The Birth of My Daughter Saved My Life: My Brain Tumour Discovery Journey

On the 11th of August this year, my daughter will turn eight years old, but a few months before her birthday, I have consistently been feeling really low with so many confusing emotions. I have wondered where all of these emotions came from; however, it has been like this since 2016 when I discovered I had a brain tumour.  This is my first and many attempts to write this story for some reason. So here it goes.

Allow me to take you back and journey with me. Being pregnant after a miscarriage that I didn’t even know I was having was shocking, but it also resulted in me wanting and planning to have a child. I planned to have her, and it was a beautiful experience to do that. Nearly half of all pregnancies in Kenya are unintended, and 60 percent of them end up in unsafe abortions, according to the State of World Population 2022 report. With these startling statistics it means that people who can be pregnant are falling pregnant without any intentions of having children. In other words,  people who have the capacity to fall pregnant are forced into motherhood without wanting to be and preparing to be mothers. The State of World Population 2022 report also echoes the unmet need for contraceptives being one of the causes and the lack of comprehensive sexuality, among other reasons. 

Growing up, having been a peer educator at an early age, I planned to have a child. So when I had a miscarriage, I could not tell anyone for fear of being judged or told that I had an abortion (abortion stigma is real); I struggled and resolved to get pregnant fast, so I did not talk about it. Thus, the pregnancy journey began. 

I must say if I did anything right in my life, it is taking care of my daughter during my pregnancy: I ate well, attended prenatal yoga, exercised, took walks, drank a lot of water, and maintained a very nutritious diet. I asked many questions, read many books, and prepared to have a vaginal birth, as that was the goal for every mother I knew or the groups I joined. Also, it is important to mention here that this was the wrong perception to have at the time as many first-time mothers are not prepared well enough such that if they go for an emergency caesarean, for example, they feel they have failed because of societal expectations and this is such a flawed narrative which I am glad has challenged me, and I could confront. 

I had the best pregnancy with minimal issues. In retrospect, I remember the few times I would wake up, my hands and legs would feel numb, and my doctor would tell me I had low sugar levels. So, when I went into labour on the 6th of August 2016, I was thrilled that it was finally happening. As soon as I  got to the hospital, I was informed that it was false labour, also known as  ‘Braxton Hicks’. This made me feel both happy and sad that she was not ready to be born just yet. The hicks went on and on,  they were painful too and minutes apart.

After several rounds to the hospital, I was officially in labour. We waited and waited and continued to wait. The number of times they would check how far apart my cervix was open only to be stuck at four centimetres. That day, on the  11th of August 2016, I went into labour for more than seventy-two hours. I was tired, and so was the baby. We were rushed to the theatre, and she arrived at 3:20 pm the same day. She cried so loud that she had tears rolling down her day-old cheeks, and all the doctors and nurses laughed and were so cheerful.  She had a full head of dark curly hair, a strong pair of lungs, and just more tears rolling down her little cheeks.

Immediately after she was born, I was out of surgery, but what followed right after was an intense seizure, which was stopped. The doctors then instructed the nurses to take me to a high dependency unit (HDU)  as I kept having mini seizures. My doctors tried to find out what could be the cause, but they all came up empty. I remember that night in HDU, the monitors would ring when I was about to have a seizure, and nurses would be there ready to treat me. I was terrified. I had not seen my newborn baby since the time  I had been rushed to HDU after giving birth. I remember the following day, after spending a night in HDU, I was in the ward surrounded by a team of doctors, clinical officers, students and nurses. They had no idea what had just happened. 

The Gynaecologist who heard about me wanted to come and see me. As they suggested the course of action and drugs I should be given when discharged, the Gynaecologist just told me to undergo a CT scan, but all the surrounding doctors refused. So he looked straight at me and said: “I just passed by after I heard about your case. I have looked at the charts, and nothing. All the tests done have come clean. Just do the head CT scan. You have nothing to lose, just a few thousands”. He left, and while all the doctors debated, I told my doctor to order a CT scan. Even though he did not like the idea, he thought it wise to do it as all the options and tests did not bear any fruit.  

The following day, on the 12th of August, I took a  CT scan, and the results were unclear. So, I was scheduled for a brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) the next day. The results showed a meningioma of the brain, confirming I had a tumour. This type of tumour is derived from meninges — the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Although not technically a brain tumour, it is included in this category because it may compress or squeeze the adjacent brain, nerves and vessels. On 13th August, two days after my daughter was born, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Had it not been for her birth, the doctors would not have known how to treat me. 

My daughter’s birth saved my life. I hope this story motivates you not to get tired until you know what is wrong with your body. You might be shocked by what you discover. So, take as many tests as possible, and do not stop advocating for yourself.