Mother Makes Ultimate Sacrifice to Save Unborn Child (VIDEO)
A mother diagnosed with cancer made the ultimate sacrifice, foregoing chemotherapy treatment in order to give birth to her child, only to pass away less than two weeks later.
Jenni Lake gave birth to a baby boy one month before she turned 18. She had been told that she could not undergo treatment and keep the baby, but in her heart she knew what she was called to do.
The symptoms of her condition, migraines, began to affect Jenni Lake when she was 16 and a sophomore at Pocatello High School, which is east of Boise.
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When she went to visit the family doctor an MRI scan found a tiny mass about two centimeters wide on the right side of her brain, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Jenni Lake then went to a hospital in Salt Lake City, which is about 150 miles south of Pocatello. While there another MRI revealed that the original mass was actually quite larger than was originally thought.
The AP reported that on October 15, 2010 Jenni Lake had a biopsy and five days later was diagnosed with stage three astrocytoma, a type of brain tumor.
Doctors then had the unfortunate task of telling her and her parents that even with treatment she was only given a 30 percent chance to make it a mere two more years.
Jenni Lake started aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, while also posting videos on YouTube titled “Jenni's Journey,” where she wanted to tell her story along with updates every day.
The baby’s father Nathan Wittman, started dating Jenni a few weeks before she was diagnosed with cancer and remained by her side until the very end.
The couple was told that Jenni could not get pregnant because of the radiation treatment. “We were told that she couldn't get pregnant, so we didn't worry about it,” Nathan said, according to AP.
But she did and when doctors told her that she was pregnant she discontinued treatment hoping that once the baby was born she could resume chemotherapy.
The Daily Mail reported that after the child was born Jenni “told the nurse, ‘I'm done, I did what I was supposed to. My baby is going to get here safe,’” Diana Phillips, Jenni's Mother, said.
