New mum shattered by bombshell terminal cancer diagnosis one month after giving birth to baby son
Devastated Tyla Livingstone may not see little Preston go to school after being told by medics she has between two and five years to live
DEVASTATED mum Tyla Livingstone has told of her heartbreak that she won’t be around to see her baby grow up — having being diagnosed with terminal cancer four weeks after giving birth.
Medics have informed the brave 21-year-old her life expectancy is between two and five years — meaning she might not even get to see her son Preston go to school.
But battling Tyla said: “I’m just living day by day. They say if I’m lucky I’ll have another five years. It doesn’t seem real.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in properly. It’s more my son I think about — and the fact I will not be there for him in the future.”
Tyla, of Fife, Scotland knew she had cancer before her tot was born.
The first indication came last November when, 31 weeks into her pregnancy, she collapsed after a bath and suffered a seizure.
She was taken to Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital, where she was given an MRI scan that revealed a small growth in her brain.
Doctors revealed it was malignant and told her she might have to give birth early by C-section.
But she was then referred to Edinburgh’s Western General, where medics instead opted to monitor the tumour until Preston was born on January 12, weighing 5lbs 14oz.
Tyla recalled: “I had been getting stomach pains, so I decided to take a bath. But when I was in it my arm started to feel funny and then began seizing up.
“I managed to get out of the tub but I couldn’t breathe. I passed out and when I woke up my gran was on the phone calling an ambulance.
“I was in a panic and the paramedics said my blood pressure was high so they took me to hospital.
“They wanted to test for pre-eclampsia but there was no sign of that. So they did an MRI scan.
“The results showed something at the front left of my brain."
She continued: “At first they said it was a small growth and might be fine. Then I was told it was a cancerous growth.
“The docs in Kirkcaldy wanted me to have a C-section but when I was switched to the Western General they put a stop to that.
“My unborn baby and I were monitored and scans showed the tumour at that point wasn’t aggressive and wasn’t growing.
“At 39 weeks I had Preston — and it was a traumatic birth.
“His little heart stopped six times and eventually they had to get him out with forceps.”
But a month after her baby boy arrived Tyla collapsed again and lost feeling down her right side.
Her scheduled surgery to remove the tumour was brought forward several weeks due to the speed it was growing at. Medics warned Tyla she might struggle to walk properly again after the op and could also have speech problems.
The five-hour procedure was performed by Dr Imran Liaquat, brain surgeon at the Western General.
Tyla had to stay awake for three hours of it so he could monitor her senses. She was delighted when she was told Dr Liaquat had been able to fully remove the tumour.
But her relief didn’t last long. A month after Preston was born, Tyla was given a shattering update.
Biopsy results revealed she had a grade-four glioblastoma, the most aggressive cancer that begins in the brain and is likely to be terminal.
Chemotherapy will destroy some cancerous cells but there is no chance of recovery — and she has another five years left at most.
The former mental health support worker and her family are hoping natural treatments like
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But Tyla says her mum Leah, 41, will take on parenting responsibility for her child when the time comes.
She added: “From the day I had Preston, the cancer grew dramatically. So this whole time since I gave birth has been bitter-sweet.
“It’s like two different lives — the one before I was told that I have terminal cancer and the one after.”
Tyla's family have launched a campaign to raise money for alternative treatments, to donate and help Tyla please visit
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