Kim Vaillancourt, 36, a Tonawanda, NY resident, and a pregnant mother of 5, is staving off brain cancer – the reason being- her pregnancy. But, what exactly is her thought process?
It comes down to this:
“The baby saved me. Now it’s my turn to save him.”
Vaillancourt was diagnosed with glioblastoma after going to the hospital for headaches and nausea that came on over Christmas. If it weren’t for the concern for the unborn baby she’s carrying, she wouldn’t have made the life-saving trip to the hospital.
The couple believe the unexpected pregnancy was heaven-sent.
Now, to give the baby they’ve named Wyatt Eli the same chance he gave her, Kim is postponing the chemotherapy and radiation that are her best hope against the cancer but would threaten her developing child.
“She’s going to do what she can to save the baby’s life and give it the healthiest life possible,” Phil Vaillancourt said.
It had already been an eventful time in the Vaillancourt home in the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda. The couple and their 11- and 12-year-old children had spent Dec. 23 in Erie County Family Court for an adoption ceremony that made three sisters- ages 6, 7 and 10 – the couple had been fostering permanent members of their family.
With five kids on break from school, Kim wouldn’t normally have made a fuss about feeling ill.
“I would have just thought I had a headache and the flu and I would have laid in bed,” the 36-year-old mother told to CBS news. But she worried that being unable to keep food down was keeping the baby from getting the nourishment he needed and headed to the hospital to be checked.
Soon she would be rushed into surgery to remove two tumors that doctors said could have killed her. One had grown on the front of her brain. The other was dangerously close to her brain stem in the back.
Holding hands on the couch in their suburban Buffalo living room, Kim and Phil lean on each other as they describe with calm acceptance the abrupt turn their life took between the joyful Dec. 23 adoption and the devastating diagnosis on Dec. 27.
Gliobastoma, they learned, is characterized by fast-growing tumors known to reappear within eight to 12 weeks. With April 25 the target delivery date, Kim has been undergoing MRIs every two weeks to check for any signs of new activity.
It’s something the health-conscious Kim, with her focus on vitamins and nutrition, would never have imagined. She laughs while describing her longstanding practice of texting as far away from her body as her arms will allow to avoid cancer risks. She doesn’t even want to take a chance with microwaves and has kept hers in the garage for the last 10 years.
It’s strange, she said, to now look for healing in chemicals and radiation. Unwilling to risk the baby’s health, the plan is to begin treatment about two weeks after his birth, hoping all the while the tumors don’t re-appear before then.
In the meantime, they will start interviewing nannies to help care for the newborn and the rest of the children, among them 7-year-old Josie, who was born without arms and legs. Phil’s leave from his maintenance job with the town of Tonawanda is coming to an end.
Though relatively rare, glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. It affects about 17,000 adults in the United States every year, but is uncommon during pregnancy, said Dr. Robert Fenstermaker, chair of neurosurgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.
Early in a pregnancy, a woman might be advised to end the pregnancy in favor of aggressive treatment, he said. Women further along have undergone chemotherapy but not without risk to the baby.
The Vaillancourts have found strength from their big and close families and in the prayers that have flowed in as word of the family’s fight has spread.
With treatment, doctors say patients with the serious grade of glioblastoma afflicting Kim have a median survival rate of about 14 months. But the Vaillancourts are holding onto their Christian faith.
