A mom delays brain cancer treatment until the birth of her baby, and the touching story makes headlines. Kim Vaillancourt, a pregnant mom of five, recently discovered that she was battling brain cancer and declined to undergo treatment in order to give birth to a healthy baby boy.
A mom delays brain cancer treatment despite the fact that she may have less than a year to live. A New York mom of five by the name of Kim Vaillancourt, who is pregnant with her sixth child, is crediting her unborn baby boy for saving her life.
On December 27, 2015, the mom decided to seek medical help after suffering from excruciating headaches – she was 20 weeks pregnant at the time. Mrs. Vaillancourt stated that the main reason she went to see the doctor was a concern for her unborn child.
Vaillancourt was diagnosed with glioblastoma – the two aggressive, rapidly growing malignant tumors affecting the brain or spine could have killed her. The 36-year-old mother, who officially adopted three little girls during the Christmas holiday, said:
“I would have just thought I had a headache and the flu and I would have laid in bed. I went to the hospital because I was unable to keep food down, and worried that it would harm the baby.”
When the doctors learned that the tumors were dangerously close to Vaillancourt’s brain stem, she was rushed into surgery, and they were removed. Vaillancourt’s husband, Phil, added:
“If it wasn’t for the baby, she probably would’ve never gone to the hospital,” told WGRZ.
The man went on to say:
“With her severe headache and nausea…she would’ve laid in bed thinking it was the flu, and she would’ve possibly not been here today.”
After the successful operation, the expecting mom has refused to undergo follow-up radiation and chemotherapy to preserve the development of her unborn son, whom she has given the names Wyatt Eli. Wyatt’s father shared:
“She’s going to do what she can to save the baby’s life and give it the healthiest life possible.”
Mrs. Vaillancourt added:
“The baby saved me. Now it’s my turn to save him.”
Kim undergoes MRI scans every two weeks and thus far she has been cancer free. She said she plans to begin treatment after her son’s birth. Phil went on to say:
“We’re praying a lot and trusting God through these next few weeks to keep these scans clean.”
Dr. Ajay Abad, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, is hoping that the mom will change her mind because he believes that without the treatment, the tumors will grow back within 8 to 12 weeks, and she likely only has six to eight months to live.
Kim wants to live long enough to see her kids graduate, get married, and start their own lives. A GoFundPage has been set up for the family.
Kim (maiden name Eisenhauer) and Phil Vaillancourt were always meant to do great things, their two biological children stole their hearts, and nothing was different nearly three years ago when they started the adoption process of three sisters. Despite the hectic life of raising five kids, everyone around them watched as their eyes filled with excitement when they found out they were expecting a baby boy in May 2016. On December 25, 2015, just two days after they officially adopted the three girls, Kim woke up with a terrible migraine. Kim’s pain tolerance is so high she didn’t think anything of it, but non of her favorite Christmas treats were appetizing, really nothing was other than sleep. Two days later, when it only got worse, Kim asked Phil to take her to the hospital. Kim is tough, so when she asks to go to the hospital something is wrong. Hours later, they were given heart breaking news, Kim had two brain tumors, one on the frontal left lobe, and one on the stem of the brain. If she was not pregnant they would have operated immediately, because of the location on the brain stem. But because of baby Vaillancourt the doctor wanted to put her on steroids for 24 hours before removing both tumors.
