'I refused an abortion after my cancer diagnosis, now I've got less than a year'
“My baby ultimately had nothing to do with the cancer, so killing her wasn’t going to take the cancer away,” the mother-of-two said.
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A mother-of-two is fighting brain cancer after refusing to have an abortion when she was diagnosed while pregnant with her second child.
Tasha Kann, from Michigan, was 20 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare and aggressive tumour.
Fox News reports Tasha’s doctors urged her to abort her pregnancy to receive treatment, something they said could not happen while she was still pregnant.
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However, Tasha chose to carry her daughter to term.
“My baby ultimately had nothing to do with the cancer, so killing her wasn’t going to take the cancer away,” the mum told Fox News.
RELATED: 'I only gave birth in January… now I only have two years left with my 6 kids'
"She was my baby"
Tasha’s husband Taylor said he knew the couple’s then unborn daughter would be OK when Tasha made her decision.
“I knew that when she made that decision, she was determined,” he said. “I knew everything was going to be OK.”
Tasha gave birth to her daughter Gracey in October last year. The couple also have a two-year-old son named Deklan.
“She was my baby, and I knew that keeping her alive (meant) God would keep me alive,” she told Fox News.
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Cancer worsens after daughter's birth
Tasha said she researched other treatment approaches to help her fight the cancer during her pregnancy, including sticking to a Keto-like diet, exercising and taking supplements.
However, Tasha has received bad news about her cancer almost a year after her daughter was born.
Fox News reports the cancer has spread, and doctors have given the mum less than a year to live.
Her cancer is now classified as Gliomatosis Cerebri, a “highly aggressive’ tumour that affects the central nervous system and lobes of the brain.
RELATED: Mum was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer at 20 weeks pregnant
"She's a miracle"
The couple is now seeking alternative immunotherapy in Houston, as Tasha does not want to receive any chemotherapy or radiation.
"The oncologist back in Michigan told me they didn’t have anything that could really help me anymore," she said.
Tasha has a port installed in her chest through which she administers immunotherapy once every four hours, but said having her baby girl made her cancer fight worth it.
“She’s a miracle,” Tasha said.
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