Seventeen years ago, at the age of 25, my lifelong dream of becoming a mother was about to become a reality! While enjoying what was to come, I realized a mass I had shown to my doctor 6 months prior had grown larger. Within 48 hours, I had a mammogram, saw a surgeon, had a biopsy, a full mastectomy, and was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
As devastating as that was, the worst moment of all came when the same doctor who told me that I couldn’t possibly have cancer, announced that I “couldn’t have cancer and have a baby”. He told me I needed to “eliminate it within the week” in order to save my life.
My world turned upside down. Looking deep inside myself and visiting with those people closest to me, I realized over the course of that week that – like my own mother – I was willing to do whatever it would take to save both myself and my daughter. So I set out to find answers and doctors willing to do things my way.