REAL LIFE: DETERMINED TO BE A MUM – ‘MY SIX MISCARRIAGES GAVE ME CANCER’ ; Carole Dolphin, 43, From Swindon, Dreamed of Being a Mum – but Lost Her Baby Each Time She Fell Pregnant. Then Doctors Discovered She Had a Rare Disease…

‘Ray and I started trying for a baby as soon as we got married in 1994, when I was 33. I got pregnant really quickly. “This is going to be easy,” I thought. “I’m going to be a mum.” Then, 10 weeks into the pregnancy, I had a miscarriage. I was devastated. It’s not something you think about when you’re trying to get pregnant. One minute you’re overjoyed about having this baby growing inside you, the next it’s gone.

But I didn’t let it put me off and we kept trying. The problem wasn’t getting pregnant – each time, I knew just one day after my period was due, before I’d even done a test. But I had five more miscarriages, each time about six or seven weeks into the pregnancy. After the first time, I was admitted to hospital as soon as the pains started, but they were never able to stop the miscarriage.

All of this happened within the space of 18 months. After a while, I wondered if I should just give up. It was so upsetting. But trying for a baby can become almost an obsession. All I could think about was getting pregnant. If I stopped trying, it would mean accepting I would never be a mother.

I began to think it was my fault. Was I exercising too much or too little? Was I eating the right things? There was no obvious reason why I kept miscarrying, so my gynaecologist asked for the original tissue samples of the lost baby to be re-examined. That’s when I found out I had a rare type of cancer called choriocarcinoma, caused by the miscarriages creating internal tumours. My doctors think it started when I lost my first baby, which then increased the risk of miscarrying again. Some of the tissue that was left from the first pregnancy had remained in my body, forming in clusters around my organs. One tumour, which was the most dangerous, was attaching itself to my liver.

Choriocarcinoma is only treatable in the two years after it first takes hold. Doctors suspect I had probably had it for about 18 or 19 months – I could have died. It should have been picked up at the start, and my husband was bitter about that. But I didn’t feel like pursuing a complaint. It was heartbreaking – in trying to have a baby, I might have ruined my chances of ever becoming a parent.

No one could believe this was happening to me. I’d always been super- fit and healthy. As a dance and aerobics instructor, I’d do 16 classes a week. But after having to undergo four months of intense chemotherapy, I barely felt like getting out of bed, let alone taking a class.

Chemotherapy is one of the most horrible things anyone can go through. While it kills off the cancer, it kills the good things inside you as well. I can understand why some people refuse it. My hair fell out straight away, and I threw up every day. Ray had to cut up my sandwiches into little cubes just to get me to eat something.

Ray was going through hell. He desperately wanted kids, too, plus he had to face the prospect of losing me to cancer. But thankfully the chemotherapy worked.

I had to send off regular urine samples for a year before we could try for another baby. But finally, I fell pregnant in August 1998. It was agonising having to wait to see if everything was going to be OK. It wasn’t so much the cancer coming back, but the fear of having another miscarriage that bothered me. With every twinge, I’d think, “Is this it?” Before a miscarriage, you tend to get pains like severe period pains, so every time I thought I felt something I’d run to the toilet.

But when I was 16 weeks pregnant I felt a tiny flutter across my tummy. As I felt the baby move, I just knew it was going to be all right this time. I was quite relaxed after that.

Tom arrived on 22 April, 1999, and he was beautiful. I’m sure it’s amazing for everyone when they give birth, but we had to wait such a long time for our little boy, which made it extra-special.

Now he’s a typical five-year-old. Some days he’s my little angel, other days he can be a bit naughty. But I wouldn’t change him for the world. He started school in September and I’ve given up teaching dance and aerobics for a living, and have started my own pet- sitting business. I’ve always wanted to work with animals, and surviving cancer has given me the courage to pursue my dreams.

We’ve no plans to try for another baby right now. After all we’ve been through, we’ve got everything we ever wanted.’

What is Choriocarcinoma?

l Choriocarcinoma is a rare form of cancer in the tissues of the reproductive system, occurring in between one in 30,000 and one in 65,000 pregnancies in the UK.

l The majority of sufferers are women, although a rare type of testicular cancer also comes under this category. In women, it usually follows pregnancy, particularly a molar pregnancy, when a tumour made up of abnormal cells develops instead of a baby. This tumour is usually benign, but can develop into choriocarcinoma.

l If a malignant tumour develops, it sheds cancer cells into the bloodstream, which create new cancers in other parts of the body.

l There are few symptoms until the cancer has spread significantly through the body. If not caught within two years, the likelihood of death is high. If caught in the early stages, the chances of survival after chemotherapy are good, with an overall cure rate of 60-80%.