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Pregnancy blood test 'possibly saved my life' after leukaemia diagnosis

Kelly Butler Kelly Butler with Milly-MayKelly Butler
Kelly Butler was 32 weeks pregnant with Milly-May when she found out she had leukaemia following a routine blood test

A mother said her daughter may have saved her life after she found out she had leukaemia while pregnant.

Kelly Butler was 32 weeks pregnant with Milly-May when she went for a routine blood test which led to her diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

The 41-year-old, from Rugeley, Staffordshire, said she felt she "was in somebody else's nightmare" but "my daughter has possibly saved my life".

She is currently waiting for a donor match to have a transplant.

Mrs Butler said the diagnosis felt like a whirlwind as she went from "living life" while pregnant, to then finding out she had the rare type of blood cancer.

Doctors gave her a drug she could take during pregnancy but she said they decided four weeks later to deliver her daughter so she could start taking chemotherapy tablets.

Kelly Butler Kelly Butler with Milly-MayKelly Butler
Kelly Butler said it has been tough having to self-isolate during the pandemic with an eight-month-old baby

"That was when it hit home, because I think they were trying to hold back on telling me the full results because I was pregnant," she said.

Milly-May was born prematurely in November, but Mrs Butler said she is "absolutely perfect".

"The condition that I have cannot be passed to her. It is not hereditary, which was our main concern," she said.

Two potential stem cell transplants fell through after the donors failed their medicals, but Mrs Butler said she is waiting to see if another transplant goes ahead with a potential donor in the Netherlands.

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Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)

  • CML affects the white blood cells and tends to progress slowly over many years
  • It does not usually cause any symptoms in its early stages and may only be picked up during tests carried out for another reason
  • The main treatments for CML are medicines called tyrosine kinase inhibitors that stop the cancer cells growing and multiplying
  • A stem cell transplant can potentially cure CML

Source: NHS

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She had to self-isolate through the pandemic which she said has been tough with an eight-month-old baby.

"I think Covid aside, I did not think it would have been as tough as what it has been," she said.

"I just keep telling myself there are people in worse situations out there and that is what keeps me going as well as a beautiful little girl."

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