JOSH LUCAS' WIFE BATTLING CERVICAL CANCER
Actor JOSH LUCAS' new bride has revealed she is battling cervical cancer.
Jessica Henriquez risked her health and life to carry the Sweet Home Alabama star's son Noah to full term in June (12) after doctors advised her to consider undergoing a hysterectomy - and now she faces a full-on cancer battle after learning the disease has advanced from stage 1A to stage 1B.
Henriquez tells the Huffington Post she kept the news to herself until she fell for Lucas and began a whirlwind romance last year (11) that turned into marriage in March (12) - and while she was mulling over her options she fell pregnant.
She says, "I hadn't thought about children. It wasn't my dream since I was a little girl to have a family, but when a doctor looks you in the eyes and takes that option off the table, it immediately sets something off in you - this motherhood gene."
Henriquez chose to continue with the pregnancy against doctors' advice, adding, "I think that things happen in life that you have to pay attention to."
Little Noah was born in June (12) and now the proud mum is convinced she made the right decision: "I don't for a second regret anything... If the cancer has progressed because I did nothing for a year to contain it or treat it, I don't feel any guilt, and I don't feel like it was a bad decision.
"Every morning that I wake up with Josh and Noah, I'm even more assured that it was the right decision for me."
Henriquez will continue treatment.