Woman's 'Unusual' Cough During Pregnancy Leads To Cancer Diagnosis Aged 23

Pregnancy is often an exciting time for parents-to-be, but that joy was soon tarnished for Zoe Plastiras, when she experienced some unusual symptoms in her final trimester that she couldn't shake.

Plastiras, 24, discovered she was pregnant in February 2022, and despite some morning sickness in the early stages, she felt that much of her pregnancy was "super easy, relaxed, and low risk." Excitement was building to welcome her daughter in the fall, but at 32 weeks she developed a cough and shortness of breath from the slightest of movements.

Many people tried to quash her concerns by saying it was only a symptom of pregnancy, but she told Newsweek that she "knew that wasn't right."

She said: "Everyone told me I was breathless because I was pregnant and near the end, but I knew it was more than that. I had a chest X-ray, and it revealed an almost 12-centimeter [4.7 inch] mass in my chest."

The discovery led Plastiras, from Buckinghamshire, U.K., to think the worst, but there was little investigation that could be done while she was still pregnant. For the final few weeks of her pregnancy, Plastiras tried to soldier on for her daughter and not think about the looming threat of her health.

[SOURCE:NEWSWEEK.COM]