A woman made a vow to her husband, who was ᴅʏɪɴɢ of ᴛʜʀᴏᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ, that she intended to keep, and although doctors gave her little chance of getting pregnant, she persevered and eventually gave birth to a pair of twins.
When Lucy Kelsall first met her husband, David, she had no idea that within a few years they would be married, only to be separated by ᴛʀᴀɢᴇᴅʏ. They first met at a ʀᴇʜᴀʙɪʟɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ center in South Wales, where Lucy entered ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ in 2005.
After finishing her ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ, she started working at the ʀᴇʜᴀʙɪʟɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ center, and that’s how she met David, who also came for ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ. The air between them started to spark immediately, but they were not allowed to meet, as the ʀᴇʜᴀʙɪʟɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ center did not allow contact between patients and employees.
But when David’s ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ended, they started spending more time together and grew closer. “We became inseparable; within two years, we moved in together, got married, and started trying to have children,” said Lucy.
However, the idyll did not last long, because David soon fell ɪʟʟ. It all started when the man visited his family doctor one day, complaining of a sore throat. The doctor examined him but said there was nothing seriously wrong and prescribed some medicine for ᴀᴄɪᴅ ʀᴇꜰʟᴜx.
But a few months later, David felt a ʟᴜᴍᴘ in his throat and went to the hospital, where they ran some tests. Two weeks later, he was diagnosed with ᴛʜʀᴏᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ, but doctors thought he could treat it with ᴄʜᴇᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ.
Lucy was already sɪᴄᴋ at the thought of losing her husband, and she also found out that she was pregnant. They both thought this was great news and would distract them from the man’s ɪʟʟɴᴇss.
Unfortunately, however, Lucy ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ two weeks later. She hit rock bottom, but she didn’t give up and pulled herself together because she knew she had to support her husband as he battled cancer.
David underwent several rounds of ᴄʜᴇᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ, and doctors removed his ʟʏᴍᴘʜ ɴᴏᴅᴇs to stop the ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ ᴄᴇʟʟs from spreading. But despite their best efforts to remove the ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ ᴄᴇʟʟs, they reappeared somewhere else.
Doctors then advised David to have his ʟᴀʀʏɴx removed to prevent the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ from spreading. Lucy and David had a hard time making this decision, knowing that he would not be able to speak after the operation, but they finally agreed.
“With no voice, he started writing me loving messages to express his feelings,” recalled Lucy, who was made very happy by the little handwritten messages.
After that, they almost forgot about the ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ for a while until it returned in September 2017. This time, the situation was more complicated, as the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ had grown around an ᴀʀᴛᴇʀʏ, so it could not be removed. Three months later, David started coughing up ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ, which terrified Lucy. They immediately went to the hospital, where the doctors found that the ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ had spread to the man’s lungs and said there was nothing more they could do.
“I burst into tears, and David hugged me tightly,” Lucy recalled.
The last few days of David’s life were spent in a hospice center until he ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ in December 2017. Lucy was completely devastated by her husband’s ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ and refused to speak even to her friends and family for days. One morning, a piece of paper fell into the bowl into which she was pouring cereal for breakfast. It was a handwritten love letter from her husband, which Lucy tearfully read. She then checked his desk drawer and was surprised to discover dozens of letters.
As she read the letters, she thought about the promise she had made to David before he ᴅɪᴇᴅ. “A few days before he ᴅɪᴇᴅ, I told her that I was definitely going to have his baby, and it surprised her and made him happy,” Lucy explained.
David had his ᴄᴇʟʟs ꜰʀᴏᴢᴇɴ after he found out he had ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ because he feared ᴄʜᴇᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ would leave him impotent.
Lucy really wanted to give birth to a child with David so that she could feel her husband’s presence. The amount of ꜰʀᴏᴢᴇɴ ɢᴀᴍᴇᴛᴇs, however, was limited, and doctors saw little chance of success. After losing the baby after the first round of I.V.F, Lucy insisted they try again.
The second round used the last remnants of David’s gametes. The doctors gave up hope, but at Lucy’s request, they still implanted the ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏs into her ᴜᴛᴇʀᴜs. She prayed that at least one of the ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏs would survive and also decided to eat lots of vegetables to get enough healthy nutrients.
Two weeks later, she took a pregnancy test, which was positive. She was overjoyed when she gave birth to their twins, David and Samuel, 8 months later. She named one of the boys after her late husband because he had the same green eyes and looked a lot like his dad.
Lucy was very happy, but at the same time, she missed her husband very much. She was sure that David would have been a great father, and in order to somehow be present in her sons’ lives, she transformed her clothes into pillows, blankets, and teddy bears for the children.
She thought the boys could feel closer to their father this way, and she didn’t want to throw or give away her husband’s clothes, so this was really the perfect solution for her.
Source: babieshealthus.com
