A Fife mum has been given heartbreaking news that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer just four months after giving birth.
Tyla Livingstone, 21, of Lochgelly, knew she had cancer during her pregnancy with baby Preston, but has now been told she has a life expectancy of between two to five years.
The first sign came last November when, 31 weeks into her pregnancy, she collapsed after a bath and suffered a seizure. Tyla was taken to Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital where she was given an MRI scan that revealed a small growth in her brain.
Medical staff said it was malignant and told her she might have to give birth early by Caesarian section.
She was then referred to Edinburgh’s Western General, where medics chose to monitor the tumour until Preston was born on January 12, weighing 5lb 14oz.
She said: “I’m just living day by day. They say if I’m lucky I’ll have another five years. It doesn’t seem real.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in properly. It’s more my son I think about — and the fact I will not be there for him in the future.”
She continued: “At first they said it was a small growth and might be fine. Then I was told it was a cancerous growth.
“The docs in Kirkcaldy wanted me to have a C-section but when I was switched to the Western General they put a stop to that. My unborn baby and I were monitored and scans showed the tumour at that point wasn’t aggressive and wasn’t growing.
“At 39 weeks I had Preston — and it was a traumatic birth.
“His little heart stopped six times and eventually they had to get him out with forceps.”
More to follow.
