ABC News
Elizabeth Joice was only a few months pregnant when she received a
devastating diagnosis, the cancer she thought had been eradicated years
earlier had returned.
Joice, 36, had already agreed to be a part of a documentary exploring
each week of pregnancy called “40 Weeks” when she received her
diagnosis. Director Christopher Henze said that after Joice learned of
her diagnosis she was faced with a choice either to abort the pregnancy
or continue it with limited options on how to diagnose and treat the
disease.
Joice chose to continue her pregnancy and had her baby in January. But she died last month, six weeks after giving birth.
Joice was initially declared cancer-free in 2010, but the chemotherapy
had pushed her into early menopause. As a result, Henze said both Joice
and her husband, Max Joice, were amazed when she became pregnant last
year.
Joice’s cancer, non-differentiated sarcoma, could be partially removed
by operation. However, dyes used during scans could impact Joice’s
pregnancy, so a full body scan was not done to see if there were other
tumors. The Joices decided against more invasive scanning and treatment
and hoped the cancer would not be virulent.
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