Pregnant woman with lung cancer on the verge of death makes tearful effort to keep her baby

Lung cancer metastasis, difficulty breathing, unable to lie down, only sitting, sleeping 2 hours a day, the 25-year-old pregnant woman in Ha Tinh still persevered until the last minute with the hope that the longer her baby stayed in her womb, the higher the baby's chance of survival.

On the evening of July 10, nearly 20 doctors from the Central Obstetrics Hospital and the Central Cancer Hospital (Hanoi) performed a cesarean section for pregnant woman Tram. At that time, the fetus was only 29 weeks old, but the mother's endurance had reached its limit. The cry of the 1.2 kg baby boy brought tears to the mother's eyes, and the doctors breathed a sigh of relief. The mother had to give birth in a sitting position, andThis was also the first time doctors performed a cesarean section with the patient sitting.The baby boy was temporarily named Tran Gau by his family in the hope that he will be healthy.

Eleven weeks into her first pregnancy, Tram had swollen lymph nodes in her neck but did not think she had cancer. At 19 weeks, she was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer that had metastasized by a doctor at K Hospital. The doctor advised her to terminate the pregnancy for more effective treatment. She knew she had no chance of living, so she decided to keep the fetus, hoping that the mother would hold on long enough for the baby to be born.

Baby Gau, the son of mother Tram, is continuing his own fight. Photo: NP

At the 27th week of pregnancy, Tram could no longer bear the shortness of breath, so she went to K Hospital, branch 1 in Quan Su, Hanoi, for treatment. A week later, her shortness of breath became worse, so she had to be transferred to the intensive care unit. On the evening of July 10, the fetus was in the 29th week. The doctors realized that the mother's endurance had reached its limit, endangering the lives of both mother and child, so they asked colleagues from the Central Maternity Hospital to come and assist with a cesarean section.

Two teams of doctors and nurses, including a cesarean section and a neonatologist, from the Central Maternity Hospital went to K Hospital to perform the surgery.Doctor Nguyen Lien Phuong, Deputy Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Central Obstetrics Hospital, who directly performed the surgery, still remembers clearly this special surgery just 3 days ago."Looking at the pregnant woman sitting and breathing, I felt that her life was very fragile and could go at any moment, but she still tried to discuss the surgery with me," Dr. Phuong recounted. The fetus was not yet 29 weeks old, so the doctor told the mother in advance that the baby would have a very difficult time living. "She listened and said, 'Doctor, just try your best, as far as you can, if you can be born, my baby will fight for life on its own', which made me feel so sorry for her, I could only try my best to save the baby," Dr. Phuong recounted.

During the surgery, the pregnant woman could not lie down, so the doctors had to operate on her in a sitting position. Doctor Phuong said that this was the first time she had performed a cesarean section on a patient in such an unusual sitting position. The doctor lowered his head to the table to operate, the patient was weak so the surgery had to be done very quickly. The sitting position of the pregnant woman was also not easy for the doctor as she had to cut vertically, all the intestines were pushed down to the surgical site. Meanwhile, two nurses helped support the patient's back, one had to support her abdomen.

30 minutes after the surgery, the baby cried out at birth, the doctors breathed a sigh of relief and the mother cried tears of joy. Immediately, the baby was admitted to the emergency room by the neonatal specialists, put in an incubator and transferred to the Central Maternity Hospital. The remaining team continued to complete the surgery. And then came another battle in the hope of saving the mother.

During Ms. Tram's hospitalization, doctors from the two hospitals regularly exchanged information to choose the most optimal treatment method.for patientsDoctor Tran Duc Tho, Deputy Head of the Anesthesia and Resuscitation Department, K Hospital, said that the patient was admitted to the hospital when she was 27 weeks pregnant, in poor health, with respiratory failure, difficulty breathing, and pleural and pericardial effusion. The hospital consulted with experts from the Central Obstetrics Hospital and Bach Mai Hospital and agreed that it was not possible to perform a cesarean section at that time, instead trying to keep the baby in the mother's womb as long as possible.

Although her health is weak, Tram's face is quite bright because her baby was born safely.

Patients are treated with symptoms, given oxygen, special nutritional support, and intravenous injections. All medications used for pregnant women are expensive and are carefully considered by obstetricians and oncologists so as not to affect the fetus too much.

What moved the doctors was the extraordinary willpower and maternal love of the mother. The patient had a pneumothorax, dense lymph nodes on both sides of the neck, and a mediastinal tumor that made it difficult to breathe. After more than half a month in the hospital, the patient could not breathe and had to sit 24/7, sleeping only 2 hours a day, exhausted and in pain due to cancer.

“During the surgery, we could not anesthetize the patient because anesthesia might prevent the patient from waking up, and we could not even inject sedatives because it could increase respiratory failure. Therefore, we only used spinal anesthesia, and the patient was almost conscious during the surgery. The surgery was extremely stressful, we were afraid of losing both mother and child,” said Dr. Tho.

Doctor Le Thi Yen, Department of Internal Medicine, K Hospital, said that the pregnant woman understood that her life was only a matter of days and wanted to keep her baby, so she decided not to treat the cancer, only occasionally calling the doctor to ask about nutrition.

Ms. Lan, Tram's mother, could not hold back her tears when thinking about her young daughter with a serious illness and her grandchild lying in an incubator.“Our family is truly grateful to the doctors for taking this step with the mother and daughter. After Tram passes away, the grandchild will be the family’s comfort, and as for the mother, the doctors will save as many days as possible,” Ms. Lan said, choking up.

Deputy Director of the hospital Tran Van Thuan assessed that the mother's health is currently stable, and will consider treatment measures when she gets better. This is the first time the hospital has treated a pregnant patient with lung cancer. Previously, doctors had seen many cases of pregnant women with breast cancer but their health condition was better.

Ms. Tram's baby boy is currently being treated at the Central Maternity Hospital.Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Loi, Director of the Center for Neonatal Care and Treatment, Central Maternity Hospital, said that as soon as the baby was transferred, doctors performed endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. The baby suffered from severe respiratory failure and was born prematurely. Currently, the baby's health has improved compared to when he was born, he is on low-level mechanical ventilation, is being treated for respiratory failure, and is receiving infection prevention measures.The baby will continue to receive special care until he is strong enough to breathe on his own. According to doctors, premature babies like this one may have to stay in hospital for 3 months.

Poor patients should go to the hospital with a benefactor taking care of all the expenses for food, accommodation and travel. The Bright Tomorrow Fund also supports the family with 10 million VND.

According to VNE