Devastating twist as woman's 'baby turns into cancer'
Vanessa Drummond, 27, desperately wanted to know if she was pregnant, but was not prepared for what doctors discovered. She had no idea about the rare condition until she was diagnosed with it.
A positive pregnancy test often marks the start of a new chapter, but for one woman her flurry of tests and doctor's appointments were instead showing signs of something completely unexpected, leaving her questioning what was growing inside her.
Vanessa Drummond, 27, was delighted to learn she was pregnant in July and was exhibiting all the usual signs of early pregnancy. However, while attending her first ultrasound near her home in Manawatu, New Zealand, doctors flagged something unusual.
"The ultrasound showed an empty gestational sac in my uterus. No heartbeat, no fetus or [early signs of a] placenta visible," she told Yahoo News. "I thought I was pregnant and the doctors thought I was pregnant so they were testing my blood... but my hormone levels were high."
She was encouraged to get further tests done at the hospital and after jumping through hoops to get what she needed, she was told there was a possibility she wasn't pregnant — and never was.
"The doctors explained it could have been ectopic pregnancy [fertilised egg grows outside of the uterus] or something else... at that point, I just wanted someone to tell me whether I had a baby or not."
Woman needs urgent surgery after 'baby turns into cancer'
Doctors later confirmed to Drummond that she had developed gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) which occurs after conception. Rather than a fertilised egg turning into an embryo and then a baby, the rapid mutation of the cells instead forms a cancerous tumour.
"Sometimes when you get pregnant the baby turns into cancer," Drummond jested, admitting she had never heard of the condition until she got it herself.
Doctors told her that her body thought she was pregnant, however, she sadly was not, and she needed urgent surgery to remove the tumour for fear it could spread.
"They were trying to reassure me it was fine, but I was scared and confused," she said. "My family have been a really big support."
There are different types of gestational trophoblastic diseases and it is considered rare in Australia, occurring in one in every 1,000 pregnancies. Most are non-cancerous, however, like Drummond, some women develop malignant kinds.
Most are "very curable" and after receiving surgery, Drummond shows promising signs of a full recovery, opting for a bout of preventative chemotherapy as well.
Increased chance of pregnancy loss after developing GTD
Now that Drummond has experienced this type of tumour, she was told the chances of it occurring again are heightened following another conception.
"I've just gone from a 0.001 per cent chance of this happening to a one per cent chance of this happening and it increases each time," she said. "This change in fertility is what is probably affecting me the most. My partner's family has a long history of chromosomal abnormalities, something we are obviously very concerned about, and now this is another thing. It'll be harder to get excited about getting pregnant."
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