A double surprise – Pregnancy after cancer

A double surprise – Pregnancy after cancer
June 6, 2022 marketing
Healthy twin pregnancy after cancer H

‘My surgeon described it as a ‘miracle’

As head of a production company creating live events and festivals across the world, Morgan Deane’s lifestyle was busy and exciting. Based in New York she was responsible for hundreds of events from modest gatherings of around 500 people to music events attracting over 100,000 fans.

She never expected that she would move to a small town on the Kent coast, fall in love and become pregnant with twins.

Not least because Morgan has survived aggressive inflammatory breast cancer, intensive chemotherapy, fifty rounds of radiotherapy and a radical lateral mastectomy.

At the age of 35 Morgan’s was deemed ‘too young’ to be suffering from cancer.

As she says, ‘My breasts have always been a bit lumpy and weird feeling and when I noticed a discharge from my nipple I just dismissed it.’  When she did try and arrange a scan she was simply told there was no point at her age – as a young woman there should be no reason for concern.

Despite buying new bras to accommodate the rapid increase in size she was experiencing it wasn’t until she woke up to discover her breast had become even more swollen, inflamed and painful that she finally sought medical help.  Her doctor assured her that it wasn’t sepsis, prescribed a course of antibiotics and, with no sense of urgency, booked a mammogram and an ultrasound test for two weeks time.

Morgan continued ‘At the time I was in the middle of producing a huge festival in Long Beach.  I fitted in the visit to the imaging clinic in between dealing with contracts and confirming events.  The ultrasound nurse went strangely quiet when she did the scans and called the consultant whilst I was still lying there with my boobs out.  Even when they insisted on calling a cab to take me directly to the hospital for further examinations and a needle biopsy, my immediate reaction was to worry about work and my ‘to do’ list.’

Morgan was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer: metastatic breast cancer that had already spread to her bones.  She started treatment immediately and although the cancer responded well to the chemotherapy, Morgan herself was really sick, forced to spend bouts in hospital as her body reacted to the drugs.  She said, ‘I was in a lot of pain and could barely move, but I had a great support network and many friends who came to visit me. I think they were coming to say good-bye.’

Once the chemo had reduced the cancer, it was necessary to carry out a radical single mastectomy and then it was time to start radiotherapy with a programme of 50 rounds of radiation to her chest and hip bones.

healthy twin pregnancy after cancer

Remarkably,  despite the extent of her cancer, after nearly two years of treatment the results are entirely successful. Morgan has had no evidence of disease since October 2020. But after such intense and invasive treatment it was hardly surprising that she assumed she would never have children.

‘I started dating again when I was staying in Kent,’ smiled Morgan. ‘It was great fun to click on a dating app, meet people and have a night out – I was really enjoying it.  I dithered about George but figured he was better than a night in on my own and as I was heading back to New York for ten days very soon I would have a ready excuse not to see him again.  But he was different.  I just couldn’t stop thinking about him and we talked non-stop the whole time I was away.

When I got back to the UK he came round to see me and basically hasn’t left.

George already has three children and is a very involved Dad, so I was comfortable with the fact that I would never have a baby myself.’

But just three months after she got together with George, Morgan discovered she was pregnant!

Her surgeon described it as a ‘miracle’ and her oncologist confirmed that as she her cancer was  hormone negative the pregnancy was unlikely to trigger any reoccurrence.

But when Morgan shared the news with George he immediately said, ‘It’s twins!’

Morgan couldn’t get the idea out of her head, she said ‘Bizarrely, I’d had the same thought.  And I told another friend about the pregnancy and she had the same reaction.  I just couldn’t wait to find out and paid for an early scan.’

The scans clearly showed that they were correct! Morgan’s twins are due on the anniversary of her first date with George.  The couple are delighted – with no history of twins in either of their families they are thrilled with their double surprise pregnancy.  The babies are fraternal twins – the scan was too early to show what sex they are and Morgan and George  intend to wait until the babies are born to find out …but with their uncanny sixth sense they’ll probably guess what they’re having well before then!

enjoying a healthy twin pregnancy after cancer

We look forward to catching up with Morgan when the twins are born.  She has every intention of breast-feeding to the best of her ability and has spoken to other mums who have fed their babies successfully with just one breast after a mastectomy.

If you’ve suffered from cancer and have concerns about pregnancy check out www.breastcancernow.org