A Lincoln woman who is seven months pregnant has been diagnosed with advanced cancer. Her treatment can't start until the baby is born.

“She's been very active the last couple of days like she knows she's getting ready to come out,” says 26-year-old Alisha Steen, who was expecting a baby, not a stroke, but that stroke may have saved both lives.

“I would say it definitely saved both of our lives by letting us know there's something going on there.” A tumor caused the stroke, but before Alisha can receive experimental treatment for cancer, she has to give birth to daughter Matilin through C-section.

“We have a baby that's going to be healthy, she's going to have some time to spend with her baby, she's got a terrible diagnosis, but everything we can be doing we're doing,” says Dr. Sean Kenney, a high-risk birth specialist at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln.

Seven weeks premature, Matilin Beth Steen will join the family on Monday. Despite the cancer prognosis, Alisha is in a strenuous program of physical therapy, determined to be strong once her daughter is born.

She has complications from the stroke to overcome with the physical therapy. Alisha's family, including the baby inside her, are the driving force. “That's definitely what's got me motivated to continue on and try as hard as I can to fight as hard as I can for my kids and husband.”

Family members are providing Alisha with team support. “We think she's going to beat it with her outlook and everything,” says grandmother Murl Gottula.

Regaining her balance from the stroke, giving birth, then starting intensive cancer treatment are not what a 26-year-old would ever expect. “It's definitely a battle and I plan on winning.”

Alisha is a Nebraska Department of Agriculture employee so she has insurance, but there are expected to be costs not covered, so a fund has been set up in her name at U.S. Bank.