What one woman in the UK thought to be a very painful pre-term labor turned out to be something more devastating: bowel cancer.
Nina Langley, 32, was feeling intense pain in her shoulders and ribs that she thought she was already going through a premature labor. She went to A&E, where she later found out all this was due to a growing bowel cancer that had already spread to her liver. In order to save her life, she was forced to deliver her baby, Teddy, 6 weeks before her due date. The baby is already with his mom and dad, Ed Cusick, 38.
The signs were all there early on. A year before she started feeling the shooting pains, she already went to the doctor since she noticed some changes in her bowel habits; she's been going to the bathroom more often. Then she had stomach cramps. The doctor diagnosed her with irritable bowel syndrome. All throughout her pregnancy, she suffered from pains on her rib and shoulder, which her doctors said were caused by the strain of carrying a baby.
Ed, her fiancé of 5 months, confessed about the mixed emotions the family is currently feeling. He mentioned how the baby serves to be "light at the end of the tunnel" for Nina, who has lost her father to brain cancer. The arrival of their newborn also kept them both excited and happy to start a family, but the diagnosis is holding them back.
Musician Ed, nevertheless, is willing to do everything to save Nina, whom he calls his soul mate. Although she's about to begin chemotherapy, he's also been looking into other options and found specialists internationally. One of the treatments they're considering is called nano knife, a minimally invasive procedure that uses electric currents to kill all malignant tumors. It is said to be effective for tumors that are hard to reach or deemed inoperable usually because of their location.
The family is currently raising funds for Nina's treatment.