Mom With Pulled Muscle Symptoms Has 3 Years To Live After Rare Cancer Diagnosis

An Australian woman was given up to three years to live after a rare type of cancer spread all over her body.

Jessica Slee discovered she had sarcoma after she thought she "pulled back a muscle" while doing an exercise move called "the Russian twist" back in 2014, 7News.com.au reported.

A sarcoma is a type of cancer that starts in tissues like bone or muscle, according to Cancer.org.

While biopsy results showed she had a benign tumor, Slee underwent surgery that year as the growth was close to her heart.

An overseas examination of Slee's tumor later revealed she had sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma and high-grade osteosarcoma — a hybrid subtype cancer.

Slee was among the 20 people in the world with the condition at the time of her diagnosis, and she was the only known person in Australia with it.

Doctors were hopeful that they could stop cancer from spreading further since it had been caught early, and Slee moved from Broken Hill back to her home in Adelaide for radiotherapy.

Slee ended up marrying her fiancé, Kieran, five weeks into her sessions. Her treatment proved successful and doctors told her she was able to have kids in 2016.

A year later in March, the couple welcomed their son, Declan. They then had a daughter, Maddison, in May of the following year.

While starting a family, further testing on Slee showed unusual growth in her body, believed to be just residual scarring from her previous surgery.

When Slee's cancer returned in 2019, doctors, who couldn't do anything, said, "It's up to the universe now."

Slee underwent surgery again after sharing the news with her family, creating an incision stretching from her neck down to her pubic bone. Doctors reportedly spent nine hours removing infected muscle and bone, replacing parts of Slee's body with medical-grade mesh.

More cancer was spotted in Slee just as her previous surgical scars began to heal.

Surgeons removed part of the mother's sternum and diaphragm, and they also reconstructed her chest well.

Despite doctors' efforts, the tumor had spread throughout Slee's chest and abdomen, including one located right behind her heart.

Slee tried chemotherapy, treatment doctors said would most likely not work.

The mother of two claimed she would get 12 to 18 more months to live at the time if her cancer was stabilized, while she would get up to three years more if the treatment shrunk the tumors.

Slee quit after three rounds of treatment and no changes. She chose to focus on the quality time she had left.

Her family threw a fundraiser last year and gathered enough money to buy a campervan, so they could all create memories while they are still together.

Slee spent last summer in the van surrounded by her family and friends.

"There is something about being told you are going to die that has changed my life for the better. Now, when I get an opportunity, I do it, and my husband and kids are the ones benefiting - the adventures and vacations," she said.

Slee and Kieran have decided not to tell their kids that their mother might not be around anymore when they grow up.

However, the couple will have the cancer talk with their children when doctors advise Slee she only has six months left to live.

"I don’t want them worrying and thinking, ‘Will mommy wake up in the morning?" Slee, now 35, said.

The mother has spent the past few months trialing drugs and undergoing clinical treatments, all of which were ineffective.

She also started raising money for sarcoma research through a GoFundMe campaign.