Popsugar Parenting Health And Wellness Mom Learns She Has Cancer After Being Told to Lose Weight This Mum's Shocking Twitter Thread Proves That You Should Always Get a Second Medical Opinion 14 August 2019 by Murphy Moroney First Published: 13 August 2019 Wanna hear a crazy story? I’m a new mom & I had protein in my urine during and after pregnancy, which is bad. A doctor told me to “lose weight” & it would go away. Didn’t want me to see me back for months. So I got a second opinion. Turns out I have bone marrow cancer. THREAD: 1/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 Image Source: Unsplash / Alex Pasarelu Jen Curran, a new mum at 38 years old, is sharing the importance of getting a second medical opinion after recently discovering that what she was told was a weight-loss issue is actually bone marrow cancer. In a now-viral Twitter thread, Jen explained that after her doctor found protein in her urine during her second trimester, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia and put on bed rest. Fast forward five months after she gave birth, and there was still protein in her urine. After being instructed to lose weight and follow up in a few months by a kidney doctor, Jen took her health into her own hands and went to get a second opinion. And it's a very good thing she did. Upon seeing a second specialist, she was told she had multiple myeloma, otherwise known as bone marrow cancer. While Jen is fortunate that her condition was brought to light thanks to her recent pregnancy, she wants to encourage others to not only get a second opinion but get a solid recommendation from their current health provider when it comes to making an appointment. Read ahead to learn about Jen's terrifying experience. Related: 3-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Was Flower Girl at Bone Marrow Donor's Wedding — Be Still, Our Hearts I’m 38 years old. My husband and I just had our first baby. A healthy beautiful girl named Rose. We‘re over the moon. She’s funny and determined. The dog adores her and the cats seem to like her too. She loves water and music... ANYWAY! 2/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 1 / 31 At the end of my 2nd trimester they found high protein in my urine and I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. 3/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 2 / 31 I was put on bedrest for 3 months. I did puzzles, watched West Wing (again) and Breaking Bad (again) and generally lazed around for days on end. Under any other circumstance this would be my ideal lifestyle. 4/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 3 / 31 Everything stayed stable for the rest of the pregnancy. But my OB was unusually worried about the protein in my urine. It was too high to match up with my other preeclampsia symptoms. 5/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 4 / 31 She insisted I get checked by a kidney doctor after the baby was born. Hopefully the problem wouldn’t persist but we had to make sure. I had a pretty easy labor and our baby made it to the world no problem. A few weeks later I made an appointment with a kidney doctor. 6/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 5 / 31 I didn’t ask for a recommendation. Since I had a new baby to lug with me, I assumed it would be easiest to go to a doctor covered by my insurance, near my house. Whoops. 7/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 6 / 31 When I met with the kidney doctor, the protein was higher than it had been in pregnancy even though we were a few months out. Not a good sign. 8/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 7 / 31 [Spilling protein into your urine is bad for your body, especially if it’s high levels. It can irreparably damage your kidneys and it usually indicates something more serious is going on.] 9/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 8 / 31 But the doc wasn’t concerned. “It can take up to a year for things to return to normal after pregnancy.” I didn’t like that answer. It didn’t seem typical for my body. 10/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 9 / 31 I had already recovered from the birth in lots of other ways. Did my feet swell up to the size of two gigantic Italian subs for a whole 2 weeks post labor? Yes! But all that was gone now. I felt good. 11/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 10 / 31 The doctor blinked at my lab results. “Can you start dieting and exercising? Try to lose some weight?” Hmm. Interesting. I was familiar with this move by a medical professional. The old “lose weight” diagnosis. 12/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 11 / 31 “Okay,” I said. “If it comes from a box it’s not good.”“Mm-hmm,” I said. “Yes. Go lose some weight. Then the protein will go away. Come see me again in 4 months.” 13/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 12 / 31 I wanted to believe her but it didn’t feel right to me. Plus she was almost, like, talking past me. Asked me a question about breastfeeding and literally didn’t listen to the answer. Responded as though I said the exact opposite of what I‘d said. Not listening. Not present. 14/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 13 / 31 I went home and spent a couple weeks trying to decide what to do. I stared into the fridge wondering what to eat, hearing her words in my head. Diet. Exercise. Nothing from a box. Lose weight. 15/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 14 / 31 After gaining a bunch of weight in college I lost 115 lbs in my early 20s, with portion control and exercise. I worked very hard to do it and kept the weight off for like 15 years. So I know wellness and I know food and exercise. I definitely know weight loss. 18/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 15 / 31 (Oh good I wrote that that was tweet 18 and it wasn’t. Oh good.) 17/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 16 / 31 Before I walked into that doctor’s office, at this new phase in my life, I had already been feeling for a long time like I just didn’t want to focus on my weight anymore. 18/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 17 / 31 In fact, in 2015, my good bud @adamlustick and I developed a documentary called “F-A-T” with a TV network. It didn’t end up going to production but we learned a lot about the subject matter. 19/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 18 / 31 It was basically all about how toxic diet and weight loss culture can be, and specifically about how much it holds women back. I was, and still am, passionate about the subject. 20/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 19 / 31 So that’s how not into weight loss I am. That’s how not into lose-weight-and-the-problem-will-go-away I am. And even though part of me wanted to jump head first into that doctor’s weight loss prescription, I knew in my gut something else was wrong. 21/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 20 / 31 Finally I decided to get a second opinion about this protein which would supposedly disappear with weight loss. This time I got a recommendation for a kidney doctor from my OB (the one who was first concerned about the protein.) 22/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 21 / 31 I’m saying protein a lot. 23/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 22 / 31 The NEW kidney doctor took one look at my lab tests and said, “This is not good. And there’s nothing diet or exercise can do to touch it.” I was surprised BUT ALSO NOT. She was clearly concerned. She told me we needed to biopsy my kidneys. And I hoped for the best. 24/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 23 / 31 For the sake of getting to the point, you’ll just have to trust me that a kidney biopsy is not fun. Do not recommend. Would not endorse. Unsubscribe. 25/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 24 / 31 When the preliminary biopsy results came back, they hadn’t found anything wrong. Yay! But then more detailed results came back a while later, and it showed something bad. I had too many kappa light chains in my blood. 26/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 25 / 31 [As far as I can tell, kappa and lambda light chains are made by your immune system. If your body starts making more of one or the other, the extras can start showing up in your blood, urine, organs, etc., and it’s not good.] 27/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 26 / 31 So this new kidney doctor referred me to a hematologist-oncologist who then biopsied my bone marrow. Another experience I highly suggest you avoid. You’d have more fun at a kidney biopsy. 28/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 27 / 31 WELL 🥁🥁🥁 the bone marrow biopsy came back and I have multiple myeloma! Bone marrow cancer. 29/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 28 / 31 Shocking. Gut wrenching. I have a 5 month old baby. I’m not even 40 years old. I’m not even caught up on Big Little Lies. 30/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 29 / 31 No other tests came back abnormal. I wasn’t and still am not feeling unwell. They barely found it. If I hadn’t had the baby, they wouldn’t have found it until it was possibly way too late. 31/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 30 / 31 Wanna hear a crazy story? I’m a new mom & I had protein in my urine during and after pregnancy, which is bad. A doctor told me to “lose weight” & it would go away. Didn’t want me to see me back for months. So I got a second opinion. Turns out I have bone marrow cancer. THREAD: 1/— Jen Curran (@jencurran) August 12, 2019 Image Source: Unsplash / Alex Pasarelu 31 / 31 Health And WellnessMotherhoodCancerTwitter