AT 26 years of age, Abi Flynn received the devastating news she had terminal blood cancer and a large tumour in her chest.

After two years of chemotherapy failed to have any effect, the singer-songwriter decided against doctors advice to walk out of hospital and give up on the potentially life-saving treatment she was told she needed.

6

Incredibly, the tumour in her chest began to shrink. And three months later, stunned doctors discovered she was in remission.

However, after five gruelling rounds of chemo and the removal of one of her fallopian tubes, she was told she was infertile.

There was to be one more miracle though two months after being given the all-clear, Abi discovered she was pregnant.

Cradling her eight-month bump, thrilled Abi, now 29, says: When I finished chemo and radiotherapy and left the hospital in June last year, doctors told me I would likely die unless I had a stem-cell transplant. I stopped all treatment because I felt it was just making my illness a lot worse.

6

Id turned down the transplant and taken a terrifying risk.

But now, all of a sudden, I wasnt dying, and two months after getting the all-clear I was pregnant. Its a miracle, just unbelievable.

Abi first went to her GP with extreme chest pain in August 2016.

She says: Doctors believed I had a lung infection and referred me for further tests.

My world was turned upside down when I was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma, a rare blood cancer, which had caused a tumour in my chest.

I found the diagnosis hard to believe. I hadnt even thought about getting cancer at such a young age. I was very tearful.

6

Abi began a two-year battle through five rounds of chemo and a months intensive radiotherapy, which left her bedridden and breathless.

She says: Doctors told me the 21cm tumour was unresponsive to chemotherapy but warned I would most likely die without further medical help.

My immune system was so weak that the cancer continued to spread. Radiotherapy was the worst because I felt the effects around one month afterwards, not while I was having it.

In June last year, I decided to stop all treatment. If I had the stem-cell transplant, I worried it would leave me vulnerable to all kinds of illnesses.

6

My body had been through so much and the chemotherapy had left me infertile.

This was hugely upsetting because I always knew I wanted to be a mum.

Doctors warned me that a relapse, meaning the cancer in my blood could come back, was extremely likely if I didnt have the transplant and that I could die within months, maybe weeks.

When Abi went back to hospital four months later, in June 2018, for a check-up, doctors were amazed to discover the tumour had shrunk from 21cm to 8cm and had died, meaning that she was in remission. She says: I was so scared on the way to my scan, but finding out it had shrunk and died was incredible.

6

And in September 2018, a second scan showed the tumour had shrunk again to just 7cm, and I was officially given the all-clear.

Doctors were surprised and confused as to why the cancer suddenly reversed and thought it was an anomaly. They said my recovery defied medical statistics.

I have been given no explanation why it suddenly reversed.

Two days before her all-clear scan, Abi met motivational speaker Bradley Wescott, 33, at an event. The pair hit it off and became an item. Five months later they were amazed to discover they were going to be parents.

6

Abi, of Hove, East Sussex, says: I went on a holiday to India and realised my stomach was bigger and my period was late.

The day after I got home, Bradley asked if I should take a pregnancy test and we discovered the incredible news.

He was thrilled and so was I. Its made us closer and stronger.

We cant wait to meet our new arrival, a little boy who is due next month.

Im so excited. I feel like I already know my baby boy.

Its a testament to just how incredible my journey has been.

HAPPY HINCHER Student transforms drab uni bedroom into Mrs Hinch-inspired boudoir for 400

HAIR WE GO Bookies suspend bets on Kate having baby in 2020 & fans claim her HAIR is a clue

REALITY CHEQUE Millionaires daughter in tears as she's forced to go on budget camping trip

Exclusive

EVIL MONSTER Footballer boyfriend beat me with a bar & made me eat paint in two-day attack

WEIGHTY BUSINESS The dos and don'ts of weight loss - from diet pills to calculators & keto

FIX HER UPPER Woman transforms gran's damp-ridden bedroom into 'little haven' for just 230

My view - by Carole Cooper

HODGKINS lymphoma is a cancer that develops from white blood cells called B-lymphocytes.

The disease can be aggressive and spreads rapidly to other areas, such as the lungs and liver.

Even so, it is usually very treatable. Nearly 90 per cent of people who develop Hodgkins survive for five years and many are cured for good.

Treatment often involves radiotherapy as well as chemo, which is tough. It can be a struggle to continue, but specialists are very experienced with this type of lymphoma and can offer the very best advice and treatment.

While every case is different, young women often do better than other people who have Hodgkins.

All the same, Abi is extremely lucky to have done so well after giving up on treatment, and her bonus baby is a near-miracle.

Most stories like this have a sad outcome. Thats why I advise people to discuss difficult issues with their doctor rather than defy medical opinion and just walk out the door.

See original here:
I turned down chemo after being diagnosed with terminal cancer and lived then I became pregnant after d - The Sun