An otherwise 'healthy' mum who was had a liver condition while pregnant was given a devastating diagnosis and says she would never have known if it wasn't for her pregnancy.
Emma Brooke, 22, from Thornton, Merseyside, was in and out of hospital with cholestasis of the liver while she was pregnant with her youngest child Alfie. During an ultrasound of her liver, doctors discovered a 10cm tumour on her right kidney.
The mum-of-three was then induced at 37 weeks, in July last year, so doctors could get a clearer view of her kidney. But just two weeks after welcoming her son, her kidney had to be removed.
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And on September 15 last year, Emma was given a devastating diagnosis; she had papillary renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer. Emma started immunotherapy but this did not work. In another blow, Emma was told the cancer had spread to her spine, some bones and her breastbone and was told it was stage four in March.
Speaking to the ECHO, her sister Mel Brooke said her sister was devastated by the news. She said: "Emma's coping OK with it now, she was very shocked at first, as you can imagine she was really upset and she couldn't get out of bed. But she is coping a bit better now, I think we're just raising as much funds as we can for her.
"Doctors have said if the treatment that she can get fails, then she will only have a couple of years left. We're all just trying to cope with the news and help with her three children as well."
The 26-year-old added Emma had no symptoms and would not have found out she had cancer if she wasn't pregnant. She added: "It was a liver scan but then they found a 10cm tumour on her kidney. If she wasn't pregnant she wouldn't have found out that it was there then."
Emma is currently on an aggressive form of oral chemotherapy to prolong her life so she can spend as much time with her three children, Neveah, five, Lola, two and Alfie, who is nine-months-old. Her family have now found a treatment which will hopefully work in Emma's favour called proton beam therapy. This is stronger than traditional radiotherapy and targets the tumour and not the tissue surrounding them.
They have set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the treatment to give Emma the best possible chance to try and control the cancer and to stop it from spreading. Writing on the fundraising page, her family said: "Any help that can be given will be greatly appreciated. This will hopefully keep Emma at home where she needs to be with her children and put up the best possible fight she can."
The page went to say: "Given Emma's time left to spend with her babies is estimated at a handful of years, maybe less. This is somewhat of a time sensitive fundraiser. Even if you can't give a donation right now then please give our page a share and let's try and give her the best chance of seeing her babies grow up."
Mel said Emma is concentrating on her children and spending as much time with them. Speaking to the ECHO, Mel also said: "We are very proud with how she is doing. She is only 22 as well, one of the youngest of us all as there is 10 of us as well.
"At the moment she is trying to spend as time with her children and her family. She still seems healthy and you wouldn't know anything was wrong with her."
To donate to the GoFundMe page, please click here.
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