Just one more reason to have kids
by Mary Kay Hastings
From Fox News, February 4:
Many mothers cherish the first kicks they feel from their unborn babies.
But unknown to one U.K. mother, the kicking she felt from the twins growing inside her actually saved her life, according to a report from Fox News.
Michelle Stepney, 35, said her twins Alice and Harriet, now age 13 months, were a lively pair in the womb.
At the time, however, she had no idea that constant kicking she felt actually dislodged a tumor that had formed on her cervix and, according to doctors, saved her life….
Shortly after becoming pregnant, Stepney of Cheam in South-West London was taken to the hospital after suffering what was believed to be a miscarriage. Soon doctors realized she was still pregnant, but had developed life-threatening cervical cancer. Stepney declined to have an abortion and doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London agreed to give her reduced chemotherapy in the hope of stopping the cancer spreading during the pregnancy.
But it wasn’t the chemo that ultimately saved Stepney.
“I couldn’t believe it when the doctors told me that the babies had dislodged the tumor,” she said. “I’d felt them kicking, but I didn’t realize just how important their kicking would turn out to be. I owe my life to my girls, and that’s why I could have never agreed with a termination.”
Photo courtesy Daily Mail
[HT: commenter Rosie]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
What a beautiful story!
Interesting story. Not that this is a common occurance but kudos to her! Now she will actually be alive to take care of her children.
can you really kick cancer out? If so, why does anyone need chemo, you could just cut out the cancer.
I’m happy for her, but a bit skeptical.
The story is truly bizarre.
Nice to have the happy ending.
Hal –
The cancer was in a tumor which was in the cervix so in order to remove this tumor they would have had to abort the babies and then more than likely the mother would not have been able to have more children.
Because she decided to continue with the pregnancy, the twins were able to dislodge the tumor which allowed the Dr’s to remove the tumor safetly without removing the cervix, uterus and babies.
More than likely she still had to finish the chemo and such – but she has 2 beautiful children and can still have children.
That is just my educated guess, but it is possible and similiar circumstances have happened. I remember one where it was the hormones of pregnancy that helped to put cancer in remission faster than normal.
For the most part – Dr.’s can only give educated guesses. They do not know for sure the outcome of anything. They can only give you a guess. When it comes to medicine and the human body, Mother Nature can have different opinions than the Dr’s and she has much more control over the situation.
More proof that abortion IS NOT always the answer !
God has a way of blessing us when, in faith, we obey Him.
My wife has a similar story about our now 11 year old Daniel who is an absolutely wonderful son.
“Though He slay me I will trust Him.”
What a beautiful story (this one & HisMan’s) Praise the Lord!
I’m curious, if the twins “dislodged” the tumor, how did she not hemorrhage to death? Tumors always have very intricate, massive blood supplies, which is why they are so difficult to remove.
Now if by “dislodged” they mean just managed (somehow) to kick the tumor out of the way, that is more believable than saying they kicked the tumor OFF of where it was attached and removed it.
I guess I’m not sure what they meant by “dislodged”.
My goodness! How on earth does a malignancy simply get knocked away from healthy cells? Doesn’t make sense but lucky lucky her!
Now if we could only train fetuses to do that in general.
Found more info on this:
There is a link to a BBC article on Medgaget.com – internet journal of emerging medical technologies
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/02/ftuses_as_medgadgets_for_tumor_reduction.html
Here is the BBC link:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7226730.stm
And some highlights from the BBC article:
“Michelle Stepney developed a tumour but was only diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was taken to hospital with a suspected miscarriage.
But doctors found her twins’ kicking had dislodged the tumour……
She has been nominated for a Woman of Courage Award by Cancer Research UK…..
The twins, Alice and Harriet, were delivered by caesarean section 33 weeks into the pregnancy.
They were healthy but born without hair because of the cancer treatment.
Mrs Stepney had a hysterectomy four weeks later, and has been given the all-clear……”
Now if we could only train fetuses to do that in general.
Posted by: Doug at February 4, 2008 9:01 PM
……………………………..
Imagine the possible meaning of a brain cancer patient talking about something kicking around inside of their head.
I wonder if Charlie Brown kicked whilst in the womb. I always wanted to see him finally make that kick…
“I wonder if Charlie Brown kicked whilst in the womb. I always wanted to see him finally make that kick…”
@Doug: I bet he managed to miss kicking his mother’s uterus…somehow it would manage to move itself out of the way…
?Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, and monkeys do too (if they have a gun).” ~ Eddie Izzard
I bet he managed to miss kicking his mother’s uterus…somehow it would manage to move itself out of the way…
So, Rae, you’re sayin’ that Lucy was Charlie Brown’s mother?
Quite a startling revelation, but now that Charles Schultz has gone to his grave, perhaps the truth can come out.
……
Imagine the possible meaning of a brain cancer patient talking about something kicking around inside of their head.
Sally, there have been reported cases of Snoopy flying around on a doghouse within the brains of certain individuals :: cough :: cough :: cough yllas :: cough ::
Doug
Some big people kill lots of little people with curettes, suction tubes, forceps and pills…still killing, still wrong.
I remember another case where a woman had a hole in one of her lungs, which doctors had tried in vain for months to repair. She went home to spend Christmas with her husband, and became pregnant. Because of her condition, she was advised to have the baby killed, which she refused to do.
She gave birth to a healthy baby, after which the doctors were to go back to attend to the hole in her lung. They did not have to do this; a post-natal exam showed that the baby exerted, as (s)he grew, just the right amount of pressure in just the right place for the right length of time to seal the hole shut and heal it, permanently.
That is amazing, LifeLynx!