Pregnant mom diagnosed with Stage IV cancer after symptoms were dismissed
Jenney Bitner feared she wouldn't get to see her children grow up after a tumor in her brain revealed she had Stage IV melanoma.
Jenney Bitner always looked forward to her family's annual trip to see her mother in San Diego. For her three kids, it was a two-week vacation at their grandmother's house. For Bitner and her husband, it meant some relaxing time in the sun while their Washington home battled wet February weather.
In 2020, the trip was even more welcome than usual: Bitner was 22 weeks pregnant, and she looked forward to the family time amid the second half of her pregnancy. But after one day, Bitner felt too sick to get out of bed. Her head ached, she was nauseous and vomiting, and she felt unsteady on her feet.
Two urgent cares suggested she was just dealing with pregnancy symptoms. That didn't feel right to Bitner, but she figured an upcoming appointment with her obstetrician would provide answers. But when the family got home from San Diego, Bitner fell twice. Her husband insisted on bringing her to the emergency room.
An MRI revealed a "giant tumor" in her brain. Doctors scheduled an operation to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Tests on the mass revealed Bitner had Stage IV melanoma that had spread to her brain. It was a shock: melanoma usually presents with a mark or lesion, and Bitner had never seen one. When the disease has spread this far, patients have a five-year survival rate of about 35%, according to the American Cancer Society .
"I had just turned 38, and I was pregnant with my fourth kid. I was thinking, 'I'm too young for this to be happening,'" Bitner recalled. "I was thinking, 'There's no way I'm going to make it through this. I'm never going to see this baby survive to a year old.' I was terrified."
Bitner's doctors recommended aggressive treatment. The first surgery had removed most of the tumor, but her neurosurgeon hadn't been able to take out the entire mass without causing permanent brain damage. Further testing also found a cancerous nodule in Bitner's back that was so large it could be felt through her skin.