When Shae Boers found out she was pregnant with her first child at the age of 27, she was ecstatic her dream of becoming a mother was going to be fulfilled. The first routine ultrasound scan revealed two cysts on each ovary, but neither Shae nor her doctor was worried.
By the time her next check-up came around, she was looking forward to seeing the black and white image of her baby. But the sonographer was distracted: one of the cysts had disappeared, but the other one had grown to 12cm. Shae was advised to see her obstetrician as soon as possible.
Her next appointment with her doctor confirmed the mass was taking up too much space and it was threatening baby’s growth. Shae was now worried, and in the back of her mind she held on to the thought that she already had her share of trauma in life: she had lost her father when she was 14 after he was hit by a car, and her sister had barely survived another horrific car accident after spending two years in a burn suit. When doctors recommended surgery to remove the cyst, she agreed thinking its removal would allow her to concentrate on her pregnancy.
Shae never made it to her scheduled surgery date.
Shae Boers, on Insight Source: Insight
In excruciating pain and almost 16 weeks pregnant, she was rushed to Emergency surgery to remove the cyst. The results were a shock to her and her family. She was diagnosed with aggressive ovarian cancer. “They basically came in, dropped this bomb and then said it’s okay, it’s early enough that we can terminate the pregnancy, you’ll be back in a couple of days to have full hysterectomy,” Shae tells Insight.
What lay ahead was a series of high stakes decisions Shae had to make in order to save herself and her unborn baby | Insight: High Stakes - Catch up online now:
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