Vietnamese mom turns down cancer treatment to save unborn baby

A Vietnamese woman diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer accepted death so that her baby could live. Nguyen
Thi Thu Hien from Duc Pho District in Quang Ngai
Province turned down chemotherapy which would have meant giving up her
unborn baby.

 

Hien and her husband got married Nguyen Tan Thanh 18 years
ago. The young couple later left their hometown in search of treatment
for
their infertility in the central coastal city of Quy Nhon.

Hien and Thanh gave up after multiple unsuccessful in vitro
fertilization
attempts they could barely afford. Hien was admitted to hospital after she
slipped while delivering noodles to diners where she worked. Doctors diagnosed her with
stage-three
breast cancer and announced her pregnancy during that same hospital
admission.

Hien’s only hope of saving her life was to have her breasts removed and
to give up her unborn baby and undergo chemotherapy. But she refused
instead begged to save her baby, even if it meant death on her part.

Hien became paralyzed after the sixth month of her pregnancy and at 8
months, afraid that she might not make it as she was becoming weaker by
the day, the sacrificing mother asked to have
her baby delivered through C-section.

The child weighed a mere 1.8 kilograms was born in the
utmost happiness of the mother. After she recovered from the hour-long operation, the first thing Hien did was
fumble for her baby, saying in tears,

“I do want to live like everybody
else, but I can’t lose my child, for I wouldn’t be able to live if I
did. The only thing I regret is not being able to breastfeed my baby, as my breasts have already been removed. ” she said