A mum-to-be says she's "very lucky" after her unborn baby "saved her life". Megan McQuade and her partner Michael Johnson were preparing to break the exciting news that they were to be parents when their world was turned upside down.
For after she experienced some spotting in the early stages of her pregnancy she was sent for a scan. And it revealed that there was a tumour growing inside her that she had no idea was there.
The 29-year-old from Ingleby Barwick, said she had no symptoms to give her a clue of the disease. And it was only when the sonorgrapher picked up the "mass" on her bladder that the alarm bells rang.
She underwent a biopsy during which doctors managed to fully remove the growth. Now the primary school teacher wants to warn others to look after their health so they don't have deal with the same ordeal, reports Teesside Live.
Megan told how she had some spotting early on, around week six of the pregnancy. She was asked to see the Early Pregnancy Team to make sure all was well.
She said: "The sonographer picked up on a 'mass' and asked if I'd already had it looked at. I was terrified but in the same breath I thought it was just going to be something minor.
"Staff had explained that something as small as a UTI could show up on a scan, so I wasn't too worried." Megan was given an emergency referral 10 days later, just before Christmas, when a consultant told Megan and Michael she could have cancer.
She said: "I was in complete and utter shock. I'd been trying to keep a positive mindset, but it was possibly the worst news you could get.
"I remember being sat there still smiling and nodding, saying 'okay thank you'. I walked out of the room, my partner looked at me and said 'are you ok?' - and I just burst into tears."
Megan and Michael had planned to tell their families about their baby news on Christmas Day. "We were excited to see their reactions, but we had the cancer looming over us. We knew there was still a risk of not having a baby.
"I had to have a camera, which in itself has a big risk of miscarriage. It was also explained that if treatment was needed, we would have to possibly terminate the pregnancy."
Megan says the tumour itself was so small, doctors managed to carry out a full removal at the same time as taking a biopsy. Then came an agonising two-week wait for the results.
"That was the hardest part," Megan said, "you are living in limbo, you don't know what to prepare for. You think 'do I try to be positive' and think of the best possible scenario, or do you try to be realistic and get yourself upset regardless.
"The day of the results was really hard , the nurse rang asked if I could come in at 9am instead of lunchtime. She actually got upset for me.
"All the nurses at North Tees have been so understanding and caring. It has been overwhelming - scary but I feel really thankful to have met such amazing people." If it "hadn't been for baby", Megan says, the cancer might never have been picked up until it was too late.
"It might have got to a point where I developed symptoms, which can be things like more frequent UTIs, blood in urine, discomfort in your pelvis area. I've been very lucky.
"After the conversations I've had with nurses, it's such a common cancer but it's not really talked about. And it's easily treatable. It's made me more aware of looking after my health. Factors like smoking and working around chemicals can increase your risk - I don't do either of those.
"But it's things like not drinking enough water and not going to the toilet frequently enough, both of which I am mega, mega guilty of doing.
"Teaching is a hard profession so you think 'I'll just hold on for another 40 minutes' for the loo and before you know it it's 3pm. Now I put my health first. I don't want people to go through what I've gone through."
Megan has to have two more cameras, called cystoscopes, after her baby is born in July. "Then touch wood, that's it - I can be discharged," she adds.
She says she's grateful for the support from her family and friends throughout her ordeal.
"This baby is already so, so loved. Michael has been brilliant, I couldn't have done it without him.
"My sister Kate has been a rock throughout this whole thing, she's like a best friend to me. When we found out the news, we instantly went buying baby clothes.
"We couldn't bring ourselves to before, if God forbid we had to take it back. It would have been too hard for us.
"Going shopping at Mamas and Papas was lovely. We are glad to have a bit of normality back in our lives, little things you would normally moan about, you find you have missed. We are just so excited."
