A woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer just a few weeks after discovering she was pregnant.
Emma Grandison, 31, was delighted when she was told she was expecting her first child with her husband, Ian, last June.
But the couple’s joy soon turned to heartbreak after Mrs Grandison was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer.
Miracle: Emma Grandison (pictured with her husband, Ian, and baby Erin) was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer just weeks after learning she was pregnant with her first child
Ms Grandison, from Preston, was told that without chemotherapy her life expectancy was as little as six months.
She was left with no choice but to risk starting chemotherapy while she was pregnant, and baby Erin was delivered 15 weeks early on November 5 – she weighed just 1lb 10oz.
Erin is still in the neonatal unit at the Royal Preston Hospital 80 days after she was born but is making good progress – her due date was actually February 16 this year.
She said: ‘I have my bad days, but I always look for the golden nugget in every day. There is always something that makes me smile.
‘Today is a good day, I am not in pain, my medication is working, I’ve started a brand new drug. They are doing everything to keep me going.
A scan revealed she had bowel cancer which had spread to her liver and was now not cureable
Mr and Mrs Grandison became engaged shortly after her diagnosis and they were married three weeks later
‘I have always loved a challenge, I just see this as a challenge.
‘I have always surprised myself by what I can do. This is a curve ball that I would never have expected to happen to me but it is happening.
‘You can either sit in the corner and cry or get on with it. I’ve got a baby, a new husband, a new home, what is there not to fight for?’
She added: ‘Becoming a wife, mother and dealing with my diagnosis in such a short space of time has been very surreal.
‘Marrying Ian was the most perfect day and becoming a mother I wouldn’t change in the world, the added challenge of cancer is unfortunate but it’s one bad thing in my life off-setted by all the other amazing things I have going on.
Erin was born 15 weeks early weighing just 1lb 10oz and three months later is still in hospital
Mrs Grandison was initially told she has six months to live without chemotherapy or two years with it
‘Why focus on the one bad thing? Someone has to beat the odds, why can’t it be me? I have everything to live for and fight for.
‘I was originally told I wouldn’t survive Christmas without chemo, with chemo two years.
‘These are just numbers to me. I think having a positive attitude and a glass half full attitude can only benefit me and those amazing people around me.
‘Doctors tell me they don’t know where I get my strength from, that’s easy: my rock that is my husband, and my own little inspirational fighter, my daughter Erin.
‘I’ve got my fight, she’s got hers… like I said, I have everything to live for.’
Mrs Grandison, who works in health and safety, started to suffer pains in her side in early pregnancy.
She went to see her doctor who ordered a scan as he thought she might have gallstones.
Shockingly, the scan revealed her liver was riddled with tumours.
She was diagnosed with bowel cancer which had spread to her liver and become terminal.
She said: ‘I had been getting a pain in my side. Normally I wouldn’t go to the doctors, I would just have a stiff upper lip, but because I was pregnant I was a bit more mindful.
‘On doing a scan (for gallstones) they found loads of tumours in my liver. It was bowel cancer primarily but my liver was riddled.
‘I couldn’t comprehend it at the time. It didn’t feel real. I felt like I was in a soap.’
Mr Grandison proposed to Emma shortly after her diagnosis last year and three weeks later they were married in a ceremony organised by close friends.
The pair had always planned to get married but Mrs Grandison’s diagnosis meant that plan was brought forward.
Mrs Grandison is currently having chemotherapy once every two weeks and she says the one thing that really scares her is not seeing her daughter grow up.
She describes her husband, 31, who she has been with for three and a half years, as her pillar of strength. She said: ‘He is my rock.’
A group of 22 of the couple’s friends are currently raising money for Cancer Research UK by not drinking alcohol throughout January.
So far they have raised more than £5,000.
To help them raise funds visit their Just Giving page.
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