Rare Cancer Mum "I had 10 organs removed".
She looked pregnant.
By James Somper
September 27 2019
A woman who is constantly mistaken for being pregnant has spoken out to reveal her 'baby bump' is a rare cancer - and she's had 10 organs removed in a battle to beat the disease.
Jemily Brown, 35, was diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei - a rare type of 'jelly' cancer - in September 2017 - which causes her abdomen to swell so she looks nine months' pregnant.
The brave mum-of-one from Sandhurst, Surrey, had to endure a mammoth operation that medics refer to as "the mother of all surgeries" - and had ten organs removed as well as SIX litres of the cancerous jelly tumour in her abdomen in a 12 hour operation.
Jemily Brown before and after having the organs removed. Image: Caters News
But the cancer has returned and Jemily now faces the painful wait for a multi-organ transplant four organs - a procedure that has only been done fourteen times in the world. A transplant is Jemily's last option.
She said: "One of the hardest things for me is how rare this condition is. It's uncertain territory a lot of the time.
"The initial surgery took a lot away from me but was worth doing for the 14 months I had afterwards but it now causes me daily problems. I have to take dozens of pills a day and can't eat solid food anymore.
"I was in a queue at the bank and the cashier looked at me and asked 'when's the baby due?'
"I said I wasn't actually pregnant and she got very flustered.
"I've become far more blase about it. I don't take it to heart as much, it doesn't make me cross these days like it used to.
"It's not something you ever want to go through but at the same time it's brought us closer, we definitely appreciate our time together.
"I'm on edge all the time waiting for the phone call from the hospital."
Jemily was originally diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei - an extremely rare, jelly-like cancer - in September 2017 after scans detected fluid building up around her abdomen after a period of feeling unwell.
The tumour known as "jelly belly" began to swell up in her abdomen before it was finally removed in a 12 hour operation in October 2017.
In total, Jemily had ten organs removed: large bowel, part of her small bowel, appendix, spleen, umbilicus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, stripped diaphragm and omentum.
She had to give up her job as an administrator and has to be fed through a nutrient feed which she receives each night at home.
But in September 2018 she was given the crushing news that the jelly had started to grow again and she began a gruelling course of chemotherapy.
Despite completing the chemotherapy, doctors told Jemily in January 2019 that it had not been successful and that her only hope is an organ transplant.
She now faces an uncertain wait for the surgery which will see her stomach, small intestines, large bowel and pancreas transplanted and the jelly removed.
Husband Tim, 40, said: "Before the operation people came up to us and asked 'when's it due?'.
"Just before she had the operation Jemily and I went out to pick up a new wedding ring as I didn't want her original one damaged in hospital.
"The shop assistant looked at us and asked if were getting married because Jemily was having a baby. I was speechless.
"Jemily said 'it's a tumour and it's coming out on Tuesday'".
Tim added that his wife condition has had a devastating impact on his family.
He said: "It's been pretty life changing. You have to adapt to what is normal though.
"She's kept a positive outlook in pretty horrendous circumstances and she tries to remain positive.
"It's hard though to know what she's gone through and what could still come.
"Despite that we still try to enjoy things and try and live each day to the full."
