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Breast cancer treatment possible while pregnant
Lisa Rice calls her 21-month-old daughter Alexis, "a ball of fire." And as Alexis toddles around their Woodbury home, she does have a lot to say, even if you can't understand most of it yet. It's the wonderful sort of baby babble Rice wasn't sure she'd ever hear again. Her older son, Kincaid was her only child in 2004 when the 38-year-old found a lump in her breast. Her doctor called her in late November to tell her it was cancer. Rice says she immediately, "?turned around, called my husband on the phone and just screamed." Her husband, Doug Auld, says, "All I heard was, 'Come home! Come home! It's cancer, please come home!'" The diagnosis was hard enough on Rice and Auld, but then things got even more complicated when two weeks later Rice found out she was pregnant. Rice says, "Panic struck all over again. I'm supposed to have surgery. I have breast cancer. I can't be pregnant too." Rice's OB/GYN told her she might have to terminate her pregnancy. Auld says it was tough because, "We knew that there was a little girl and there was a possibility of a new life." But then they saw an oncologist, Dr. Charles Loprinzi, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Rice says, "without hesitation, he says we can do it, 'We can save you, we will save your child and everybody will be fine.'" Dr. Loprinzi says while giving chemotherapy to a pregnant mother in the first trimester can be toxic to the baby, he says it can be given in the second and third trimester. For 16 weeks, Rice went through chemotherapy, losing her hair, celebrating her son's birthday, all while pregnant with Alexis. Then in June 2005, Alexis was born. Rice says with a smile, "It was jubilation. It was celebration in the hospital that my daughter had made it through chemotherapy and there was nothing wrong. She had ten fingers. She had ten toes. She was perfect." Auld says of his daughter, "She's very precious. We're glad to have her here." Rice and Auld say many people don't believe a story like theirs is possible. Alexis? You may not understand her, but she'll tell you otherwise. Loprinzi wouldn't give Rice radiation until after she gave birth to Alexis. Now she's a breast cancer survivor. If you would like more information about the Twin Cities Race for the Cure, click here.
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