Aussie mum's devastating diagnosis 10 days after giving birth to IVF baby
Taylor Johnston, 29, was in labour when doctors detected something unusual in her cervix.
After years of fertility issues and several rounds of IVF, Jesse and Taylor Johnstone finally received the news they long hoped for — they were going to have a baby.
Yet a discovery in Taylor's cervix during their daughter's birth in May has since turned their "world upside down". "They found it during her labour. They were just doing routine vaginal examinations to see how dilated she was and then one of the midwives said she could feel what they call a polyp on her cervix," Jesse told Yahoo News Australia.
"She said that it just didn't feel right... she hadn't felt a cervix like it in her whole career."
After a biopsy was taken during Taylor's C-section, the results confirmed it was cancerous.
"10 days after the birth is when we found out, and Billie was probably around six weeks old when we found out about the bone marrow cancer," Jesse said. The couple from Rye, Victoria were told the cancer detected in Taylor's cervix and bone marrow was a result of metastasis, yet doctors are unsure where it originated from.
'Stopped looking for the primary cancer'
Due to the severity and "time sensitive" nature of the 29-year-old's cancer, doctors have confirmed they will stop searching to find where the cancer started.
"The doctors have decided that they're basically going to stop looking for the primary cancer ... They needed to start treatment," Jesse said. "Bone marrow cancer can be pretty bad and it can be terminal, they basically said they don't have that luxury of time to keep wasting days of testing."
Family 'shattered' by diagnosis
Taylor has been in hospital for the past two weeks and started chemotherapy, with a second round expected on Tuesday, while Jesse contends with being a first-time dad.
The 29-year-old revealed he has temporarily moved into his parents' home while caring for baby Billie, admitting it's "too hard to do myself" as family rally around in support.
Jesse's sister Lani created a GoFundMe page hoping to raise funds for the pair while neither are able to work and gain an income.
"Jesse is unable to work. Taylor is unable to be the mother she wants to be," Lani wrote online, sharing the family feel "heartbroken, shattered and numb".
"Please keep Taylor, Jesse and baby Billie in your hearts and your thoughts."
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
