As a mom, it’s often easy to forget to think about ourselves. With the hustle and bustle of daily life, little things can sneak past us; or sneak up on us.
We may chalk up feeling lousy to having spent yet another night up with the baby, or our fatigue to having been at a school event every night last week.
And when you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the feelings of fatigue and overall unwellness are amplified. Any ailment is usually just part of the awesome roller coaster ride of hormones you have to deal with.
So when one young mom found a lump in her breast, she thought it was probably just part of post-partum motherhood.
Unfortunately, she found out it was so much more.
Today reports:
“When she found a lump in her breast in October 2016, Maria Crider, then 27, assumed at first that it must be a clogged milk duct. After all, her second baby, Liam, was only 9 months old and still breastfeeding at the time. She tried everything she knew to resolve it, but when she couldn’t, Crider decided to make an appointment with her primary care doctor near her home in Orlando, Florida.”
The doctor had not thought much of the lump either. Afterall, there are so many things a lump could mean in the breast, most of which are not serious.
Crider did suspect it may have been a sign of pregnancy. And it certainly was a surprise to learn she indeed was pregnant with their third child.
However, Crider also had history of breast cancer in her family. So with the urging of her midwife, she decided to have an ultrasound on her breast.
The ultrasound turned up some abnormalities, which led to a biopsy. The biopsy held some disheartening news; it was breast cancer.
Crider said, “Two days after the biopsy, I got a call from the midwife to come in and discuss the findings,” Today reported. “At that point, I already knew. I felt it in my gut.”
The cancer was more advanced than she had thought. It was “stage III triple negative breast cancer,” Crider told Today. All this while she was late in her first trimester.
At the advice of her doctors, Crider soon began cancer treatment, consisting of radiation and chemotherapy.
The uncertainty of pregnancy alone can be scary. The thought of having to deal with a life-altering diagnosis while juggling your other roles seems almost unbearable.
Thankfully, Crider had a strong support system to see her through those tough times.
Today reports on how she triumphed through the darkness:
“My advice for anyone going through this is build your support system: spouse, family, friends. I love my tribe!”
Crider was also worried about the well being of her child during each treatment and would continuously ask her doctors if they were sure her baby was okay.
Obviously one would think that taking such intense medications as required for traditional cancer treatments would be too much for a baby.
But contrary to popular belief, it is safe to begin cancer treatment in the second and third trimester of pregnancy.
Cancer.net reports:
“The drugs usually stop the ability of cancer cells to grow and divide. There is a risk of harm to the fetus if chemotherapy is given in the first 3 months of pregnancy. This is when the fetus’s organs are still growing. Chemotherapy during the first trimester carries risk of birth defects or pregnancy loss.”
Research has even shown that children remain unaffected throughout the early years of childhood.
LA Times reports:
“In their first few years of life, these children scored just as well on tests of cognitive development and cardiac function as similar children whose mothers were cancer-free, according to a report published in Thursday’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. However, the children of cancer patients were more likely to be born prematurely.”
Crider went on to deliver a healthy baby boy named Logan.
Today reports:
“Logan is now 7 months old and learning to crawl and trying to keep up with his big brothers, Tristan, 5, and Liam, 2. Crider is finally done with her chemo treatments and radiation.”Things are good. Crazy, but good,” she said. “It’s been a long road.””
Having a good support system when you are going through a trying time is crucial, and Crider’s decision to have the lump in her breast checked out probably saved her life.
Be on top of your preventative care and do self-exams regularly. If you are concerned about a lump, it’s always best to get it checked out, just to be safe.
Crider’s story is an amazing one, where her journey as a cancer patient to the mother of a healthy baby boy shows the amazing strength mothers have.
Please let us know what you think of her journey, or of your own courageous journey.