Lauren Knowles, 27, with her son Charlie and fiancee, Trent. Photo / CATERS
Lauren Knowles, 27, with her son Charlie and fiancee, Trent. Photo / CATERS
A mother of two was forced to "give birth" to a cancerous mass alone in the toilet after believing she was pregnant.
Lauren Knowles, from Aberdeen, Scotland, was heartbroken when she discovered at seven-weeks "pregnant" that her unborn baby was a deadly disease.
At 27-years-old, Ms Knowles was elated when her pregnancy test read positive, however after she noticed heavy spotting at seven and a half weeks she was sent for a scan.
Lauren Knowles was left heartbroken after believing she was pregnant only to find she had a cancerous mass inside her womb. Photo / CATERS
She was then given the news that she was experiencing a molar pregnancy - a cluster of cells known as gestational trophoblastic disease.
However, despite having the cancerous tissue removed and undergoing gruelling chemo, hair loss and relapsing, her tumour continued to grow at an alarming rate.
But after agonising stomach cramps, Ms Knowles "gave birth" to the cancerous mass alone in the toilet after she felt the urge to push.
"I lost all my hair and three months after starting treatment, I gave birth to the mass in the hospital toilets.
"The mass was the same size as a baby at 17 weeks so it was a big tumour to push out with no assistance.
"I was so relieved when I saw the tumour down the toilet as I knew my ordeal was finally over.
"And after all my treatment, the light at the end of the tunnel was falling pregnant with Indi one year later."
Ms Knowles first decided to go to the doctors after she started heavily spotting, this was seven and a half weeks after her first pregnancy test.
She added: "I wasn't particularly nervous as I had spotted heavily with my first child, Charlie, five.
"But doctors decided to do a scan just to double check the pregnancy was all running smoothly, and that's when they told me that it was a molar pregnancy.
Lauren's scan revealed she was experiencing a molar pregnancy - a cluster of cells known as gestational trophoblastic disease. Photo / CATERS
'I didn't even know what that was so they gave me a fact sheet - as I was reading it my heart just started to sink.
"My tumour was cancerous so I started a low dose chemotherapy treatment, but the tumour kept growing back.
"It was terrifying and one day I took my son to the park and pushed him on the swings, I looked down and saw that there was blood everywhere.
"I had to be rushed to the hospital and that's when I had six cycles of high toxin chemotherapy, and I lost all my hair in the week."
After five months of treatment, Ms Knowles' health continued to deteriorate during April 2015.
But after being told to wait for a year to try for a child, Ms Knowles fell pregnant with her daughter, Indi, now 10-months-old, three months after her year-gap was up.
Despite doctors' warnings that she would struggle to conceive again, she fell pregnant months later and had daughter Indi. Photo / CATERS
She added: "My whole pregnancy I was terrified that it would be molar again, so I wasn't able to enjoy the feeling of carrying a child.
"When we went to our first scan and saw the baby's heart beat I couldn't stop crying because I knew it was real.
"Indi was then born five-weeks early as an emergency c-section. She was absolutely perfect and I couldn't believe I had actually had my dream second child, because I never thought it would happen.
"I want to give people hope that even in the worst scenarios, what seems impossible is still possible, whilst raising more awareness to molar pregnancy."
