A mother-of-one felt some pain in the last weeks of her second pregnancy, but put the aches down to being in her third trimester.
When Suraya Jenkins was still in pain in the weeks after the birth, she thought it was due to the lingering effects of her caesarean.
But it was vastly more serious than that, as she found out when tests revealed she had stage four cancer in both of her lungs, on her brain and in her bones.
Her baby son Wren was just five weeks old when Ms Jenkins, 36, got the shattering, life-changing news at the start of July.
Ms Jenkins, a former travel agent who most recently worked in early childhood education, and her life partner Shannon also have another boy, Reef, who is aged two-and-a-half.
Her cousin Jemah Schmidt has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise some money to help the family from the northern NSW town of Armidale through this devastating time.
‘The symptoms of the cancer showed up pretty rapidly. There wasn’t many warning signs before she began getting tested,’ Ms Schmidt, 35, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘All the other symptoms, such as the breathlessness and the pain and the lethargy associated, were masked by the pregnancy.’
A heavily pregnant Surya Jenkins is pictured with her partner Shannon and their son Reef
The family is pictured soon after baby Wren was born, but before Ms Jenkins’ cancer diagnosis
Being cousins and roughly the same age, Ms Schmidt has known Ms Jenkins all of her life, but their bond is deeper than that.
‘We’ve definitely had that relationship where we were more like sisters throughout our life, so there’s a very close friendship that we share,’ she said.
Ms Schmidt said her cousin ‘is adjusting to the treatments and the different ways that her body is responding to them’, and that she is getting a lot of help.
‘Shannon has been an incredible support. He’s doing absolutely everything he can to hold Suraya up and look after his family and showing up in every capacity that he’s been asked to,’ she said.
‘Her parents have been incredibly supportive and both of Shannon’s parents too. They have been absolutely available and have been right there supporting Shannon and Suraya through all of this, and playing with the children and keeping the home.’
She added that ‘Reef is adjusting to having a sibling, which is always a challenging time for a two-year-old to understand’.
‘And he’s being helped and supported by his extended family to help him cope.’
Suraya Jenkins is pictured with her son Reef, aged two-and-a-half, and baby boy Wren
Baby Wren, of course, has no idea of his mother’s battle but because she is receiving chemotherapy and immunotherapy, she can’t breastfeed.
This is why a second GoFundMe has been set up to provide donor breast milk for Wren, which Ms Schmidt said is ‘very important to (the family), that the baby gets the best nourishment it can’.
The fundraiser she set up is for medical bills and travel expenses to see doctors in Armadale, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour hospitals, household costs, supplements, recovery programs and mobility aids.
But the other one, set up by Armidale-based lactation consultant Melanie Kelly, is purely to provide breastmilk.
‘She very quickly offered her support and she’s been incredible to arrange the milk from Mothers Milk Bank, which is a charity in Brisbane,’ Ms Schmidt said.
Breastfeeding mothers donate excess milk to the milk bank before it’s freeze dried and then transported to Armidale.
Though it is a charity and the milk is donated, it still costs $850 per week because of the processes it goes through and the distance it has to travel.
Ms Schmidt said everyone is hopeful for the future.
‘Suraya is a very optimistic person and she’s got so much to live for. So she’s going to fight this all the way.
‘I believe she will be healthy on the other side of it.
Ms Jenkins is not able to breastfeed her baby Wren (pictured) due to her cancer treatments
Ms Jenkins is pictured with her partner Shannon and their children Reef and Wren
‘The shock has had a massive impact on everyone in Suraya’s family, we all know that she has the capacity to come through this, and we’re just doing everything we can to support her.’
Ms Jenkins thanked everyone who has made a donation to the fundraiser.
‘Shannon and I are so humbled and moved by the incredible contributions and support we have received from the community and further afield.
‘We will be forever grateful to those who have helped and supported us during this hardest of times.’
