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| Kayleigh Terry now hopes to start a family after recovering from having a melon-sized cancerous tumour |
A secretary who thought she was pregnant with her first child after piling on the pounds was terrified to discover she actually had cancer.
Kayleigh Terry, 21, had also been suffering from pains and fatigue but was bemused when a pregnancy test came back negative.
A follow-up ultrasound scan revealed she had a large cancerous growth which covered an area from her br*ast to her lower abdomen.
She was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and had emergency chemotherapy to shrink the potentially deadly tumour.
Kayleigh lost her hair and eye-lashes along with 3st in weight after the shrunken tumour was removed a few months later.
But today after a gruelling two year battle, Kayleigh is celebrating after being given the all-clear and even hopes she may be able to start a family in the future.
Kayleigh of Warrington, Cheshire said: 'I thought I was going to be a mother and I never thought for one moment I had a tumour growing inside me. It just looked for all intents and purposes like a baby bump.
'I just couldn't believe it when I found out what it was. I'm just so relieved to be alive and hopefully I will have children in the future. I'm so excited for everything now. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings.'
Kayleigh was diagnosed with the condition just days after her 19th birthday in July 2009. The teenager was lying in her garden sunbathing at her own barbeque birthday party when her friends commented how far her usually flat belly was protruding.
Kayleigh said: 'It was my 19th Birthday party. I should have been eating cake, I could hardly even manage a sausage, yet my stomach was massive. It didn't make sense.'
The month before the diagnosis she had suffered severe stomach pains, fatigue, loss of appetite and a rapidly growing stomach, and the pains were often so bad that she had resorted to taking hot baths in the early hours of the morning.
Kayleigh said: 'I'd been to the doctors and they said it was something to do with my bowels. Pregnancy entered my mind as I had a boyfriend, but I was on the pill, and as soon as my tummy started to grow I did a test but it was negative.'
Kayleigh then went to her GP complaining of intense stomach pains, underwent blood tests and an ultrasound scan and was told to expect the results in a few weeks, but just days later she received a call.
Kayleigh said: 'I couldn't make it into work the week after, the pains were so excruciating. I was shocked when I received a phone call so quickly about a week later telling me I had to come in.
'I was even more shocked when they showed me my ultrasound and the massive mass on the screen. I'd read about tumours and cancer and asked him if it could be that, he said they weren't ruling cancer out but had no idea what it was inside of me.'
Kayleigh was referred to a specialist at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology in Wirral, Merseyside who broke the news that she had cancer and required urgent treatment.
Kayleigh said: 'The day I went to see the specialist I was so ill, I'd already been sick, He diagnosed me there and then with Ewings Sarcoma - a rare type of Cancer - and told me I wouldn't be going home. I was in another world and not really with it.'
Kayleigh was told that the tumour had developed suddenly in her soft tissue, rather than bone as was usually the case, and due to its location she would have to begin chemotherapy within 24 hours.
The specialist warned she may not be able to have children afterwards and gave her the option of freezing her eggs, but said this would delay the important treatment.
Kayleigh endured an initial two months of chemotherapy at the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, to reduce the tumour from the size of a 'melon' to that of 'a lime' followed by a further four months before it was removed in January 2010.
She endured a further six months of chemotherapy after the operation and spent around a year in and out of hospital altogether, followed by regular three-monthly check-ups.
Kayleigh celebrated the birth of her nephew, Addison in September before moving in with boyfriend Adam in November and, after being officially given the all clear last month, she is now looking forward to a bright future with her family.
Dr Nasim Ali who treated Kayleigh said: 'Kayleigh has had a tumour from the Ewings family of tumours. These behave aggressively and require intensive chemotherapy treatment for a significant length of time, often in addition to surgery.
'Kayleigh was extremely courageous and positive throughout her treatment and from the start has had a positive response to her therapy.
'She remains well at this time and will continue to remain under follow up at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology for several years.'
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