Koreen

In December 2020 I was 30 weeks pregnant with my second child. Christmas Day I was experiencing a little bit of pain in my left breast, but being pregnant I didn’t think too much about it (I feel this is such a similar story to so many out there). I went into my doctor for my checkup on baby and mentioned my pain. She subscribed me a medication for mastitis. Nothing happened so she brought me back in. She sat me down and told me how the medication should have worked, she got a second opinion and they both agreed I needed to go in for a biopsy to see if it was cancer. 2 days later I was on my way to get my breast biopsied.

I got the phone call on a Monday night. The surgeon who performed the biopsy was so sad to be calling me, but he said I needed to take action immediately because “you have cancer and it’s very aggressive.”

Before I knew it I was meeting with my OB to figure out a way to get my baby here in the healthiest way, and then an appointment with my new best friend – my oncologist ! At 36 weeks pregnant I had a beautiful healthy baby boy and 1 week later I had my port inserted and started chemo.

While it’s been a wild year and everything happened so fast I do NOT let cancer define who I am. I do not and WILL NOT let cancer defeat me. My faith is stronger than anything else and my mindset is in the place it should be. I’m positive, very upbeat and make light of the situation. Don’t get me wrong I have my days, but maintaining that positivity and trusting in the Lord makes everyday that much easier.

I’m 32 years old, a fitness coach – so a very healthy human, negative for all genetic testing with no family history. Never in my life would I have expected for this to happen. There are many days where I’m still in disbelief that this is happening. But it is. It’s my journey and I will take this road I’m supposed to be on.