Six months pregnant and looking forward to the birth of her first born, Siobhan noticed a lump on her leg. Just a few weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Siobhan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Siobhan has kindly shard her story with us.
My symptoms started September 2001, I was 28 years old and six months pregnant. I had a large lump on my leg and I went to the doctors, thankfully I was told to concentrate on the baby.
When my daughter was just 5 weeks old, my midwife urged me to get my lump checked out. An X-ray revealed a nine-inch tumour in my leg and just one week later, I was diagnosed with bone cancer, osteosarcoma.
I had 3 sessions of chemotherapy at St James Hospital in Leeds and then an operation at Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, all with a very small baby in tow, to remove the tumour and some of my muscle and then 3 more chemotherapy sessions.
I’m still here so my treatment worked but it was very difficult with a new born baby.
I have a much more positive outlook now and I’m determination to succeed. I now have another child, and I own my own recruitment company.
My advice to others is to stay positive, it’s 6 months of hell and then you can return to normality with a new zest and determination you never knew you had!!
Cancers that aren’t “common” often get forgotten about and the details are often unknown, schools and colleges and parents alike need to be educated as to the symptoms of this disease and why it is imperative to be persistence if something just doesn’t feel right!
Donate now (This link opens in a new window) More about Osteosarcoma