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Pregnancy After Breast Cancer

One Woman's Experience

By Kate Riener Boyd

I took a positive home pregnancy test in February. After confirming the pregnancy with my OB/GYN, I canceled my mammogram and saw my oncologist. She heartily congratulated me, checked my breasts and encouraged me to keep up a regular self-check routine since X-rays would be forbidden. Since I had found the cancer myself, I knew I would be able to handle the monthly procedure, swollen breasts or not.

I got rather cocky, actually, about all I could handle, considering what I had already been through. While I recognize that labor cannot be compared to just any old cramp, I have a new understanding of my pain threshold after chemotherapy. And although I watched my sister-in-law vomit throughout her second pregnancy, I believed no morning sickness would equal the chemo sickness I experienced, plus I had an arsenal ready to combat it. I knew that lime Popsicles were best, that a fistful of Honeycomb cereal can settle an empty stomach and that Pep-o-Mint LifeSavers are from heaven. I was so confident I actually used the phrase "Bring it on," which is exactly what happened.

I had eight weeks of all-day, no-vomiting "progesterone poisoning" sickness. To add insult to injury, the only thing that still worked was LifeSavers. I was humbled.

With fertility and morning sickness no longer in question, I have a few worries left. The most constantmay be recurrence. How can I have a baby when cancer could eventually leave my child without a mother? Perhaps because this fear is a lifelong one for me, I am somehow matter-of-fact about it. All I can do is check myself and see my doctors regularly. There is no guarantee the cancer won't return. I have to accept the possibility; it can't be a dark cloud over my head, or I'd never get out of bed. I try to forget about it until the next time I'm getting my breast flattened between mammogram plates. There are other, more practical matters to ponder.

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