I was 34 weeks pregnant and thought I had pre-eclampsia – it was ‘aggressive’ cancer and now I have years to live
A MUM suspected she had pre-eclampsia when she was 34 weeks pregnant and her headaches got worse.
Bethany Wright, 26, went to get checked out for the pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure – but a CT scan instead revealed she had cancer.
The CT scan followed by an MRI scan confirmed she had a 6cm brain tumour, and doctors explained she would need an operation to remove it.
But she was told she couldn’t have the procedure while pregnant.
After giving birth to her son, Alfie, on March 28, weighing 5lbs 10oz at 2.35am, Bethany underwent surgery to remove the tumour in August 2024.
Doctors were able to remove 85 per cent of the tumour and sent it for a biopsy that confirmed that Bethany had a grade 3 astrocytoma – a fast-growing, aggressive tumour in the central nervous system.
After her surgery, Bethany underwent 33 sessions of radiotherapy and she is now undergoing chemotherapy.
Bethany said she feels “robbed” of motherhood and she has now started making a memory box for Alfie – fearing she won’t be around to see him grow up.
Bethany, a community nurse, from Glasgow, Scotland, said: “When they told me it was grade 3, I didn’t how to process it – I was wondering if I would have a shorter life span.
“I had just had a newborn son, I was trying to work out the future.
“My main thought was that I was not going to be able to be there for my son growing up which is heartbreaking.
“I am 26, I am still young.”
After experiencing severe headaches in March 2024, Bethany went to Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, as she worried she had pre-eclampsia.
Doctors took her for a CT scan which showed a mass on her brain.
Bethany said: “I told the hospital how was experiencing severe headaches and my blood pressure was high.
“They then did a CT scan as they thought I might have a clot in my brain and then someone from neurology came in and told me they spotted a mass on my brain.”
Bethany was taken for an MRI scan which confirmed she had a brain tumour but, because she was 34 weeks pregnant, doctors said she’d have to go full-term before they operated.
Bethany gave birth to her son, Alfie, on March 28, 2024, at Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh.
She said: “It was such a weird time because I felt as if I had all the exciting moments of the end of the pregnancy taken away from me.
“I felt like there was a negative energy around the pregnancy, nobody was able to focus on the fact I was having my first child.
“Everyone was just so upset.”
Removing the brain tumour
Bethany then underwent surgery on August 19, 2024, at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to remove the tumour.
Doctors were able to remove 85 per cent of it but were unable to get the remaining 15 per cent due to its location on the right frontal lobe.
Bethany said: “After the operation, the tumour was sent for a biopsy.
“The results came back and said I had a grade three astrocytoma – I was devastated.
“I was told I could have three years to 10 years to live – it was hard to get my head around.”
In September 2024, Bethany started 33 rounds of radiotherapy and is currently undergoing 12 rounds of chemotherapy.
Bethany said: “I struggled with chemo, I was vomiting a lot, I wasn’t able to eat and I couldn’t keep anything down.
“I felt like I wasn’t able to do day-to-day activities which I struggled with as a new mum.
“It has been hard, I don’t think I could have done it without my partner, Cameron, 28, and my mum, Lorraine, 62, who moved in with us – so I can put my health first.”
Making memories for Alfie
With her memory box, Beth plans to fill it with letters and a voice recording for nine-month-old Alfie to listen to.
She said: “It has been super tricky, I feel like I have missed out on a lot as a mum, a lot of first-time mums go to classes with their babies and meet other mums.
“They are having the best time and I am not able to have that.
“If I think too deeply into leaving Alfie behind it makes me really upset so when I am with him I try to block it out of my mind.
“I have a memory box where I can write letters, there is a voice recorder in there too.
“I have started putting things into it but that in itself is a hard thing to do.”
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Feeling sick
- Being sick
- Memory problems
- Change in personality
- Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Vision problems
- Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS