A heartbroken mum who was told she might only have a few years wouldn't have discovered she had stage four cancer if she wasn't pregnant, according to her sister. Emma Brooke, 22, was in and out of hospital with cholestasis of the liver while she was expecting her youngest child Alfie, the Echo reports.
The young mum-of-three from Thorton went for an ultrasound so doctors could get a clearer picture of her liver when they discovered a 10cm tumour on her right kidney. She was induced at 37 weeks in July last year so they could take a closer look at her kidney but just two weeks after giving birth Emma had to have it removed.
She was given her devastating diagnosis on September 15 last year, despite having no symptoms as she was informed she had papillary renal cell carcinoma - a type of kidney cancer. Emma started immunotherapy but the treatment sadly didn't work.
In March this year, she was hit with even more heart breaking news as Emma was told her cancer was now at stage four after spreading to her spine, some bones and her breastbone. Her sister, Mel Brooke, has spoken about how distressed Emma was when she was first told of her poor health.
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 her sister had no symptoms of cancer and would not have discovered her illness if she hadn't been pregnant.
She explained: "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 extend her life so she can spend as much time as possible with her three kids: 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 works by targeting the tumour and not the tissue surrounding them.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to raise funds for the treatment to give Emma the best possible chance to try and prevent the cancer from spreading further.
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.
"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 prioritising her children and spending as much time with them as she can.
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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