A mum was given the devastating news that she has cancer just three weeks after finding out she was pregnant.
Roberta Burton, 28, was forced to make the terrifying decision to undergo lifesaving treatment while worrying whether it would affect her unborn child.
Thankfully medics believe chemotherapy is working, Chronicle Live reports .
Roberta, who has two sons and is expecting her third child, spoke of her joy after her latest baby scan revealed images of a healthy thriving baby boy, who is growing well.
Roberta said: "All the signs are good. I'm just keeping everything crossed.
"The baby is doing really well. I'm having regular growth scans and they are very happy with his growth.
"I had a MRI scan halfway through my chemo and they were quite happy that everything seems to be shrinking. It is a relief but it still preys on my mind."
Roberta – mum to Noah, four, and Ezra who is almost two – discovered she had cancer after her husband Jason, 27, noticed an unusual lump on her neck when she was around six weeks pregnant.
The nursing assistant, from Stannington, near Morpeth, was referred for hospital tests by her GP.
After a series of tests, which included three biopsies, she was eventually diagnosed with Hogkin's lymphoma.
Doctors said her best chance of beating the disease would be to start a course of chemotherapy immediately, but they also warned the treatment could pose risks to her unborn child.
Further tests revealed Roberta's cancer was a 'stage 2' and that the tumours had spread to her chest.
And as the chemotherapy drugs began to cause her hair to fall out, Roberta took the bold decision to shave her head herself.
But now, half-way through her treatment, Roberta's tumours appear to be shrinking, although due to her pregnancy she is not able to have a 'positron emission tomography' (PET) scan, the type of scan that would normally be used to monitor the disease.
She explained: "I can't have a PET scan. That's the type of scan they would usually use in these circumstances, it's a bit more accurate, but it uses radiation so they don't like to do that when you are pregnant. But they are still happy with the results of the MRI scan."
Despite her relief coping with cancer and pregnancy has been unsurprisingly tough for Roberta, who is now 28 weeks pregant.
"It's not great," she said. "It's incredibly tiring. I have had a cold for about eight weeks which I can't shift and I have got gestational diabetes. And I am constantly stabbing myself with needles."
But having two young boys and another on the way does not give her much time to swell on the disease.
And the determined mum has now bought a beautiful near silver wig to wear on the days when she just wants to 'feel normal'.
She added: "I don't wear it every day. But it's nice if I want to go out the house and just feel normal."
