I went for my first pregnancy scan and was told I had bladder cancer – at just 27
WHEN Katie Firbank went for her first pregnancy scan she was beyond excited.
But little did she know - just minutes after seeing her baby boy for the first time - her world would come crashing down.
Katie, 29, was told she had bladder cancer and needed urgent treatment after medics spotted a mass during her ultrasound.
The shock diagnosis came weeks after docs had dismissed Katie's tell-tale signs of bladder as nothing but a urinary tract infection.
The cake-making business owner, from Huddersfield, is now sharing her story to raise awareness about bladder cancer and to urge others to be aware of blood in their urine.
Katie first suspected something was wrong when she spotted the symptom in June 2017 - but she was repeatedly turned away by her GP.
She told The Sun Online: "The first sign I got was quite obvious blood in my urine, but it came and then went again very quickly.
"For a long time I had no other symptoms and I was told repeatedly that I was suffering from urinary tract infections.
"In my gut I felt like that wasn’t right.
"There was so much visible blood and I had no other UTI symptoms.
"I ignored my gut instincts for quite a while because I had never heard of bladder cancer or its symptoms."
I ignored my gut instincts for quite a while because I had never heard of bladder cancer or its symptoms
Katie Firbank
However, Katie's symptoms began to escalate and she soon began experiencing stomach cramps.
She added: "After a few months I began to experience stomach cramps and needed to empty my bladder constantly.
"Even then it took a while for me to realise anything was seriously wrong.
"Everything I read stated that bladder cancer only happened to older men, usually smokers."
Katie only realised the true extent of her symptoms in March 2018 when she went for her seven week pregnancy ultrasound scan at her local hospital with her husband Tom.
While looking at her little baby and his strong heartbeat, docs were horrified to spot a mass on her bladder.
A few weeks later, Katie was forced to have a cystoscopy, which is a procedure to look inside the bladder using a thin camera.
It was when she was diagnosed with superficial bladder cancer grade ptaG2.
"When I was told there was a mass in my bladder I had very mixed emotions," Katie told The Sun Online.
"I had just been told my baby had a good strong heartbeat, we’d been able to see it flashing away on the screen.
"I wanted to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible, but being told I had cancer at the same time put that all in jeopardy.
"It was a very strange time, I think I was in a state of shock for the first few weeks."
Doctors then informed Katie that she needed urgent surgery to remove the mass - despite still being pregnant.
"My operation was set for after my first trimester, as this was considered the safest option for the baby", she said.
"I had my surgery at 14 weeks pregnant and as soon as I was in recovery I was allowed to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time.
"It felt like the weight of the whole world had been temporarily lifted off my shoulders."
Symptoms of bladder cancer
Blood in your urine is the most common symptom of bladder cancer.
The medical name for this is haematuria and it's usually painless.
You may notice streaks of blood in your urine or the blood may turn your urine brown.
The blood isn't always noticeable and it may come and go.
Less common symptoms of bladder cancer include:
- a need to urinate on a more frequent basis
- sudden urges to urinate
- a burning sensation when passing urine
If bladder cancer reaches an advanced stage and begins to spread, symptoms can include:
- pelvic pain
- bone pain
- unintentional weight loss
- swelling of the legs
Source:
Fortunately, the rest of Katie's pregnancy went smoothly - even though her bladder cancer was constantly being monitored.
She even held a baby shower to raise money for the charity, after they helped Katie and her family "get their heads around" dealing with her diagnosis.
Katie planned the event on , which is again taking place today.
Katie said: "I wasn’t going to have a baby shower at all to begin with, after all the uncertainty surrounding the start of my pregnancy I didn’t want to tempt fate.
"But the idea of a having a coffee morning and getting all my friends and family together to help raise some money for Macmillan just seemed like such a good idea and it was my way of saying thank you.
"We asked everyone to bake something and had a bit of a bake off competition on the day as well as managing to raise lots of money for such a great cause."
At seven months, Katie had another cystoscopy to see if there were any new tumours in her bladder - which revealed some tiny recurrences.
Docs decided to induce her a week early so that she could have surgery to remove them after her little boy was born.
And on 27 October Katie gave birth to a health little boy called Oscar, who is now ten and a half months old.
Katie said: "Now that Oscar is here life with a 10 month old is pretty hectic and he definitely keeps me on my toes.
"I couldn’t have any more treatment until after he was born so I had my first 6 week course of chemotherapy directly into my bladder at the start of this year. "Unfortunately this was unsuccessful and I had some recurrences at Easter, which required more surgery."
Katie is now due to have surgery again soon and will start a course of immunotherapy in the hopes that it will be much more effective.
And while she is still receiving treatment, Katie has dubbed her little boy Oscar as "the most perfect distraction".
She added: "Juggling my cancer and treatment whilst getting to grips with being a first time mum has had its challenges, but this is our new normal so we do our best to make the most of every single day and Oscar is the most perfect distraction.
"I feel so incredibly lucky to have him."
Katie is now urging other people to be aware of blood in their urine and to get any symptoms checked out.
More on cancer
She said: "It wasn't until after my diagnosis that I found out that bladder cancer is often diagnosed much later in women because the symptoms are commonly mistaken for a UTI.
"If I could give any advice at all it would be to be aware of blood in your urine, even if it comes and goes or only happens once, especially if you’re female and no matter what age you are.
"If you are having recurrent UTIs and you feel like it could be something more then please get checked and get bladder cancer ruled out."
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