(Cleveland Clinic) - Pregnant and battling breast cancer. A woman from Ohio shares the emotional journey she endured as she fought for her life – and her baby’s – all while undergoing treatment.
Life has new meaning these days for Stephanie Rifici-Thorkelson. The 35-year-old was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2020 after discovering a lump on her left breast while breastfeeding her son Luka.
“It was about 13 months into breastfeeding I noticed this lump and it didn’t go away,” stated Stephanie Rifici-Thorkelson.
Right before she got the news, she also found out she was pregnant with her second child.
“It was just like wow because we had been trying to get pregnant and then all this news within a week’s time,” said Rifici-Thorkelson.
Stephanie says she was determined to keep her baby as she underwent treatment – which her husband Evan fully supported – so they teamed up with doctors at Cleveland Clinic to devise a plan.
“Triple negative breast cancer is one of the more aggressive breast cancers out there and so the treatment for that, in addition to surgery, is also chemotherapy,” explained Dr. Stephanie Valente, Cleveland Clinic.
To help protect Stephanie's baby, they had to time everything just right – including when she’d get surgery and chemotherapy. Fortunately, everything went well.
“They monitored her and the baby during surgery. They monitored closely during chemotherapy. She was able to have a healthy delivery and then received radiation afterwards,” added Dr. Valente.
Stephanie is now in remission and back to work as a flight attendant. And her baby boy Leo is getting bigger by the day.
“We’re just so happy, we’re so blessed,” said Rifici-Thorkelson.
According to research, breast cancer is the most common cancer in pregnant and postpartum women and occurs in about one in three-thousand pregnant women.
