Allison's Story from California

In January 2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 35 years old and 28 weeks pregnant. I underwent a mastectomy at the 34th week of my pregnancy, which was a risk since I could have gone into labor during the surgery.

The doctors told me when I came out of surgery that the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes, but one week later at my follow up visit, they gave me the results of my final pathology report, which said that the cancer had reached one lymph node, and that I needed to undergo chemotherapy.

By waiting six weeks from my diagnosis until the 34th week, when the baby was considered 100% viable, the cancer had the chance to spread into my lymph nodes and therefore become life-threatening.

It turned out that I had the most aggressive type of breast cancer - her2/neu positive. My tumor was over four cm in diameter, and had grown from not being palpable at all to the size of a golf ball in only about seven weeks. The tumor was also progesterone positive, meaning that the pregnancy had actually fueled its growth.

I needed to have my baby three weeks later, delivered by c-section. Luckily he was born healthy and we had a month to rest before I started chemo. I underwent eight rounds of chemo in over five months. They put me on the most intense regimen possible. I was receiving "dose dense" treatment every two weeks. I chose to have a portacath implanted in my chest so I could receive the chemo without having an IV inserted each time.

All of my hair fell out, including my eyebrows and eyelashes, and I was very tired. I threw up after the treatments, despite the anti-nausea medication. Later, I developed numbness in my fingers and toes and I was puffy and bloated from the drugs, so they changed the frequency of the treatments from every two weeks to every three weeks. I was always the youngest person in the treatment room, by far. And of course, I had to take care of the newborn baby and my other 2 1/2 year-old son during all of this. Friends and family rallied around, but it was still an incredibly trying time.

I finished the most difficult part of my treatments in August 2006, but continued to receive chemo (with no side effects) until July 2007. My hair has grown back, I've lost the chemo weight and I feel very well. I tried to have as much fun as possible during the whole thing by using different wigs: a brunette, a blonde and even a pink one! Now, you would never know I was a cancer patient because I look and feel perfectly normal. We had a party in May 2007 to celebrate my recovery and to thank everyone for their support. And my baby, Ethan, is now 17 months old and doing fantastic!

I recently completed another set of scans and the doctor found questionable spots on my liver and lung. She didn't seem too concerned, but I'm waiting for follow up tests. Of course there is always the possibility of the cancer returning, and this news makes it seem more real, but I am constantly reminded that life is by no means guaranteed - cancer or no cancer. I take it one day at a time and live life to the fullest!

Hollywood, California