My ‘pregnancy side effects’ were actually a sign of dangerous, incurable cancer – I want to warn other mums

A MUM was told her bad tummy was just a side effect of pregnancy – but in reality, it was a sign of something much more serious.

Jamie Kernaghan spent three years trying to get to the bottom of her gut issues before she was eventually diagnosed with an incurable cancer.

Jamie Kernaghan was diagnosed with a rare, incurable cancer after experiencing diarrhoea and tirednessFacebook

Neuroendocrine Cancer AustraliaDoctors initially brushed her symptoms off as ‘pregnancy side effects’[/caption]

Throughout two pregnancies – with daughters Ellie, now 17, and Isabelle, now 14 – the 45-year-old, from Adelaide, Australia, was really unwell.

“I was always having bouts of diarrhoea. I’d get flushes and was just feeling really tired at times,” she said.

While carrying Ellie, doctors said the the mum probably had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – a common condition that affects the digestive system.

They suggested she try to cut out foods like dairy and gluten to help ease her tummy troubles.

During her second pregnancy with Isabelle, the sickness continued.

But this time round, Jamie’s doctors told her it was the pregnancy that was likely making her feel unwell.

“My symptoms were like a lot of people’s – there was diarrhoea, just a general feeling of unwell, and on top of that, I was pregnant,” she said.

“I could feel sick for a couple of weeks and then I’d be fine for a few months.”

It was when the bouts of diarrhoea and tiredness persisted long after Isabelle was born that Jamie finally realised something wasn’t right.

In 2010, the mum decided to return to her childhood GP, who pushed for a barrage of tests to get to the bottom of what was wrong.

Following a colonoscopy, the then-32-year-old was told she had a tumour growing in her intestine – when Isabelle was just six months old.

Further tests revealed the cancerous lump had also spread to her liver.

Jamie left the doctor’s surgery after her diagnosis and thought, “oh my gosh, my finishing line has come,” she told MailOnline.

“It hit us like a tonne of bricks,” her husband Steve said in a video shared by the charity Neuroendocrine Cancer Australia.

“With two young kids, you want to be there for them when they grow up, when they get married and graduate.”

Over the next few days, the mum-of-two received a call to confirm she had a mid-gut neuroendocrine tumour (NET).

A NET tumour interferes with the release of hormones, leading to either too few or too many.

This is what causes the random collection of symptoms, which usually leads to misdiagnoses such as IBS, gastritis or Crohn’s disease.

The disease affects nearly 4,000 Brits and around 3,700 Australians each year.

It develops very slowly, meaning for many people – including Jamie – it can take years to diagnose.

Early surgery can be a cure, but late diagnosis – when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body – can lead to a poor prognosis.

However, there are treatments available to slow down the growth of the tumour and reduce symptoms.

Major surgery

It was decided that Jamie would need major abdominal surgery to remove around 12in (30cm) of her bowel, her appendix, her gall bladder and as much of the cancer as possible.

“We were lucky the kids were so little; they had no idea what was going on,” she said.

“My parents and my husband, they really formed a bit of a team.”

After the operation, the mum was then put on a treatment called lanreotide – a monthly jab that helps control the release of hormones from the tumours and reduce the symptoms of the disease.

For over a decade, Jamie was able to enjoy a relatively normal life, free of any major pain caused by the cancer.

But all of a sudden, in September 2022, the mum woke up with a severely sore arm. A tumour had emerged near her shoulder.

Jamie’s team of doctors soon put her on several rounds of radiation therapy to kill the new growth.

And by June 2023, the tumour had gone.

But to keep future growths at bay, Jamie has to go for scans every six months to make sure no new tumours have sprung up.

“I came to realise it was going to be a long game for me,” she said.

“I think my mindset changed to, ‘This is a chronic illness rather than [one that is] going to kill me tomorrow’.”

Jamie is encouraging people with similar symptoms to advocate for themselves and push to find answers. 

“If you know something is not right, you’ve just got to keep pushing,” she said.

“Looking back, I wish I’d done testing earlier because before it spread my story would probably be very different.”

Neuroendocrine Cancer AustraliaThe mum-of-two is urging people to get their symptoms checked early[/caption]

Neuroendocrine Cancer AustraliaJamie, from Adelaide, Australia, with her husband Steve[/caption]

Neuroendocrine Cancer AustraliaThe couple with their daughters Ellie and Isabelle[/caption]