NEED TO KNOW
- A pregnant woman who thought she had morning sickness was eventually diagnosed with a fast-growing cancer
- Sophia Yasin, 29, of Middlesbrough, England, said she was experiencing intense nausea, night sweats and itchiness before her diagnosis
- She said people around her assured her that her symptoms were “normal” and would subside with time
A pregnant woman thought her extreme nausea was simply morning sickness — until she received a life-altering cancer diagnosis.
Sophia Yasin, 29, of Middlesbrough, England, became pregnant in June 2024. The housing support worker and her husband had just purchased a home, and they were looking forward to the future ahead, per SWNS.
It was around that time when Sophia began experiencing a host of unpleasant symptoms.
“I was [vomiting] all day, every few hours. I was getting night sweats and itchiness through the night. I was very uncomfortable,” she told the outlet.
Sophia said people around her told her not to worry, reassuring her that this was all “normal.”
“Everyone told me it was very normal in the first trimester and should ease up,” she recalled, adding, “I did have some worry, but I thought it was normal for my first pregnancy.”
However, her situation took a sudden turn when she collapsed at work at the beginning of her second trimester.
“I remember seeing black, and I blacked out,” she told SWNS.
Sophia was rushed to the local hospital, where doctors initially suspected she had pneumonia. However, scans and a biopsy revealed that she had a tumor over her heart. She was diagnosed with pre-mediastinal large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system — in September 2024.
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“I remember saying, ‘What does this mean for the baby?’ I remember being numb,” Sophia said.
The doctors told Sophia that the tumor over her heart was growing fast, and that she needed to begin chemotherapy immediately if she had any chance of survival. However, treatment could also harm or lead to the death of her unborn child.
Sophia and her husband ultimately made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy based on the many medical variables at hand.
While Sophia was devastated by the loss of her pregnancy, she also acknowledged that it may have saved her life.
“Because I was pregnant, I was prioritized [within the health care system]. In a way, because I was pregnant, they found the cancer in time,” she told SWNS.
Sophia said she was forced to fight for her next chapter while also grieving the loss of what could have been.
“I was grieving a baby but trying to have treatment,” she recalled.
She added, “I lost a lot in a short period of time. I went from looking at prams and cots to looking at wigs. I lost my hair, my baby and my old life.”
Sophia officially went into remission in January 2025 after six rounds of chemotherapy — but she said she has not forgotten the baby she lost — a daughter whom she and her husband named Kainaat Pearl.
She told the outlet that she would like to try for a child again, but that doctors have advised her to wait two years, as there is an increased risk of the cancer returning within that window.
Sophia has since established a GoFundMe for a fundraising walk to benefit Lymphoma Action, a U.K. charity dedicated to lymphoma.
“Last summer, my world changed forever,” Sophia wrote on the fundraising page. “In the midst of what should have been one of the happiest times of my life, I faced the unimaginable: fighting for my life while having to say goodbye to my baby girl, Kainaat Pearl.”
“Every step we take is for Kainaat, for those still fighting and for those we’ve lost,” she added.
The GoFundMe has raised $1,356 toward a goal of $1,490.
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