JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Vietnamese cancer woman risks life to give birth to baby

Vietnamese cancer woman risks life to give birth to baby

Thursday, April 02, 2015, 09:30 GMT+7

A critically-ill woman in Vietnam has adamantly refused to get an abortion and receive treatment for her terminal cancer, running the risk of her own life, to give birth to an adorable, healthy baby girl.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

Nguyen Thi Yen, 34, who lives in Hoai Duc District in Hanoi, was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer when she was five months pregnant with her first child.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the nasopharynx, which is the upper part of the pharynx (throat) behind the nose, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Doctors strongly advised Yen to get an abortion so that she could be ready for cancer treatment, as they did not expect her to live for more than two months from then if she went without such treatment.

Despite her family’s strong objections, Yen was set on keeping and delivering her baby at the serious risk of her own life.

With no treatment course for pregnant cancer patients, doctors prescribed the woman painkillers and discharged her from the hospital.

At home, the frail woman was clinging onto life and was tormented by relentless pain bouts, but refrained from taking sufficient medicine for fear that the medication would adversely impact the growing fetus inside her.

Her husband fetched her herbal medicine which helped relieve her agony.

However, Yen refused to take the herbs then as her fetus did not gain any weight during the one month when she was on herbal medication.

Yen’s eyes began to blur and her health failed perilously around the 34th week into her pregnancy.

During her acutest pain bouts to which she feared she would finally succumb, Yen sometimes insisted doctors operate on her to save the baby.

She was told to try to sustain the pregnancy into the 36th week, as the unborn, who weighed a mere 1.3 kilograms at the 34th week, stood little chance of surviving.

Devastated, Yen went home and suffered more intense pain fits, as her cancer was fast spiraling into its final phase.

Unable to digest diluted porridge, she was constantly on a drip and could not walk without others’ help.

“There were times when the pain was intolerably excruciating and I was apprehensive I would not make it. My unborn baby spurred me on and helped me get through the pains,” Yen recalled.

Miracle

In the 36th week into her pregnancy, Yen was admitted to the hospital to surgically deliver her baby.

Her family feared doctors would be unable to save Yen or worse, both the woman and her baby.

Miraculously, their worst fear did not materialize. Yen had a successful surgical delivery and her newborn daughter weighed 2.1 kilograms upon birth.

Only three days after delivery, she was transferred to a military hospital for treatment for her cancer. She had entirely lost her eyesight in both eyes by then.

The little girl survived on kind-hearted neighbors’ breast milk and canned milk.

Yen was not reunited with her young daughter until around one month later.

The mother still had to refrain from holding her girl often, as she was told the radiation therapy she was receiving might adversely impact her baby.

After nine months under constant hospitalized treatment, she was discharged to recuperate in the loving care of her family and presence of her infant. Though Yen is completely blind now, she said she can fully relish the unrivalled bliss of motherhood, and visualize her daughter, who is 17 months old now, in her imagination.

To everyone’s disbelief, Yen’s condition has improved miraculously.

“I treasure every single day that I spend with my little girl. If I die tomorrow, it’s still an immense relief that I managed to give birth to such a healthy baby,” she said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

TUOI TRE NEWS

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news