A woman who thought she was pregnant discovered that her ‘baby’ was, in fact, a cancerous tumour.
Seven weeks after taking a pregnancy test, doctors informed Lauren Knowles that she was actually experiencing a molar pregnancy where a cluster of cancerous cells grows in the womb.
Also known as gestational trophoblastic disease, the ‘pregnancy’ caused Lauren to lose her hair as she went through chemo and eventually had the cells removed.
However, Lauren’s tumour did not stop growing and soon after, the mum “gave birth” to it.
Lauren has been sharing her story on her Instagram account in the hope that she can raise awareness of molar pregnancies and lend support to those who might also be suffering.
In one recent post, she explained what the feeling of “giving birth” to her tumour felt like.
She said:
“It was an all too familiar feeling and no woman that has given birth could mistake it. I was in labour.
“What the hell… Calling in the nurse she was as confused as I was.
“I was given strong pain killers, they took away most of the cramps, but a few hours later I was in the toilet alone where I passed the large tumour that had made itself a home in my womb the past 5 months.
“It’s something I will never forget in my life – and I’ll always remember the enormous sense of relief I had when it came out.
“It was finally over. I had won the fight.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZLrRvyglU9/?taken-by=rainbowsahead_
Earlier this year, Lauren also posted a photo of the “side effects” she had been enduring due to chemo.
She wrote:
“Steroids made me balloon … I literally looked like a big puffy moon faced blob with no hair, eyelashes, eyebrows… and to top it off I got some super sexy weird hormonal rash thing not even the doctors could explain.
“Hard to believe I looked like this.”
The mum-of-two said that it was her kids who got her through “the hard times” and encouraged her to keep going.
Doctors had warned her that she might not be able to conceive again, but less than a year after her chemotherapy, Lauren discovered that she was expecting again.
Images via Lauren Knowles Instagram.
