Pregnant mother survives stage IV melanoma after brain tumor diagnosis

Severe headaches, nausea, vomiting and unsteadiness left Jenney Bitner barely able to get out of bed at 22 weeks pregnant, but two urgent care visits sent her home with nausea medicine and the assumption that pregnancy was to blame. After she fell twice, her husband took her to the emergency room, where an MRI found a large brain tumor and forced a fast response from doctors who knew she was 38 and expecting her fourth child.

Bitner was rushed by ambulance to a larger hospital, where an oncologist, neurologist and neurosurgeon were brought in quickly. At 24 weeks pregnant, she had brain surgery to remove as much of the tumor as doctors could do safely. The first operation could not take out the entire mass without risking permanent brain damage, and testing soon showed stage IV metastatic melanoma.

The cancer had spread to her brain, lungs, pelvis and back. Doctors never found the primary tumor. One cancerous nodule in her back was large enough to be felt through her skin, a sign of how far the disease had advanced by the time it was discovered.

Pregnancy shaped every decision after that. Because immunotherapy was not considered safe for the baby, doctors recommended early delivery. Bitner’s son was born by C-section at 34 weeks, and her symptoms returned just days before delivery. A scan showed the brain tumor had grown back to its original size within weeks, and she underwent a second brain surgery days after giving birth. This time, the surgeon removed the entire tumor, and she went home the same day her son left the NICU.

Her recovery accelerated after doctors found a marker that made her eligible for immunotherapy. By October 2020, after four rounds of treatment, there was no evidence of disease. The American Cancer Society estimates five-year survival for melanoma that has spread this far at about 35%.