A month after the miscarriage, the woman learned about a malignant tumor.
Recently, the American TV presenter of the NBC channel Michelle Velez posted on Instagram a photo from the hospital ward. The woman said that she was being treated for an aggressive form of cancer, which was provoked by an unsuccessful pregnancy.
Michelle, 38, and her husband Alex are raising two children. The couple did not have a third in the near future. However, when Velez found out about pregnancy, she was looking forward to her husband from work to talk about the upcoming replenishment.
Three weeks later, Michelle came to the first ultrasound, where it turned out that the child would not be.
“The gestational sac has formed (the sac in which the fetus develops. – Approx. healthy-food-near-me.com), but it was empty, ”Michelle says sadly.
The doctor advised not to rush into medical interventions, but to wait for the bag to come out naturally. But instead of bleeding for the next month, Michelle’s body acted as if there was life inside her.
“I was nauseous, I was very tired, just like in the first trimester of pregnancy,” says the TV presenter. “I was confused: if there was a miscarriage, where did all these pregnancy symptoms come from?”
A month later, Veles came to the doctor for a second ultrasound. It turned out that instead of the baby, a tumor had grown in the woman’s womb.
“Molar pregnancy”, – the doctor announced the diagnosis. Michelle, like most women, has never heard of what it is. However, the doctor assured: it is curable.
Molar pregnancy occurs due to a genetic error during fertilization. Instead of the placenta and fetus, the tissue in the uterus turns into small, whitish cysts, similar to a bunch of grapes.
In a partial or incomplete molar pregnancy, some of the normal fetal tissue may form in the uterus, but these will never form into a viable fetus.
In the world, there are 1000-1 molar pregnancies per 3 pregnancies. The risk of molar pregnancy is higher in Asian women and in women younger than 16 or older than 45. If a woman has already experienced one or more molar pregnancies, she is also at risk.
The unknown diagnosis did not upset Michelle as much as the news that she could not get pregnant for at least a year. You need to make sure that the level of hormones has decreased and remained at the same level.
“I was very upset when I found out about the miscarriage. But I still held on to the hope that soon I would be able to try again, ”Michelle admits.
However, after the doctors removed the gestational sac, Michelle’s hormone levels first dropped and then rose again.
“My hCG level (a hormone that is produced during pregnancy. – Approx. healthy-food-near-me.com) reached an astronomical level. It was as if I was pregnant with five at once, ”Veles says. The woman was in a panic when, after the tests, she was suddenly sent to an oncologist.
“I said:“ I don’t want to see an oncologist, why do I need an oncologist ?! ” – recalls Michelle.
As it turned out, a small percentage of already rare molar pregnancies due to hormonal surges and neoplasms end in cancer.
“It happened to me too,” says Veles. “There was no good reason, just a dumb failure.”
The woman was diagnosed with choriocarcinoma, a rapidly growing malignant tumor that develops in the womb and, as in Michelle’s case, spreads to her lungs, kidneys and liver.
Fortunately, the doctors assured Michelle that her cancer was curable. However, now the woman will have to undergo aggressive chemotherapy.
“Yes, maybe all my hair will fall out. But this is the least that worries me now, – says Veles. “It’s not scary to lose your hair, it’s scary to lose your life.”
Michelle recently completed her first chemotherapy course.
“Chemotherapy sucks, but it kills the cancer inside me,” Michelle says. – I have two children. For them I must fight. “
After one of the sessions, the woman almost died due to heavy bleeding.
“I received several blood transfusions. It took six doses or six units of blood. Given that the human body contains about eight units. That’s how much blood I lost in a short time due to bleeding after a molar pregnancy, ”the TV presenter told the Instagram subscribers. – I want to thank the people who donated their blood. I will never know who they are, but they saved my life and I will always be grateful. “