A Carmarthenshire woman who was warned life-saving brain tumour treatment would severely reduce her fertility levels has defied the odds by becoming a mum of two. Alexeanne Cherrington was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2003, at the age of 23, when she suddenly collapsed at work. An MRI scan revealed a brain tumour and doctors delivered the news that she had just days to live without immediate surgery.
Alexe recalled: “I was also told that I was unlikely to become pregnant due to the radiotherapy treatment I would need. I was numb, just shocked and horrified. I didn’t have many choices.”
After surgery to remove the neurocytoma, Alexe had lost the ability to speak, walk or feel on the right side of her body. She had also forgotten crucial information, having to relearn the devastating news her father had died, and spent a year in hospital.
In 2007, a scan showed Alexe’s tumour had grown back and she was forced to undergo further radiotherapy. Undeterred at being told she would be unable to conceive due to the treatment, Alexe and her husband Dean explored IUI but were unsuccessful.
The couple chose to become foster carers instead, a decision that changed countless lives. Over the years, they have fostered 29 children, including Mikey, who chose to remain part of their family permanently.
The pair decided to try for a baby via IVF treatment and were overjoyed when Alexe gave birth to their first daughter Amelia.
Three years later, in 2014, Alexe began feeling unwell. Fearing the worst, she braced herself for news of another recurrence. Instead, she was told she was naturally pregnant, something doctors had believed was impossible.
Alexe said: “We were so thrilled, relieved and shocked. After being told I’d never have children, to find out I was pregnant naturally, I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing news.”
Today, Alexe and Dean live in South Wales with their daughters, Amelia and Georgia-Mae, now 12 and nine. Alexe still undergoes routine six-monthly scans and lives with delayed speech but has regained full mobility.
Alexe concluded: “Brain tumours aren’t always the end. There is hope and there is life after a brain tumour. I’m living proof. But in order to have more survivors, research into brain tumours needs more funding and more research.”
You can help develop kinder treatments for brain tumours by making a one-off or monthly donation, however big or small, to Brain Tumour Research.
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