A Michigan woman who sacrificed the chance to prolong her life in order to give birth to her sixth child died early Saturday, her husband said.
Nick DeKlyen told The Associated Press that his wife, Carrie DeKlyen, died surrounded by family at University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.
He said among his last words to her were, "I'll see you in Heaven."
"We stayed by her until she took her last breath," Nick DeKlyen said. "It's in God's hands now."
Doctors removed Carrie DeKlyen's feeding and breathing tubes on Thursday, a day after she gave birth to her daughter Life Lynn DeKlyen. The mother chose to forgo chemotherapy to treat her brain cancer, since it would have meant ending her pregnancy.
Life Lynn was born prematurely, at 24 weeks and five days into the pregnancy and weighing 1 pound, four ounces (567 grams). Nick DeKlyen said his daughter is doing better than expected in neonatal intensive care, gaining weight and "almost breathing on her own."
"She's going to be fine," he said. "She's going to be here for 4 or 5 months, but we expect her to be a healthy baby. ... The doctor just said the timing (of the birth) couldn't have been more perfect."
The couple, who are from the western Michigan city of Wyoming, have five other kids who range in age from 2 to 18 years old. Nick DeKlyen said the family is strong in its Christian faith.
"My wife loves the Lord and she loves her children more than anything," he said Friday.
"It's painful," he added. "But this is what she wanted. She wanted to protect this child."
Since Carrie DeKlyen's cancer diagnosis in April, the family has been sharing updates about her and her pregnancy on the Facebook page Cure 4 Carrie . Posted on the page Saturday was a reference to a Bible verse, John 15:13, which reads: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."
mikeisnowonfire on September 10th, 2017 at 03:14 UTC »
I will speak to this situation because I was involved in a very similar situation. A number of years ago, I was going through cancer treatments and met a lovely woman in a cancer support group who was sick as well. We fell in love. She somehow got pregnant (I simply mean against the odds) and then a bombshell: her cancer had spread and she was told she had a year at best. She would not take most of her medications because she did not want to harm the baby. I told her she didn't need to have the baby, she should take care of herself. She told me she wanted a child to carry on her life. I could not stop her so I supported her any way I could. I watched her health deteriorate until she was about six months along and she was not able to continue. The doctor's told her she wasn't physically able to carry the baby any longer without treatments. She refused and asked them to let her go along a few more weeks and deliver early, no matter what happened to her. She lasts two more weeks before they have to remove our child from her, during which she passes on. We had a daughter. She only lived for a few weeks due to unforseen complications. In the end, I lost both. I guess the reason I'm sharing this is to tell everyone that in these types of situations, there is almost no good choice. I hope the woman who made this choice was at peace with herself with her choices is all I can think of.
Life5hadow on September 9th, 2017 at 21:47 UTC »
As someone who has been in the child's position, it sucks. I was about 7 when I asked my grandparents "where's my mom?"
I only hope for the best for the family.
abovegro on September 9th, 2017 at 21:13 UTC »
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/shes-hours-away-dying-brave-11136750