How baby Jake has made our Christmas

Dec 24 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

Dawn Miller was told not to expect children after battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Last week, she gave birth just in time for Christmas. She told her story to David Higgerson

THE space under the Christmas tree normally reserved for presents is going to look a bit bare this year – but Dawn and Dean Miller wouldn’t have it any other way.

To use Dawn’s own words: “The best Christmas present we could ever ask for will be in our arms, not under the tree.”

Dawn is referring to Jake, the couple’s first baby, born earlier this month at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

What makes Jake’s presence at the Millers’ Halewood home this Christmas all the more extraordinary is that he arrived less than three years after Dawn was told she shouldn’t expect to be able to conceive naturally after undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Dawn, 30, said: “We had been trying for a baby and I kept going to the doctors because I hadn’t been feeling well.

“I kept being told I had a high white blood cell count, but the usual response of ‘Oh, I think it’s this, that or the other’ was all I got.

“But I eventually got to the point where I was so ill I didn’t even have the energy to pour myself a glass of water.

“My mum took me to see a different doctor in February, 2005, who sent me to the hospital. I went through the usual procedures when they found a nasty tumour in my chest.

“I was placed on ward 7Y of the Royal Liverpool Hospital, which was a fantastic place where all the staff are amazing.

“I had some harrowing times on that ward, like my biopsy, which was very painful, and the first time I received chemotherapy, which is terrifying as you don’t know how your body is going to react.

“But they had warned me that the treatment would mean it was unlikely I would be able to conceive.

“I asked them about having my eggs frozen, but the only place where that could be done was in Coventry and it would take six weeks.

“The doctors didn’t want to wait six weeks, that is how serious it was.

“Dean and I knew I had to concentrate on beating this thing, so it was just a case of having to put thinking about having a family to one side. It was something we wanted, and we’d been trying for, but I thought to myself that I could always adopt.”

DAWN, a jewellery shop assistant manager, added: “I have not been given the all-clear, although everything is fine. In some respects, it’s better to be in this position because it means I have regular tests and if anything is different, it will be spotted sooner.

“But Dean and I hadn’t really thought about trying for a family since then, and to celebrate me doing well he took me away to Paris for my 30th birthday.

“A few weeks later, I had this strange feeling that I was pregnant, even though I didn’t think it was possible. I’d had the feeling before, when we were trying, so I decided to have the test.

“I couldn’t believe it when I was looking at the piece of paper and it was telling me I was pregnant.

“Dean couldn’t speak for about 40 minutes, he was that shocked.

“But we were so delighted, it was what we had always wanted, but we didn’t think it could happen.

“The pregnancy was perfectly normal, and everything went well, with Jake arriving safely at the Women’s.

“They did have concerns about him for a few days, so we were kept in and he was put in the neo-natal unit which was horrible for us, but they gave him the all-clear last week, just in time to be home from Christmas.

“He really is the best Christmas present I could ask for. I’ve told Dean that I don’t want any presents under the tree this year – for one thing, we’ve been too busy to go shopping.

“But the main reason is that Jake is the best Christmas present you could ask for – I’m just so glad he’s home, especially after we were told we probably couldn’t have children because of the treatment I underwent.”

Dawn hoped that, by sharing her story, she will give others the confidence to fight similar conditions.

SHE added: “When I was first diagnosed, I never once thought ‘Why me?’ or ‘Will I die?’ I just wanted to get it out of me and fast.

“Dean, then my boyfriend, and I moved back into my parents’ house and my mum took six months out of her nursing degree to look after me when Dean was at work.

“She was amazing and I couldn’t have got through the last year without her. By the August of 2005, I had started to become extremely fed-up with the routine of having chemo every two weeks and I felt that my body couldn’t take any more.

“On August 17, I had my last chemo session, which really pleased me.

“I then had some time to myself before I began five weeks of radiotherapy at Clatterbridge.

“That was not so bad, but it did leave my sternum sore to touch as I developed inflammation of the lungs.

“In December, 2005, I was finally free of all the nasty treatments but I was put on steroids because of the damage to my lungs by the radiotherapy. After my CT scan to make sure the treatment had been successful, I was expecting to be told I was in remission, but it was not to be.

“I still have a fair bit of scar tissue left and so apparently I will not be in full remission. When I was told that, I started to feel very down, but since then I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of being monitored all the time.

“The one thing that I always remembered was to be positive, because it’s only through being positive that you can help yourself beat it.

“The stories I heard from other people convinced me of that.” Another big help for Dean and Dawn was attending a support group in Liverpool city centre run by the Leukaemia CARE charity.

DAWN said: “I feel like the other people there – who have been through similar treatments to me – really understand me.”

Her experience has prompted husband Dean to organise various charity events in support of Leukaemia CARE, and the 7Y daycare appeal fund at the Royal Liverpool. 7Y is the ward Dawn was treated at in the Royal.

More than £11,000 has been raised by white-collar boxing nights organised by Dean.

The couple celebrated Dawn’s success at beating the illness by tying the knot – Dawn swapping her maiden surname of Champion for Miller.

Dawn said: “On December 18th, 2005, Dean and I were married in Sorrento, Italy. It was a beautiful ceremony where we were joined by 30 members of our close family.

“I love my husband and my family dearly and I thank them with all my heart for the support they have given me over the last three years.

“I have to admit, life isn’t the same any more.

“I don’t have as much energy as I used to.

“But I love my life and that’s why I’ve survived.”

david higgerson