Mom With Cancer Who Refused Chemo to Save Unborn Baby Gives Birth to Healthy Boy

International   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Apr 12, 2016   |   4:54PM   |   Tonawanda, New York

New York mom Kim Vaillancourt credits her unborn son with saving her life.

One day, nearly half way through her pregnancy, she began experiencing severe headaches and nausea. Though she suspected it was just the flu, Vaillancourt was concerned about her unborn child. She went to the hospital for a check-up, only to discover that she had an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Doctors suggested that Vaillancourt pursue aggressive cancer treatment, but the 36-year-old mother refused. She did not want to risk harming her unborn son.

“The baby saved me. Now it’s my turn to save him,” she said.

Now, the Daily Mail reports Vaillancourt gave birth to a healthy baby boy last week. She and her husband, Phil, named the boy Wyatt Eli, which means “little warrior sent by God.” Wyatt was born at 3:11 a.m. April 8, and weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces, according to a GoFundMe fundraising page for the family.

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The couple has five other children in addition to baby Wyatt: two biological children and three foster children who they recently adopted. The tragic news struck just two days after they adopted their three daughters. On Christmas Day, Kim woke up with an extremely painful migraine and nausea.

According to the report:

‘I would have just thought I had a headache and the flu and I would have laid in bed,’ the 36-year-old mother said.

But since she was about halfway through her pregnancy and worried that being unable to keep food down was keeping the baby from getting the nourishment he needed, she headed to the hospital to be checked.

Soon she would be rushed into surgery to remove two tumors that doctors said could have killed her.

One had grown on the front of her brain. The other was dangerously close to her brain stem in the back.

Holding hands on the couch in their suburban Buffalo living room, Kim and Phil lean on each other as they describe with calm acceptance the abrupt turn their life took between the joyful Dec. 23 adoption and the devastating diagnosis on Dec. 27.

Gliobastoma is characterized by fast-growing tumors known to reappear within eight to 12 weeks.

‘We’re praying a lot and trusting God through these next few weeks to keep these scans clean,’ Phil Vaillancourt said.

It’s something the health-conscious Kim, with her focus on vitamins and nutrition, would never have imagined.

She laughs while describing her longstanding practice of texting as far away from her body as her arms will allow and says the family’s kept the microwave oven in the garage for the last 10 years, even though there’s no scientific proof that either cellphones or microwaves raise the risk of cancer — and her fears are unfounded.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer. It’s the same cancer that California-native Brittany Maynard had when she committed doctor-prescribed suicide in Oregon in 2014. Doctors predict Kim has a little more than a year to live.

However, the Vaillancourts are not giving up hope. Now that Wyatt is born, Kim plans to begin radiation treatment, according to the report. The family also is looking for a nanny to take care of their children while she begins the treatment.

“We definitely believe in miracles,” Phil said.

KimVaillancourt