Daily Times

English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran recently took to Instagram to share that his wife Cherry was diagnosed with a tumour during her second pregnancy.

The revelation comes ahead of the release of his upcoming album Subtract.

“I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health and ultimately the way I viewed music and art,” wrote Sheeran.

Calling “writing songs his therapy”, Sheeran expressed that his wife’s tumour diagnosis left the family “spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety”. “Writing helps me make sense of my feelings. Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.”

The couple welcomed their second child, Jupiter, in May 2022.

He added that an artist, it was his endeavour to be true to his work and he strived to put out what he was feeling in his writing. “I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life”, he wrote further. “This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life. This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract,” he mentioned.

To find out more, we reached out to experts to understand if tumour can occur during pregnancies and what is the way forward for the mother and the child. Dr Shafalika SB, consultant, minimally invasive gynaecology, Manipal Hospital, Yeshwanthpur and Hebbal, Bangalore said that tumours can develop in pregnancy. “Yet, there are extremely few instances of these occurrences. Benign tumours are like fibroids in the uterus and ovarian cysts in the ovaries which can develop during pregnancy and they may grow to a bigger size during the pregnancy. Majority of the tumours may or may not affect the pregnancy. If the woman is having a delivery by caesarean section, some of the tumours can be removed during the procedure. In cases when a woman is delivering through vagina, it can be addressed at a later date, as long as it is not causing any problems to the patient. Tumours can be both benign and malignant,” Dr Shafalika told indianexpress.com.

Majority of the time they do not indicate any symptoms. “They may cause abdominal pain, if they are having complications like degenerative changes in fibroids and torsions in ovarian tumours. In rare cases, malignant tumours like cervical cancer, cancer can be seen during the pregnancy. Also, in some of the rare ovarian cancers, it can be seen during the pregnancy. If the cancerous tumour is in the initial stages, a pregnant woman is allowed to complete the pregnancy and then they are dealt immediately after the delivery. If they are in late stages, it is better to terminate the pregnancy and treat the cancer,” Dr Shafalika noted.

If multiple fibroids are not troubling the pregnancy, then they shrink within three months after delivery as soon as the uterus comes back to its normal size, said Dr Sushma Tomar, consultant – obstetrician and gynaecologist, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan. “When it comes to surgical treatment, sonography should be undertaken after three months and a decision should be made about medical intervention,” said Dr Tomar.

According to Dr Shafalika, one of the major causes remain the predisposing genetic factors that are worsened by the hormonal changes during pregnancy. “And today, due to the advanced technology, we can have minimally invasive surgeries,” said Dr Shafalika.

According to Dr Tomar, in most cases, the tumour does not harm the baby. “While most of the time, the tumour shrinks during pregnancy; on some occasions, fibroids grow as soon as the baby grows, which leads to premature delivery,” said Dr Tomar.