A woman who tells of her battle with cancer while pregnant

On Christmas Eve 2015 Karrie-Ann Hoppe, 36, was told she had breast cancer. Still reeling from the news, a few weeks later she got another big shock - she was three months pregnant.

When doctors told me I was pregnant with my second child, I didn't at first grasp what they meant. I was about to be put under a general anaesthetic so they could take two lymph nodes to check for cancer. Then the doctors told me my urine test had come back positive. Then they told me I was pregnant. My husband Luke and I had been trying for another baby since the birth of out eldest son, Wyatt, in 2013. But when I was diagnosed with cancer we put our efforts on hold.

My breast cancer was hormone-based so I had been advised to not get pregnant but it turned out I already was. When the news came through, I had already been prepared for surgery, and was faced immediately with a difficult decision: doctors asked if I wanted to know the risk of the operation causing a miscarriage. I said no.

We hadn't known about the baby in the first place and if he didn't survive it would hurt, but it wasn't meant to be. The two lymph nodes taken from under my arm were found to be cancerous.

Being told it had spread was the worst part of the whole experience. Up until then I had been matter-of-fact and dealing with things as they happened. But my step-mum had died from breast cancer after it got into her bones and that was what I was most scared of. Fortunately, my baby survived the operation and a scan at the start of February revealed I was nearly 12 weeks pregnant. We were surprised and emotional. My husband has four daughters from a previous relationship but we did want another child together. I think if we'd been told we needed a termination we would have accepted it, though, as it was more important that I survived for Wyatt.

Doctors told me I would need a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy. I said they could just take it. You wouldn't keep a broken car if you couldn't fix it so why keep a broken boob? They took out my left breast and 17 further lymph nodes in February.

Just one of the lymph nodes was found to be cancerous and nine days later I was told scans showed I was cancer-free. "When I got the results I was so relieved and wanted to party.

Then I started a course of chemotherapy in March. It caused a burning sensation in my nose, which made me cry. I felt sick and tired the majority of the time, although I didn't know if it was symptoms from the pregnancy or the treatment.

Plus I had a toddler to look after as well. To cap it all we finally got a chance to move to a bigger home. We lived in a one-bedroom flat and we were really cramped. I was worried about how we would fit with two children and as I was having chemotherapy I needed respite. Then the council offered us a two-bedroom house in April. No sooner had we settled into our bigger home than I became concerned about my baby and had to rush to hospital. I was having contractions.

I was now 27 weeks pregnant, about 10 weeks short of full term. I was given steroid injections to help the baby's lungs develop and the contractions stopped overnight. Shortly afterwards I stopped having chemotherapy to allow my body to recover in case I went into natural labour.

In the end I had a Caesarean because doctors were concerned Kaiden (my baby) wasn't growing as well as he should.

I resumed chemotherapy in August to give me time to recover from the Caesarean and started a 15-day course of radiotherapy soon after finishing chemotherapy. You lie on a slab in the middle of a room on your own with a big machine right above you for 20 minutes at a time. After my last treatment I ran out of there jumping for joy.

My mum told me I looked different and it was because I didn't have the stress of the treatment anymore. Although I was offered breast reconstruction she decided against it. I didn't want yet another surgery. I'd had enough. I want to share my story to let women know you can be pregnant and have breast cancer but you and your baby can be fine.