A mother of six has given birth to a premature baby, but what makes this case unusual is that she was diagnosed with cancer during her 26th week of pregnancy. Now 33-year-old Kathy Taylor is fighting for her life after being told she is suffering from advanced melanoma earlier this month.
The devastating diagnosis came for the mother of six as she came after a doctor’s appointment. Taylor was told she would have to be induced in order to start treatment to save her life as soon as possible. Her son Luke was born on Thursday, weighing only one-pound, 15-ounces.
According to a report in Deseret News , the mom of six had to watch via Skype, as her daughter celebrated her 10th birthday at home in Utah. Baby Luke, who remains connected to a breathing machine at Salt Lake City’s University Hospital neonatal intensive care unit, is expected to stay there until December 10.
Even though Taylor has not been able to hold her tiny son, she was able to touch him while he lay in the incubator. The mother of six remains at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Only three-weeks ago Kathy was told she had an aggressive form of cancer, which had spread throughout her body. For the past weeks, she’s been fighting to stay alive, so she could safely deliver her baby and, while her health is deteriorating, the family is hoping she will be alive to know her newborn son.
“My baby is doing good,” she said on a home video while talking to one of her other kids. “His name is Luke.”
“She delivered a little, healthy preemie baby boy that was one-pound 15-ounces,” Jocelyn Taylor, Kathy Taylor’s mother-in-law, said. “He’s about as long as a pencil.”
“She was doing everything in her power to hold that baby in her, so she could give him the protection and nourishment she needed to as a mommy,” the mother-in-law added.
The mom of six was first diagnosed with cancer seven-years-ago when doctors removed melanoma from her back. The cancer returned and took the family completely off guard this time.
“She’s fading,” Jocelyn Taylor said of the devoted mother of six, who home-schools her children. “She seems to have a foot in both worlds right now.”
As hope fades, the family knows Kathy Taylor is on borrowed time and they are praying for a miracle. The mother of six is starting a new cancer treatment Monday, in the hopes of prolonging her life. The family is grateful for the incredible support they have received from the community and perfect strangers. A fundraising page has been established to help the devastated family.
[Image via Fund Me ]