At 28 weeks pregnant, a mother in her early 30s visited the hospital with severe abdominal pain. As a result of the examination, the condition of the fetus was not stable, and she underwent an emergency cesarean section. The baby weighed only 650 grams and was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit. Another bad news came to patients and their families, who were full of worries about babies born prematurely.

During cesarean section, strange tumors were found in the peritoneum. The doctor in charge asked for a biopsy after removing the tumor, which was finally diagnosed as cancer.

After delivery, a mother who was not well enough became a cancer patient and had to undergo various tests, and as a result, she learned that pancreatic cancer had spread not only to the peritoneum but also to the liver, lungs, and bones. It is said that the discomfort and pain that appeared on the body as the cancer progressed were thought to be caused by pregnancy.

Cancer is truly a cruel disease. It occurs most frequently in the elderly, but there is no age group free from cancer from newborns to pregnant women. Among them, the most burdensome situation for medical staff is when metastatic cancer is first diagnosed in pregnant women. This is because decisions must be made that consider the life of the fetus as well as the cancer patient.

Cancer symptoms are mistaken for normal body changes that occur with pregnancy, and the diagnosis of cancer is delayed in pregnant women. In particular, in the case of breast cancer, tumors in the breast are often misunderstood as natural changes caused by pregnancy and are diagnosed only after cancer has spread.

The best ending is that the mother’s cancer is cured, and the fetus gives birth without any problems, but this is not common. Active chemotherapy can adversely affect the fetus, and delaying chemotherapy until the 34th week when the fetus can safely give birth increases the likelihood that the mother’s life will be at risk.

In actual situations, most patients make treatment decisions that prioritize patients, but many patients postpone treatment to protect their fetus over their own health.

In the case of the above mother, cancer was discovered during cesarean section, so there was no conflict factor in deciding whether to treat it, but unfortunately, the cancer had progressed a lot in a state where surgery was not possible. The medical staff did their best, including anticancer drug treatment and radiation treatment, but it was not effective.

The patient wished to hold the baby directly in his arms at least once, but it was impossible due to concerns about the risk of bacterial infection. The patient’s only comfort was to watch a baby video filmed and sent by his family on his mobile phone during a difficult battle, and it was a great pleasure to hear that the baby was growing normally.

Fortunately, a 650-gram-born baby received intensive care in the neonatal intensive care unit and grew up without any major problems. When I gained 2.6 kilograms, I was discharged from the hospital and went home. Just as a baby born prematurely survived in good health, the family desperately wished for the baby’s mother to overcome cancer. However, the patient’s condition continued to deteriorate.

The mother continued to inject narcotic analgesics intravenously for the last month, but the pain was not well controlled and she suffered severe pain, and she was unable to even move due to worsening swelling of her lower extremities due to thrombosis. Although his consciousness was getting worse and he couldn’t even properly recognize the people around him, the patient didn’t let go of his cell phone containing the baby’s picture.

Five months after the cancer was diagnosed at the same time as childbirth, the image of the mother who died with her cell phone held in her chest as if she were a baby made even the medical staff, who are accustomed to numerous deaths, swallow tears.