My breast cancer treatment<\/p>\n
Until my diagnosis, though, I hadn\u2019t even been aware it was possible to receive chemotherapy while pregnant. It turns out, it was safe for me because I was already in the third trimester and it doesn\u2019t pass through the placenta.<\/p>\n
I had three rounds of doxorubicin every three weeks until close to my due date. Then, I took a break, and my obstetrician induced labor a month early. My son was born totally healthy on July 25.<\/p>\n
After that, I had several more rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a lumpectomy<\/a> under Dr. Isabelle Bedrosian<\/a> and six weeks of radiation therapy<\/a> under Dr. George Perkins<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been cancer-free since 2007.<\/p>\n The time was right<\/p>\n I wanted to start volunteering at UT MD Anderson much sooner than this. But for a long time, my experience as a patient here still felt too raw.<\/p>\n I was so busy with my toddler before my second son was born that I didn\u2019t have time to process anything while it going on. Only afterward did it all kind of sink in. And then, I was like, \u201cWhat just happened?\u201d<\/p>\n But both of my boys are grown now. I\u2019ve had 20 years to work through all of those feelings. And, that volunteer gave me so much more than anyone else could have given me that day. So, it finally felt like the time was right.<\/p>\n Now, I do exactly what that other volunteer did for me back in 2006. Once a week, I chat with other women in Mays Clinic, letting them know what I went through and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It always brings a smile to their faces and gives them hope.<\/p>\n I am so happy to be able to do this. Better late than never.<\/p>\n