After an at-home pregnancy test came back positive, Kaylan Wilhelm followed the same steps she took during her first pregnancy and immediately went to the doctor to confirm she was expecting.
This visit however was the start of a confusing journey that lead to the devastating news that she wasn’t pregnant, but rather her body had developed a rare cancer that causes positive pregnancy tests.
“There was an empty sac. [The doctors] said come back in about two weeks. So I waited awhile but then I started bleeding, really bad,” the mum, from Ohio in the US, said as she recalled the most terrifying time of her life to TODAY.
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During Wilhelm’s first visit to the doctor all seemed normal and her GP confirmed that her bloodwork did record a rise in her pregnancy hormone, assuming she was pregnant. Her levels indicated that she as about five weeks along, so they ordered an ultrasound.
However during the ultrasound doctor’s couldn’t find a baby – and that’s when things got confusing.
An emergency room ultrasound was ordered and the mum was sent to see one of the hospital obstetricians. “My uterus was filled with what looked like grapes,” the mum said.
Following a dilation and curettage procedure recommended by the obstetrician, Wilhelm was hoping everything would be OK, but soon after started passing large blood clots.
“They did another ultrasound. My uterus was filled with even more of what looks to be like grapes,” she explained. Doctors took samples and sent it off for testing.
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This is when she was delivered the horrible news. Wilhelm was diagnosed with stage 1 gestational trophoblastic disease – a type of cancer that causes positive pregnancy tests and makes it seem like someone is pregnant.
The cancer usually occurs after an abnormal pregnancy like a molar pregnancy. The mum was devastated. “I honestly just cried, like it can’t be true.”
Following the diagnoses Wilhelm underwent chemotherapy, which in itself was a traumatic experience.
While receiving her second treatment, the drug caused an open wound to her arm after it infiltrated her tissue instead of her veins. “It literally burned me from the inside out,” she explained. “My oncologist was like, ‘This is a rare complication we see.'”
Eventually Wilhelm got through her treatment and is now being monitored by doctors to make sure she is cancer free.
During the ordeal the mum was told by doctor’s it would be risky getting pregnant, but she fell pregnant with her second baby during her recovery.
Despite the risk of a stillbirth, Wilhelm delivered a healthy baby boy Ja’Shon Moss in 2020, who joins big brother Donivan in the family.
And while she still struggles from the effects of her experience, she is still up and about taking care of her boys, “I still push. I work. I do what every other mom does.”
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