A new mother’s unborn baby may have saved her life after a doctor’s examination of her pregnant belly led to the discover of her colon cancer.
Brittany Jutila, 26, from De Pere, Wisconsin, was overjoyed when she learned that she was pregnant with her first child.
At 23 weeks, she was at a routine check-up, when her obstetrician was feeling around her stomach and felt a slight lump, WBAY reported.
Tests revealed the lump was a tumor the size of a cantaloupe and that she had stage II colon cancer.
Despite the mass being just inches from Jutila’s baby, doctors told her they believed they could safely remove it without accidentally inducing labor.
Brittany Jutila, 26 (left and right), from De Pere, Wisconsin, was 23 weeks pregnant when she went to a routine check-up and her OBGYN felt a lump. Tests revealed that it was a tumor and she was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer
Doctors told Jutila they could induce labor at 24 weeks or wait until the baby grew and then start treatment, which is what she chose. Pictured: Jutila with her son
Video Courtesy WBAY:
Jutila, whose family has a history of colon cancer, told WBAY that she hadn’t felt any soreness or tenderness prior to the doctor feeling her stomach.
‘She was just feeling the growth of my stomach, measuring to see how baby was doing, and she was pressing around and felt a little lump,’ she said.
‘It didn’t give me discomfort, but [it did] only when she pressed on it.’
After doctors ran more tests, Jutila was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer.
Colon cancer is a cancer of the large intestine, which is the part of the digestive tract where the body separates water and salt from solid waste.
The cancer usually begins with growths called polyps. They are located on the innermost lining of the colon and become cancerous over many years.
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in the US, among both men and women.
It is also the third leading cause of cancer deaths in both American men and women and it’s estimated the cancer will cause more than 51,000 deaths in 2019.
A study published in 2017 found that colon cancer cases diagnosed in adults younger than age 55 doubled from 1990 to 2013, although no one is sure why.
In response, the American Cancer Society updated its screening guidelines for colorectal cancer, lowering the age that people at average risk begin regular screenings from 50 to 45.
At 28 weeks, she underwent surgery to remove the cancerous mass. Doctors removed the tumor, 48 lymph nodes and her appendix – just inches from her baby without inducing labor. Pictured: Jutila, left, and with her partner, right
She didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation, and her son, Carter, was born full-term. Pictured: Dr Erik Johnson, a colorectal surgeon who removed Jutila’s tumor, holding Carter
Doctors offered Jutila the option of delivering the baby immediately at 24 weeks or allowing more time for the baby to develop before starting treatment, and she chose the latter.
At 28 weeks, she underwent surgery to remove the tumor at Aurora BayCare Medical Center, reported WBAY.
‘As we were removing this cancer, the baby and the uterus was right there,’ Dr Erik Johnson, the colorectal surgeon at Aurora BayCare Medical Center who cared for Jutila, told the station.
‘We were very careful that we try to take all the cancer out but leave all the important things needed and not disturb the baby too much during that time.’
In a three-hour surgery, doctors removed Jutila’s melon-sized tumor, her appendix and 48 lymph nodes – but all without disturbing her unborn baby.
Jutila also didn’t need to undergo chemotherapy or radiation because the cancer hadn’t spread, WBAY reported.
Her son, Carter was born full-term, healthy and without any complications
‘Definitely with the holidays coming up, even my family and all of us are just more thankful and blessed for me to be around and the baby to be here,’ Jutila said.
‘So lucky and thankful to have amazing doctors there and how everything turned out, honestly.’
