Lara fought cancer twice before her unborn baby saved her life

A Melbourne mum has revealed how she was saved from a rare, life-threatening tumour by a twist of fate, saying if she hadn’t been pregnant, she “may not have woken up the next morning”.

A brave Melbourne mum has recounted how her life was saved from a life-threatening, rare tumour by her unborn baby girl.

When Lara Scott fell pregnant with baby Elsie, she had already fought cancer twice.

The young mum was diagnosed with a rare thyroid cancer after a lump appeared just weeks after her first daughter, Ada, was born in 2021.

Ms Scott, now 34, had been looking forward her second baby’s arrival and those precious early months – this time without intensive cancer treatment and recovery – when, one night in February, she began to feel unwell.

What Ms Scott didn’t know was that she on the verge of a heart attack, with a rare tumour on her adrenal gland triggering dangerous levels of adrenaline.

She said if it weren’t for her pregnancy she would have tried to sleep it off but, concerned for her baby, she told her worried husband Tyrone they needed to go to the emergency department.

Lara, with her husband, Tyrone, daughter Elsie, 8 months, and daughter Ada, 3. Picture: Mark Stewart

“If I hadn’t been pregnant, I may not have woken up the next morning,” she said.

“My baby literally saved my life.”

Ms Scott, who was almost 35 weeks pregnant, said by the time they arrived, it felt like a “herd of elephants” were jumping on her chest.

“They put a blood pressure cuff on, and then I have a heart attack in a hospital,” she said.

“It was, I’m going to die right here.

“They gave me a spray, and then I was fine, it was instant.”

Ms Scott spent the next week under the care of both the Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospitals, who decided to induce her at 37 weeks with strict heart rate limits.

“The doctors said your heart’s starting to raise a little bit … we’ll suction the baby out,” she said.

“And then the doctor said, ‘give me your hands, pull your baby out’”.

In the days after Elsie’s birth doctors discovered the 12cm tumour and began to hatch a plan. Picture: Mark Stewart

“This baby saved my life, and then I pulled her into life.”

In the days after Elsie’s birth – and another smaller heart attack – doctors discovered the 12cm tumour and began to hatch a plan.

There was only one surgeon Ms Scott wanted – the one who had saved her life before.

Royal Melbourne Hospital Endocrine Surgery head Professor Julie Miller, who had treated Ms Scott’s thyroid cancer, said the new tumour – often misdiagnosed as panic attacks – appeared to be unrelated.

“This tumour is the kind of the thing that most doctors learn about in medical school … and then never see one,” she said.

She said it was gratifying to see how both hospitals came “together as a team” and Ms Scott had a “special spot” in her heart.

Lara with Elsie after undergoing surgery to remove her tumour in May this year. Picture: Supplied

Ms Scott, whose surgery was a success and is now doing well, paid tribute to both teams, from the doctors who popped in to visit after Elsie’s birth to their determination to find a breastfeeding suitable medication, important to her after her previous cancer treatment.

She said they were “incredible, almost to the point where you almost don’t feel deserving”.

“This story is not about me, it’s about two fantastic hospitals working so well together.

“I don’t have enough words to thank them.”

Little Elsie is now eight months. Picture: Mark Stewart

She said it was now nice to enjoy some “normalcy” and see Elsie, now eight months, and three-year-old Ada’s relationship grow.

“It feels like I’m experiencing what I should be experiencing now,” she said.

She said Ada was “so full of love and energy” and Elsie was the “calmest, happiest little baby”.

“It’s almost ironic – Elsie had this big tumour pushing down on her in the womb,” she said.

“I am forever grateful for the care and kindness I received from both hospitals.”