29-year-old Kayla Gaytan has defeated Hodgkin’s lymphoma once. But now, she has to ready herself for a second, even harder battle.
In January 2016, just a month after Kayla married her husband, Charles, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that takes root in the lymphatic system, a part of the body’s immune system.
Thankfully, the then-mother-of-two was able to fight off the cancer after undergoing five months of chemotherapy.
Then, just a month later in July 2016, Gaytan received incredible news. Although her doctors had warned her that her chemotherapy treatment may have taken away her ability to have more children, Gaytan discovered that she was pregnant – with naturally conceived quadruplets.
She and her husband couldn’t have been more thrilled, particularly since the pregnancy was proceeding smoothly despite the context that led up to this point.
But the bliss didn’t last. Just 30 weeks later, Kayla began to notice a strange breathlessness about her – the same sensation she had when she’d gotten diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier that year.
When she went to the doctor, her deepest fear was proven true: The cancer had returned, and she only had a 50% chance of living.
In order for her to have any hope of surviving this second battle, she would have to begin treatment immediately.
Her quadruplets would have to be born prematurely via C-section – and thankfully, all four were born in fair health and quickly taken to the NICU for care. Doctors confirm that all four children are doing well and will be able to be released from the NICU in February.
Meanwhile, Kayla is scheduled to begin stem cell treatment and another full course of chemotherapy in hopes of helping her battle her cancer and win. Because the disease came back and settled in her bone marrow, however, doctors are uncertain that she will be able to survive.
Kayla tries her best to remain positive, but sometimes, she can’t help but think, “You think you've beat it the first time. When it comes back, you're just wondering ‘Why get pregnant with these four babies and then something like this happens?’”
The Gaytan family is hoping to raise money to cover some of their growing medical bills. Please donate here if you can.
