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Giving birth to her triplet daughters nine weeks early during an emergency C-section, Evilin Juanes-Hamm found herself fighting through severe blood loss, emergency surgery and an unexpected cancer diagnosis.

The lifesaving, coordinated and multidisciplinary care Evilin and her daughters received at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center and INTEGRIS Health Children’s in the weeks and months that followed, navigated the family through unimaginable medical challenges.

Evilin will be recognized Friday, May 22 as the impactful INTEGRIS Health “Home Run for Life” series continues at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series celebrates Oklahomans who have overcome significant health challenges and provides a symbolic end to their adversity with a home run “lap” around the bases during an in-game ceremony.

The First Surprise

Evilin and her husband, Bill, found themselves in for a surprise during an initial trip to the hospital after they had been trying to have a baby for a while. “We just wanted one baby and then they did an ultrasound and said it’s three, so we were really shocked,” she says. “I don’t think it felt real to me for a while until they were here.”

The months leading up to the birth of her three daughters were rough on Evilin.

“The pregnancy was pretty rough, just a lot of sickness. I worked the whole time up until the very end. I started working from home and then I was on bedrest. They said ‘you need to go to the hospital’ because I had preeclampsia.”

Still nine weeks ahead of the expected delivery, the plan was to closely monitor Evilin’s condition. As days passed, Evilin’s blood pressure continued to rise, and the only solution was to deliver the triplets early. “I was really scared,” she admits. “Seeing the babies come out, I felt really nervous. I hear the crying, it’s so beautiful, and then the next thing I know, I wake up and it’s three days later.”

After Hoda Maarouf, M.D., successfully delivered the babies, Evilin had begun to suffer internal bleeding that led to several blood transfusions. She also spent a few days in a medically induced coma. Evilin’s husband, Bill, remembers fearing the worst. “It was terrifying,” he says. “There were moments I truly thought I might lose my wife. But every doctor and nurse showed up for us with such calm, compassion and support.” 

Another Shocking Discovery

During the C-section, doctors discovered a large mass, which they were able to remove and send for testing. Days later, pathology results confirmed Evilin had stage 2 dysgerminoma, a rare form of ovarian cancer.

“Then it became a whole process of taking care of the babies, recovering from the C-section and having to come to terms with the fact that I had cancer,” she remembers. “I had to have another surgery to remove the tumor and then do three rounds of chemotherapy.”

Four days after delivery, Evilin got the chance to meet her daughters Ani, Isabella and Xochitl. Each of them was born weighing two-to-three pounds. “I was actually really scared to see them because they were so tiny. I just couldn’t comprehend what a two-and three-pound baby looks like.”

Bill adds, “As she reached into the isolette and touched each of them, I knew she truly felt like a mom. In that moment, I felt immeasurably blessed that she had survived.”

Evilin credits her now eight-month-old daughters with helping save her life. “The type of cancer I have, they would have never found it until it was too late. Had I not had that C-section, my doctor wouldn’t have gone in, seen it and taken it out. That’s what saved my life.”

Evilin has since been declared cancer-free and her triplets are thriving, each developing their own individual personality. But strength is one thing they certainly all have in common. “I’m generally a very scared person so this made me think there’s nothing that can stop me,” she declares. “There’s no way I went through all of this and survived, just to be held back by anything - ever again. It’s something I know my daughters possess as well.”