When Lisa Smith was only 32 weeks pregnant, her unborn daughter was diagnosed with cancer. The baby, Jenna, had a tumor the size of a tennis ball on her neck. Days after she was born, physicians were able to remove the tumor, and the child went through weeks of chemotherapy.
Lisa, who had suffered a miscarriage two years prior, told the Daily Mail, “I was overjoyed that I was pregnant again. I went for my scan at 12 weeks and doctors said there was a good, strong heartbeat—that was a relief. Then, on the 20-week scan everything looked fine too, so I was just looking forward to becoming a mom at last.”
When she was nearly eight months pregnant, Lisa was diagnosed with diabetes, so she had one more scan to make sure that her baby was in good health.
“We were devastated,” she says. “We didn’t know whether she was even going to survive.”
Doctors had to cut a hole in Jenna’s throat in order to insert a tube so the baby could breathe.
“It was so scary,” Lisa recalls. “They were operating on Jenna literally as she was halfway through being born.”
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Jenna, who is now 9 months old, is in remission.
“She has been tired and exhausted with the chemotherapy treatment,” says her mother. “But in between her chemotherapy, she is still a happy and smiling baby.”
Lisa says, “We will tell her when she’s old enough about how lucky she has been to survive being born with cancer.”
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