Pregnant Mom Told She Had Clogged Duct. Then Learns It's Stage 4 Cancer and Given Months to Live (Exclusive)

Lindsey Parr Gritton was just weeks away from welcoming her second baby when she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer

• Lindsey Parr Gritton was 36 weeks pregnant when she went to the OBGYN with concern about a burning lump in her breast

• A week later, she found out it was stage 4 breast cancer and was given six months to live

• Gritton was induced early so she could start her chemotherapy as soon as possible, beginning her lengthy treatment plan just one week after birth
  

Lindsey Parr Gritton was just weeks away from welcoming a new bundle of joy when she received the devastating news that her family's future might never be the same.

In April 2022, the Georgia mom was 36 weeks pregnant with her second baby when she visited her OBGYN with a "lump that was burning in my breast," she tells PEOPLE.

"I went there and she thought it was a clogged duct or like mastitis of some sort," she recalls. "They didn't suspect anything."

By her own suggestion, Gritton asked to get an ultrasound, noting she doesn't think she'd be alive today if she didn't advocate for herself. "I literally saved my own life just by asking for that," she says.

A few days later, Gritton had her ultrasound and received a call that day with news that the lump was "highly suspected of cancer."

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Related: Mom Noticed Her Toddler Was Acting Strange. Days Later, She Found Out It Was Stage 4 Cancer (Exclusive)

"I was really scared," Gritton recalls. "It was really an emotional time for me because I was pregnant and expecting my second daughter and I had had a miscarriage before her, so this was a big deal. I was expecting my rainbow baby."

Shortly after, Gritton had the lump biopsied and received word that she had "a really aggressive type of breast cancer," though at the time they weren't aware if it had spread. "We just knew that it was super aggressive, and I had two breast tumors and lots of lymph nodes in my armpit."

"Everyone was just devastated and couldn't believe it, because we don't have any history of breast cancer in my family on either side. My mom or my dad's side, no cancer at all, really," she says. "It was a shock."

The following week, Gritton was induced early at 37 weeks "just to get her out so I could start treatment as soon as possible."

Gritton's experience when welcoming daughter Savannah Grace also caused alarm.

"I got induced and I started bleeding a lot. I was passing big blood clots, and they were really worried because there was just a ton of blood," she tells PEOPLE. "They kept putting towels under me because I was losing so much blood and they didn't know if they were going to have to do an emergency C-section or not."

"I told them I didn't want to do a C-section because it would postpone my chemo for my treatment, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted a quick recovery so I could just start chemo as soon as possible," she says. "Thankfully we were able to get the baby out, but her heart rate kept dropping and it was just a really scary time. After I gave birth, the bleeding miraculously stopped."

Just one week after welcoming her daughter, Gritton, who also shares daughter Saylor, 3, with husband Spencer, started her chemotherapy treatments.

"It was completely devastating," she says.

"I had the PET scan immediately after giving birth and they had told me I had six months to live," she shares, noting that the cancer had spread and she had over a dozen tumors in her liver. "It was like the day after, and it was just all bad news."

Gritton says she went every three weeks to the hospital for her infusions, where she had to sit for three hours to get three medications, including chemo and immunotherapy drugs.

"It was really, really hard," she says of the treatments and being away from her daughters. "Thankfully I had lots of help. My husband works from home so he was able to help a lot and then [we had] my parents and his parents."

During her six months of treatment, Gritton says she was still able to spend time with her family and felt she "enjoyed every moment even more because I thought I was with limited time."

"I was taking in every second, trying to soak up everything," she remembers. "I made a scrapbook, I wrote letters to my kids, I made videos, everything. I was trying to do everything I could."

Halfway through Gritton's treatment plan, the mom of two had a scan that showed her tumors were shrinking.

"We knew that was really good. We just didn't know how long this treatment was going to work for," she explains. "And then at the end of chemo, we weren't expecting it, but everything was gone. My scan showed nothing was there."

"We were so happy after we found out there was no cancer in my body. We couldn't, honestly, no one could believe it. It was really crazy and surreal."

"After that, I went and had a lumpectomy, so they removed where the tumor originally was, and they took out a bunch of lymph nodes," she continues. "And then that got sent to pathology to see if there were any remaining cancer cells in there that we could see on the scan. And that came back with nothing there."

"My doctor is still completely shocked that I'm still in remission," adds Gritton, who says she still gets immunotherapy and will continue to go back for scans every six months. "It's just a miracle."

Now a year and a half after her initial diagnosis, Gritton says she's feeling great, "even better than I did before all this happened."

The mom of two tells PEOPLE she's trying to "live in the moment and not the past" as she celebrates important milestones lately alongside her family, including her 30th birthday and daughter Savannah's first.

"It's really surreal because I just didn't think I'd be here. So every moment is just incredible," she shares.

As she reflects on her experience, Gritton explains why she felt it was important to document her story online and continue sharing updates today.

"I wanted to share my story and bring awareness. Everyone thinks breast cancer happens after the age of 40. You don't really think about it happening in your 20s," she says.

"It's crazy, because I did all these videos when I was first diagnosed, and I never posted them. I remember I posted the first video on TikTok kind of just for my kids to have the video to look back on. I didn't expect it to blow up that much," she continues. "I couldn't believe it."

She also says she's been able to connect with other people through social media who shared similar experiences.

"I actually have two really good friends that had the same type of cancer in me who are also in remission. We've connected and we talk through video chats," she says. "It's been awesome."

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