'Love is Blind' Star Reveals Shocking Cancer Diagnosis During Pregnancy

A little over six months after giving birth to her son, Love is Blind star Shaina Hurley shockingly revealed that she was diagnosed with cervical cancer while three months pregnant. She opened up about her battle in an exclusive interview with People.

According to Hurley, she had gotten a routine eight-week pap smear during her pregnancy. And, while initially the visit showed no symptoms, she got a call from the doctor later with a conflicting opinion. The results had come back as abnormal, and he requested she get a colposcopy.

A month later, she underwent the requested procedure. After this, the doctor immediately told her, "It's not looking good." Once the test was sent off to Northwestern University, it was confirmed the next day that she had Stage 2 cervical cancer.

"I felt the fear creeping in," Hurley recalls to People. "But I knew then and there," I can't let the enemy take over my mind. I can't go down that dark hole. I had to go into survival mode and tell God, 'I trust you.' I just prayed for the best, at the end of the day."

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The initial recommendation from doctors was for her to undergo a cold-knife conization. The procedure would involve removing a piece of tissue from the cervix. That would allow them to see both how far the cancer had spread, as well as allow them to get rid of as much as possible. 

"The problem is, I was pregnant," says Hurley. "[The] cervix is what holds pregnancy. I was at just around three months, and so I would most likely lose the baby. At that point, I just couldn't risk it."

As an alternative, it was recommended that she get laparoscopic surgery to ensure the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes. Despite confirming that was not the case, doctors still wanted Hurley to start chemotherapy. But, as 22 weeks pregnant and not showing symptoms, she denied the treatment, admitting after the fact, "I was a tough patient."

To that point, Hurley spoke out against multiple suggestions from doctors, including delivery her baby at 32 weeks, which would allow them to see if the cancer had spread. She pushed (quite literally) to get the delivery to 37 and a half weeks, where she gave birth to her son, Yiorgos David.

"I don't think my husband and I ever had stronger battles in our marriage," she says of her and husband Christos Lardakis. "He wanted the baby. But he would also say, 'Shaina, I don't want to lose my wife. I want you to be here to raise the baby.'"

She adds, "My faith and my strong will kicked in and there was no other way I was going to do it, We had a miscarriage before Yiorgos and so when I finally got a healthy pregnancy, nothing was going to stop me. But it did put a gray cloud over it."

Though Hurley got her "miracle baby," she was not out of the woods in the slightest when it came to her cancer. Though post-partum biopsies did not show any initial warning signs, she ended up having a mini-stroke (TIA) two weeks after giving birth. She recovered without major side effects and then, four weeks later, she finally underwent the cold knife conization. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful, as the cancer was still there two weeks following the procedure.

She underwent another cold knife conization six weeks later. And, two weeks after that, Hurley was given the relieving news that she is officially cancer-free as of June. While she has to go to the doctor every three months for check-ups, she already has more kids on the mind, even though she and Lardakis need to wait until at least a year after the surgery.

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Hurley admits during her interview that, during her cancer scare, she isolated for her own mental health. And while that meant sparse check-ins with fellow Love is Blind alums like Zanab Jaffrey, she was far from public about the battle she was fighting. In fact, she didn't even say the word "cancer" until her son was born.

"My strength came from my relationship with the Lord," she says. "On this earth, we do suffer. But it's how we suffer that's the real test. If it wasn't for my relationship with God, I don't think I would have had the strength."

Hurley is making up for lost time when it comes to going public about her fight with cancer. She and her husband are co-chairing The Hippocratic Cancer Research Foundation’s 10th Anniversary Wings To Cure Gala on November 2, where she'll be delivering remarks that speak upon the journey she's had over the past year.

"We'll be raising money for more cancer research," she explains. "It's a new journey for sure — a different life. And it made me stronger."

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