyndsey Crowder was delighted when she gave birth to Sidney Rose by c-section at 34 weeks despite battling a tumour the size of a football in her chest and having to endure eight rounds of chemotherapy
Mrs Crowder, a 34-year-old dispatcher for the North West Ambulance service and who lives in Walton, Merseyside, said: ‘To my mind there was no choice. But I knew I had to give the baby a chance.’
The doctors explained it was unclear
what effect chemotherapy could have on her unborn child or how
significant a strain a pregnancy could be on her already weakened body.
With a tumour the size of a small football in her chest Mrs Crowder began eight rounds of gruelling chemotherapy.
She said: ‘I had scan after scan to check on the
baby and even though everything looked fine it wasn’t until she was
born and I saw her that I could believe she’d be okay’.
Remarkably Sidney Rose, now four, was safely delivered by c-section at 34 weeks.
Her arrival was made even more special as Mrs Crowder and her husband Nick endured two tragedies trying to become parents. Their first daughter Alice, was stillborn, and then Mrs Crowder miscarried twins.
Sidney Rose was finally conceived with the help of fertility drug Chlomid and she fell pregnant at the end of 2007.
Mrs Crowder lost three babies before she fell pregnant with Sidney (pictured now) but noticed that she was feeling unwell. Doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and she thought she was going to die
However, she said she had begun to notice that she was feeling unwell.
She said: ‘In hindsight I hadn’t been well since my birthday in
August with chest infections and coughs and itchy skin.
‘By the time I was pregnant it was worse. I looked terrible and felt terrible. I was sick of being sick. I am a trained nurse and it did go through my mind that something else was going on with my body.’
She was admitted to Aintree Hospital and underwent a battery of tests before the news about the Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system, was confirmed.
Mrs Crowder said: ‘I thought, I can deal with the cancer
but I cannot lose another baby. I just knew I would do whatever it took
to get that child into the world. The rest was in God’s hands.’
She added: ‘When she arrived she had more hair
than me and was perfect. After nine months of fighting for her it was
amazing to hear her cry. I just lay there and thought, ‘my work is
done’’.
But the delivery took its toll. Having
lost a lot of blood Mrs Crowder underwent an emergency full body scan which
discovered the cancer had travelled around her body and she
subsequently underwent more rounds of intensive chemotherapy.
She also had a bone marrow transplant at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
‘That was when I felt truly scared. I
remember looking out at the hospital car park from my isolation room and
thinking: is this the last thing I’ll see before I die?’’
But the treatment – she also underwent radiotherapy – was successful and she has been in remission for 30 months.
Meanwhile, her daughter has grown and continues to be a source of hope and pride.
She said: ‘At times it feels as if it’s happened to someone else and I have to pinch myself to remember it’s all been real.
‘But if one person reads this and it gives them hope, whether they’re fighting cancer or trying to have children, then I have done my job.’
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Wonderful! Beautiful mother and daughter. A long and healthy life to you both (and hubby too!)
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You are so brave. You have a gorgeous little girl and have come through more horror than the rest os us could ever know in a lifetime! – well done and good luck to you for the future.
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How lovely, finally hearing something nice in the news for once!! 🙂
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What a brilliant success story! So pleased for you!x
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What a brave lady and what a beautiful little girl!
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What a great article! Beautiful photo of Sidney Rose and Lyndsey. Lyndsey’s sacrifice for her beautiful baby daughter was in God’s hands and your story is truly one of hope and inspiration. Good luck and best wishes for the future to all of you and well done to all the medical staff involved.
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what a brave woman, just amazing.
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Heart warming remarkable story. May you have health and happiness now live a long life. Good news.
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Oh that’s wonderful new’s ! I hope they continue to have good health 🙂
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Wow what a selfless act………a truely inspiring story. I do so hope this remarkable lady continues to enjoy good health, life and her beautiful daughter. I’m battling breast cancer I know how tough chemotherapy is so to continue with a pregnancy aswell must have taken great determination and strength. Good luck to this family and every cancer sufferer.
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