She had chemotherapy while pregnant: A 37-year-old mother's fight against breast cancer
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She had chemotherapy while pregnant: A 37-year-one-time mother's fight confronting chest cancer
1 year after finding out she had an aggressive form of chest cancer, Nooridah Bte Mohd Noor shares her story with CNA Women, from the daze diagnosis to finding out she was meaning but before her chemotherapy started and her babe'southward premature birth.
When Nooridah, 37, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer on Oct 6 last year, she was already three weeks meaning. (Photo: Beloved past Wander)
When Nooridah Mohd Noor found out that she had breast cancer in Oct last yr, she bankrupt downwards at the corner of the hospital.
Through her daze, she barely heard her doc say she had second stage triple negative breast cancer – an ambitious type.
"When you hear about cancer, it depends on the phase you are at," said the 37-year-old administrative managing director, who goes by Idah.
"And if you are at the after stages, sometimes you may not exist reacting as well to treatments. At that place are so many uncertainties."
My biggest fright was if my md were to tell me 'you only take one month to live'.
Recalling that "very, very dark period" of her life, she told CNA Women that she also wasn't sure to what extent the cancer had affected her other organs.
It didn't help that her son Aidan was but two years old then.
"My biggest fearfulness was if my doctor were to tell me 'you only take ane month to alive' or something like that," said Idah.
Aroused-LOOKING Breast LUMPS
Aidan was born in August 2022 and like many new mums, Idah experienced breastfeeding issues like blocked milk ducts and chest engorgement every few days.
She recalled developing mastitis in Oct that twelvemonth. This breast inflammation is common among breastfeeding women.
To resolve the issues, she went for massages and took lecithin, a food said to help lactating mums avoid blocked ducts.
A month afterward, after she had made the decision to terminate breastfeeding, Idah noticed ii "angry-looking" lumps protruding from each breast. The lump on the left breast was the size of a 50-cent coin, "significantly larger" than the ane on the right breast.
In December, she went to encounter a general practitioner, who referred her to a breast surgeon.
DEALING WITH Breast ABSCESS
A breast ultrasound revealed that she had developed breast abscess, pus-filled lumps that were causing her hurting and discomfort.
Her md scheduled a fine-needle aspiration biopsy on both breasts in December to drain the pus.
The American Cancer Society describes it as a procedure where a doctor uses a thin needle fastened to a syringe to withdraw a small amount of tissue or fluid from a suspicious area. It takes simply xv minutes.
Later the extraction, Idah's biopsy sample was sent to the lab to determine the type of infection she had and the type of antibiotics needed to treat information technology.
When the lab results were out 2 weeks afterward, Idah was called dorsum for a 2nd extraction to drain the remaining pus and prescribed antibiotics to clear up the infection.
The doctor told her that the lump would "resolve on its own" subsequently she had completed the medication.
Because it was simply a slight lump, I didn't remember much about it.
Idah said that while the lump on the correct breast disappeared, the one on the left was reduced to the size of a xx-cent coin – it did non subside completely.
Since the lump didn't grow bigger and no longer looked carmine, she wasn't concerned. Her dr. had likewise advised that things should exist fine if the lump didn't go larger.
Everything seemed normal, and she didn't visit the chest surgeon again.
PINS AND NEEDLES AT THE LUMP
Information technology wasn't until two years afterward in June 2020, when Aidan was nigh 2 years old, that she felt "pins and needles" where the lump on her left breast was located. She would experience the awareness about five to vi times a twenty-four hours.
"Because it was only a slight lump, I didn't call back much most information technology," Idah said.
Although she recounted having occasional "slight discomfort", she didn't think it was painful.
She would have ignored the sensations if not for a conversation with her mum that calendar month, where she casually mentioned it. Idah's mother persuaded her to get her breasts checked.
I don't have a family history of cancer, and so that would be the concluding thing on my mind.
And so in mid-September, Idah got a referral from a polyclinic for an ultrasound at a hospital, followed past a consultation with a breast surgeon.
"The breast surgeon said that (the lump) looked very suspicious and irregular, so she sent me for a biopsy."
2 weeks later, on Oct half dozen, Idah went with her husband to talk over the biopsy results.
"They told me information technology's triple negative breast cancer, and explained that it's an aggressive form of chest cancer," said Idah.
"In one case I heard the words breast cancer, I totally shut downwards and couldn't hear what she had to say after."
"Furthermore, I don't take a family history of cancer, so that would be the terminal affair on my listen. I wouldn't fifty-fifty exist thinking about it," Idah recounted.
"Everything was going so fast, and as it was an aggressive form (of breast cancer), my doctors wanted me to start treatment every bit shortly as possible," she added.
Idah'south dr. also mentioned that it wasn't the previous abscess which turned cancerous – as cancer is " totally a unlike thing " .
"Nosotros went out of the (doctor'south) room, and that's when I broke downward."
EGG-FREEZING AND FINDING HERSELF Pregnant
Things moved apace. In that same week, Idah underwent a series of tests, including a heart scan and mammogram, and her first chemotherapy session was planned for the following week.
Idah besides opted for egg-freezing, which, while banned in Singapore, is offered to women of reproductive historic period who are undergoing cancer treatment, to preserve their fertility.
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy piece of work by killing the cancer cells in the body that are dividing apace, affecting hormones needed for pregnancy and, at times causing a woman to have early menopause, said American Cancer Society on its website.
The egg-freezing process involves retrieving the eggs from the ovaries and freezing them. The retrieved eggs can then exist stored, warmed and fertilised with sperm when needed .
Idah, who had been trying to conceive over again, agreed immediately.
And so a week after the breast cancer diagnosis, she met with a gynaecologist at Sengkang Full general Hospital who would see her through the egg retrieval procedure.
This included administering at-home injections for two weeks to quicken the process of turning the egg follicles into mature eggs, after which, the eggs would be retrieved through a one-half-solar day surgical procedure.
To fix for egg-freezing, Idah as well had to take various blood tests to determine the size and quality of eggs needed for the procedure.
"(My gynaecologist) told me that my hormone levels were high, but I didn't remember much about it," she said.
Idah had just started her injections for three days when she received a call from her gynaecologist.
"You have to stop the medications now, considering you tested positive for pregnancy," she heard her say. Idah was four weeks significant.
"When I heard the news, I started crying," said Idah.
But it wasn't from the joy of getting pregnant, merely her concerns about the scans she "should not exist doing" while pregnant, including the mammogram and middle scans she did the week before.
"I was very worried about what (the scans) were doing to the foetus," recounted Idah. "I was supposed to start cancer handling, and now I am pregnant, so what's going to happen? "
Whether the baby survives or not, I volition still try to give birth and give my child a run a risk to alive in this earth.
Idah's was a unique and unexpected case for her doctors, and they wanted to monitor her closely.
"I experience that I am gifted with such a unique situation, and then whether the baby survives or non, I will still attempt to give nascence and give my child a chance to live in this globe ," said Idah.
Her surgeon and oncologist later told her that she should not worry virtually her previous exposure to the harmful radiation from the scans, equally they had amounted to "nearly negligible".
"(My breast surgeon) was worried that if anything happened to the foetus forth the manner, I would be even more than devastated and depressed," said Idah.
CHEMOTHERAPY WHILE PREGNANT
Idah started chemotherapy in December, two months later her diagnosis. She was then in her 2nd trimester, which is deemed a safe menstruum for pregnant mums to undergo cancer handling.
Calling it a blessing in disguise, Idah said she was thankful that the egg-freezing process gave her the "extra time" to find out that she was meaning.
I was supposed to showtime cancer treatment, and now I am meaning, so what's going to happen?
"If I didn't go for the egg-freezing process, I'd take started on chemotherapy the very adjacent week (while not knowing I was significant)."
However, the one-month filibuster in showtime treatment saw the breast lump growing from 3cm to 4cm.
That bated, all seemed to be going according to plan.
Idah'due south chemotherapy would take half-dozen months, later which, she would give birth in June this year. Radiation therapy would begin subsequently the baby was born, also every bit breast surgery.
Idah'south oncologist had sent her for a genetics exam earlier to find out if she carried the BRCA1 (Chest CAncer cistron one) and BRCA2 . The results would determine if she needed a lumpectomy (to remove the lump) or mastectomy (which removes the entire chest).
"There was a possibility of a mastectomy depending if I carried the BRCA genes. Merely the results came back negative, and then I qualified for a lumpectomy," Idah explained. That also meant that she would get to conserve most of her breast tissue.
Her body was responding well to chemotherapy equally well. In the three months since she had started treatment, the 4cm lump had reduced significantly. By April, two months before she was due to give birth, she could no longer feel it.
A PREMATURE Nativity
But while her breast cancer treatment was going well, her pregnancy took a worrying plow.
Idah delivered babe Noah prematurely in mid April, at xxx weeks, due to placenta abruption. The condition occurs when the placenta separates itself too early on from the uterus, causing haemorrhage and danger to the foetus.
Even then, Idah said dealing with breast cancer is a "rollercoaster" of emotions. While some days are easy, she likewise lives with the worry that the cancer will come up back.
"When you lot hear stories nearly cancer survivors, it'southward ever very positive, encouraging and inspirational. But behind those feelings, at that place are days that tin can become quite emotional."
It'south not always ups, there are downs besides, she added.
Coming to terms with the diagnosis, accepting it, moving forrad and dealing with each issue and treatment you lot take to undertake – all while keeping a positive outlook – is important, Idah said.
To do that, y'all need to discover the positive in the tiniest of things, such equally your family unit, husband or children.
In January this year, she reached out to the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF) in the hopes of finding other women who had gone through the aforementioned feel.
When she was about to undergo radiation therapy, she relied on BCF's Young Women'due south Support Group for information and tips that might aid her.
Idah recommends that women, especially younger ones, deport out daily breast self-examination – early detection would not only save lives simply their breasts besides.
That'southward also the reason why Idah chose to brand her Instagram account public. She's hoping to allow others know that they are non alone in their despair and that "at that place'southward always hope".
"A follower shared with me that she was significant and institute out that she had a suspicious lump," Idah shared.
Later on finding out that it was indeed chest cancer, she told Idah how thankful she was to take come beyond Idah's story. Information technology kept her going, and kept her assertive she would pull through.
"No matter how dark the place you are at is, or how lost you are, there'south always hope," said Idah.
CNA Women is a new section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern adult female. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with u.s.a., e-mail CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg .
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