There is a special type of vulnerability that comes with being pregnant. You’re keenly aware of the power of your body and its ability to grow an entirely new person. So, the stakes of keeping yourself safe and healthy become even higher. One mother-to-be in the UK found out that the same body that was housing her growing baby was also the home of a tumor in her ovaries.
Thankfully, with the help of modern medicine, doctors were able to save both the mother and her child in a unique and innovative surgery.
‘She just went really quiet,’ Lucy said of her sonographer at her 12-week exam.
When Lucy was 12 weeks pregnant, doctors told her that she had ovarian cancer, the BBC reported. Lucy remembers how she first learned something wasn’t right. “The sonographer talked us through the baby, who was looking really healthy and then she just went really quiet,” she recalled. “Just for a few minutes Adam and I were just looking at each other thinking, ‘oh gosh something’s obviously a little bit off and she’s not happy.'”
Eventually, the sonographer told Lucy that she saw something on her ovary and she needed to see a specialist.
Lucy’s womb was removed from her body during a surgery.
Eight weeks later, at 20 weeks pregnant, doctors at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford completed a five-hour surgery, removing the tumor from both of Lucy’s ovaries behind her uterus. They believed that if they waited until the end of her pregnancy to perform the surgery, the cancer would have spread throughout her entire body, putting her more at risk. To do so, doctors removed the uterus from Lucy’s body.
Two people held her uterus during the procedure.
Lucy’s womb — with her baby still inside — remained attached to her uterine artery to maintain the flow of oxygen and nutrients during the procedure. It also stayed attached to the fallopian tube and cervix. The uterus was wrapped in a sterile saline pack to mimic the temperature in the body. Then, two members of the medical team held the womb in their hands during the entire surgery.
Hooman Soleymani Majd, a consultant in gynecological oncology, praised the team for successfully completing the “complex and challenging” procedure. “The dedication and expertise of our multidisciplinary team ensured a positive outcome for both Lucy and her baby,” he said.
Lucy also expressed gratitude for her medical team. “Every doctor, nurse we spoke to was lovely, supportive, knowledgeable and gave us the reassurance that we needed,” she explained. “I didn’t for one second doubt that we weren’t going to be very well looked after.”
Lucy gave birth naturally at 37 weeks, welcoming her son, baby Rafferty, into the world, Good Morning Britain reported. “It was just the most extraordinary, stressful time,” Lucy said. “But he’s here and he’s wonderful and just absolutely loving being his mum.”
