Imagine being able to say you were born twice, in fact, you had your first surgery before you were born as well. Margaret Boemer had been in her 2nd trimester when she got the heartbreaking news that her unborn child had a rare birth defect. Enduring a previous ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ, this news truly shook Margaret.
American Margaret Boemer showed by personal example how to fight for the life of your child. At 16 weeks pregnant, the woman was told that her baby might not be born at all. The fetus was found to have a ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀᴏᴜs ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ that threatened the life of the baby. Boemer had to make a difficult choice: ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛᴇ the pregnancy or accept a ʀɪsᴋʏ ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ that could end tragically for both the child and herself.
This is how the expectant mother described her condition: “When the doctor announced the terrible news, everything collapsed in one moment. I was desperate, but then I realized that I had to fight with all my might for the life of my daughter.”
These are the words that Margaret was told by the surgeons who evaluated her clinical case. Indeed, the operation to remove the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ posed a significant ʀɪsᴋ to the girl’s life. It was necessary to remove the fetus from the womb, remove the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ and place the girl back in the mother’s uterus.
Margaret’s decision surprised the doctors. The woman immediately refused the option of ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪɴɢ the pregnancy and agreed to a complex operation.
Lilith Hope was “born” for the first time during an operation to excise a ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ. Surgeons removed the girl from the womb. The baby at that time weighed a little more than 500 grams. Removal of the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ on the sacral spine took about 20 minutes and passed without complications. It took surgeons much longer to safely separate the embryo from the uterine wall and put it back. It took 5 whole hours!
From the words of the chief surgeon: “Although the operation to remove the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ was risky, it was necessary to carry it out. Teratoma is a malignant ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ that impairs the nutrition of the fetus. In the last weeks of pregnancy, the child would not be able to get enough nutrients. Without surgery, these children usually do not survive.”
12 weeks after the operation, the girl was born again. The birth went without complications – Lilith turned out to be a healthy child, whose weight was 2.5 kilograms. A few days after the birth, Lilith underwent another operation to remove the remnants of the ᴛᴜᴍᴏʀ. After its completion, the girl went home with her loving mother.
Now Lilith Hope is no different from other newborns. The baby gives a lot of joy to her parents and two sisters. “We see how our girl smiles and forget about all the hardships that we had to endure.” says a happy Margaret.
Source: babieshealthus.com
