Ohio woman battles breast cancer while pregnant

CLEVELAND, Oh. – Life has new that means today for Stephanie Rifici-Thorkelson.

The 35-year-old was identified with triple-negative breast most cancers in 2020 after discovering a lump on her left breast whereas breastfeeding her son Luka.

“It was about 13 months into breastfeeding I seen this lump and it didn’t go away,” Rifici-Thorkelson mentioned.

Proper earlier than she bought the information, she additionally came upon she was pregnant along with her second youngster.

“It was similar to wow as a result of we had been attempting to get pregnant after which all this information inside per week’s time,” she recalled.

Rifici-Thorkelson mentioned she was decided to maintain her child as she underwent remedy, which her husband Evan totally supported, in order that they teamed up with docs at Cleveland Clinic to plan a plan.

“Triple-negative breast most cancers is without doubt one of the extra aggressive breast cancers on the market and so the remedy for that, along with surgical procedure, can be chemotherapy,” mentioned Stephanie Valente, DO, Director Western Area Breast and Fairview Hospital Breast Packages for Cleveland Clinic.

To assist defend Rifici-Thorkelson’s child, docs needed to time every part good, together with when she’d get surgical procedure and chemotherapy. Fortuitously, every part went properly.

“They monitored her and the newborn throughout surgical procedure,” Valente mentioned. “They monitored carefully throughout chemotherapy. She was capable of have a wholesome supply after which obtained radiation afterwards.”

Rifici-Thorkelson is now in remission and again to work as a flight attendant. And her child boy Leo is getting larger by the day.

“We’re simply so completely satisfied, we’re so blessed,” she mentioned with a smile.

In accordance with analysis, breast most cancers is the commonest most cancers in pregnant and postpartum ladies and happens in about one in each 3,000 pregnant ladies.

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