Elle Halliwell was 31-years-old when she was diagnosed with incurable cancer.
Two days later she discovered that she was pregnant.
Elle was forced to make one of the toughest decisions anybody will ever make – hold off on chemo-therapy and see the pregnancy through, or go ahead with treatment and terminate her pregnancy.
The journalist opted for the former and gave birth to baby Tor in December 2016.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW8lR3EjIYI/?taken-by=ellehalliwell
Afterwards, she told Australian 60 Minutes that she had presumed both outcomes would be the same.
“I just thought, that poor life inside me living in this sick body. I thought it had no hope anyway,” she said.
Kidspot has reported that Baby Tor is eight-months-old now, but despite the success of her pregnancy, there is a very high chance that Elle will be forced to continue with cancer treatment for the rest of her life.
“I’ve been pretty lucky but I’ve had my days when I’ve had the bone pain and the skin rashes and the fatigue. But if that’s the price you have to pay to stay alive, anyone with cancer would say they’d do it in a heartbeat.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUDl9h1jKzt/?taken-by=ellehalliwell
The treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia doesn’t cause the new mum to lose her hair, but it does lead to chronic tiredness and bodily aches.
She said that people are quick to tell her that she doesn’t look sick, but that this doesn’t make her feel any better.
“People will say ‘Oh wow, you look great!’ and I know it comes from a good place, and is meant to be uplifting.
But others can look at you strangely as if to say ‘You don’t look that sick (…) Sometimes that can really bring you down.”
The fashion and showbiz reporter also said that Tor is a great sleeper and that she can “count on one hand” the amount of times he’s woken up during the night.
Elle recently became a Daffodil Day ambassador, following the news that her dad’s prostate cancer had returned.
She recently shared this photo on her Instagram, calling them “happy flowers.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYM94Yejv0S/?taken-by=ellehalliwell
