Diagnosis During pregnancy.. Sharing the experience

Not a lot of women have gone through the experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant. , That's why I feel that I should write about it, to help every woman passing through this challenging situation go through it knowing that she is not alone.

The first thing that comes to mind is always "Should I terminate my pregnancy?" This was the most challenging question for me and my husband and everyone around us was pushing us to terminate...

It felt overwhelming to be fighting for two, to compromise the imaging and staging to avoid harming the baby, and to go through surgery and chemo while pregnant with all the possible risks to the baby. People including MDs were saying things like, "Why risk having a congenitally abnormal child" ,"Why risk allowing the tumor to grow faster because of the pregnancy hormones" and even "Why bring a child in to this world if s/he is going to live without a mom"!!

Despite all these worries and fears I decided to go through with my pregnancy. First of all, because I trusted God. I knew that it wouldn't be too much for him to take care of both me and the baby at the same time. I also kept telling my family, who wanted me to terminate, that this pregnancy will give me the power to go on; It’s the light at the end of the tunnel. I told them that if I am going to lose my breast, my hair and my health with chemo, I want to come out of all this with a baby that brings hope to my life.

Making the decision was not easy but, it turned out that all the fears were just illusions. My cancer was negative for hormones receptors so the pregnancy wasn’t affecting it at all. No investigations or imaging were compromised as the tumor has free margins which makes any further imaging (CT,MRI) unnecessary. The chemo that I received during pregnancy (Adriamycin /cytoxin) were well studied in pregnancy and the kids born were followed up for 30 years and they did not have any problem. My oncologist suggested that I finish 4 cycles of (A/C) 3 weeks apart, then deliver prematurely to go on with the newer chemo (Taxal / Herceptin), that were not well studied in pregnancy. In the end, I did not even have to make that compromise (to have a premature baby). My oncologist twisted that plan a little and he added one more cycle of the safer drugs (Cytoxin without adriamycin because of its risk to my heart) which extended my pregnancy for another 3 weeks and I delivered at 35 weeks.

My baby girl was born and she brought happiness and joy to our lives. She was to totally healthy, breathed normally without assistant, did not need to stay in the NICU. She was discharged from the hospital with me. She is 4 months old as I am writing these words, very active and happy baby. She is cooing and laughing and bringing light and love to our home.

Having surgery and chemo while pregnant was a bit hard. That is because of the fatigue caused by both the pregnancy and the treatment, feeling her kicks inside me gave me hope throughout the way. I wasn’t worried about her or myself. I was sure God would take care of us both, and he did. Now, while I am taking chemo and radiation she still gives me the strength to fight cancer with a smile on my face.