A mum has spoken about being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer during the Covid pandemic while she was 33 weeks pregnant.
Ruth Reid, 34, of Satley, County Durham, found a lump on her collarbone and was told she had stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, according to Chronicle Live.
She later found out the tumour was near her spine, making it much harder to treat.
Luckily the cancer was treated and baby Arthur was born, joining Ruth's family with husband Rick and son George, now aged three.
Ruth, of Satley, County Durham, said it was "terrifying" to find out she had cancer in April 2020.
She said: "It was quite frightening. When the doctor said 'cancer', I thought I haven't got much time left.
"I asked 'what's my lifespan?' and they said it was curable. That was a massive relief.
"I was about to have a baby and when I was told it was curable I thought 'I can manage this'. I then focused on delivering my baby."
Arthur, now 14 months old, was born at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle at 37 weeks and two days.
But Ruth had to start her cancer treatment when he was just two weeks old.
She had four cycles of chemotherapy at the Mara ward, Bishop Auckland Hospital, as well as three weeks of radiotherapy at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Rick, 37, a project manager for the DWP, was on paternity leave and he looked after the children. Their family members also helped while Ruth was in hospital.
She said: "It was in the middle of the pandemic, when patients weren’t able to have family or friends with them, so I had to go into hospital alone for the treatment.
"It was very difficult but the nurses at the Mara ward were amazing. They were a huge emotional support to me. I owe my life to them.
"One of the hardest things for me was not being able to breastfeed Arthur. I breastfed George for around two years but I was only able to breastfeed Arthur for 10 days because I was getting treatment."
She responded well to the treatment and is now in remission.
Ruth, a part-time art technician at Durham Johnston School, said she feared the worst when she found out the tumour was near her spine.
"It was very hard to comprehend, especially as I’d just delivered my baby boy, I’d been positive about the fact that Hodgkins Lymphoma was a very treatable cancer with good recovery rates, but to follow this with finding out it’s located near your spine, making it much harder to treat, was terrifying," she said.
"In my darker moments I thought I was never going to get the opportunity to see my family grow up but I was consistently told that my type of cancer was very treatable, so I focused on that.
"My chemotherapy meant many cycles of treatment repeated. It was incredibly intense and to cope I viewed it like the dial of a clock with a hand ticking off another treatment and on to the next."
She and her family are now helping to raise thousands of pounds for charity, including Macmillan Cancer Support and the Mara ward.
Ruth said: "I promised myself when I was sat having treatment that once I was up I was going to raise £10,000 for Macmillan and the Mara ward.
"Macmillan has been key to my recovery in terms of amazing support and advice and Mara ward made a big impression given the fact that they were treating not only Bishop Auckland patients, but other vulnerable patients from Darlington Memorial hospital as there was a Covid-19 centre there making it too high risk. And despite that the treatment at Mara was fantastic."
The family have already raised more than £6,500 through a tea, cake and raffle fundraising event due to take place on August 7 at Satley Village Hall, at 10.30am.
Others have also been inspired by Ruth to fundraise. A pupil at Durham Johnston School, 12-year-old Samuel White, cycled coast-to-coast with his father last summer.
Samuel’s grandmother had treatment at the Mara ward and received help from Macmillan. He has donated £1,255 towards Ruth's target.
Ruth said: "All through my cancer journey I’ve had great support and advice from Macmillan. My Macmillan nurse, Nicky, was always there to answer any questions, to help me with medication and to calm me of my worries or if I just needed some reassurance.
"Those things helped me so much, especially during the height of the pandemic, so just being able to contact her about those things, made a massive difference to me.
"I am just so grateful and thankful to everyone who has helped me and all those who have donated money. I feel overwhelmed."
