Mom-to-be Marin Mejia went in for a routine prenatal test while pregnant with her son Owen.
The standard test was done to assess the risk of Owen having chromosomal conditions such as Down Syndrome. However, when the test results came back abnormal, doctors were shocked to find the baby was healthy; it wasn't Owen that was ill, it was Marin.
“The doctor said, ‘So there’s still that abnormal result from the test we need to look into,’” she told CBS.
Marin believed that the regular bleeding she experienced was due to common pregnancy hemorrhoids. However, further testing revealed she had anal cancer.
If the prenatal screening hadn't come back abnormal, Marin may never have known or she may have learned too late.
A new study from Tufts Medical Center shows these common prenatal tests can help detect cancers in pregnant women.
"If there is cancer the tumor is shedding DNA into the mother’s blood as well and that is what is accounting for this imbalance," says Dr. Bianchi, who serves on an advisory panel for Illumina the company that makes the prenatal test.
Though having cancer is devastating for anyone, it's a miracle that Marin could conceive with the condition. Suzanne, another cancer survivor, regarded her post-cancer pregnancy as the impossible becoming possible.
After discovering Marin's cancer, which spread to her lymph nodes and lungs, doctors delivered Owen at 32 weeks to begin her chemotherapy.
“I am thankful for every minute I get to spend with [my kids],” says Marin. “I just, I refuse to believe that there is going to be any other outcome than ‘It’s all going to be okay’."
Marin's cancer nodules are shrinking, so there is hope yet.
See her story below and SHARE if your thoughts are with Marin and her beautiful children!
