{"id":27320,"date":"2021-08-02T17:45:07","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T17:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmshub.wpengine.com\/?p=351445"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:14:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:14:33","slug":"pregnant-mom-had-to-fight-for-a-diagnosis-after-finding-a-lump-while-breastfeeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/pregnant-mom-had-to-fight-for-a-diagnosis-after-finding-a-lump-while-breastfeeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Pregnant Mom Had to Fight for a Diagnosis After Finding a Lump While Breastfeeding"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Yvonne Gonzales<\/a> has always wanted a family. After a miscarriage in her twenties, she feared the dream would never come true until just a few years ago, when she got pregnant at age 33. Now she has three beautiful children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been wanting to be a mother for the longest time and never thought that I could have any,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, however, her fears were not realized. Yvonne gave birth to a healthy baby girl, followed by a second daughter, and then she got pregnant with her third, a son. However, while she was pregnant with her third child and still nursing her second, she discovered a painful lump in one of her breasts.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: KXAN News<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cI was in tune with my body, and I kept telling my doctors, \u2018Something\u2019s wrong. It\u2019s not normal,’\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yvonne\u2019s doctors were at first reluctant to give her a mammogram due to her age and her pregnancy and started her with an ultrasound<\/a> instead. The results came back clear, but she knew something still wasn\u2019t right. So she persisted, returning to her doctor, who sent her for a mammogram.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: KXAN News<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Often, doctors are concerned about the radiation from a mammogram impacting a woman\u2019s unborn child or her breastmilk, since this topic is not well studied. However, the American College of Radiology says the level of radiation in a mammogram is low enough to be safe for pregnant and lactating women.<\/span><\/p>\n

Breast cancer currently impacts only one in 3,000 pregnant women, but it\u2019s expected to hit harder in that demographic in future years as women delay pregnancy until later in life. It\u2019s important to get a mammogram if you think you need one, regardless of whether you\u2019re pregnant or lactating or considered low risk. Waiting the length of a pregnancy to get checked could mean getting diagnosed with a later-stage cancer and having a worse prognosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Yvonne\u2019s mammogram, Dr. Kolluri and Dr. Hossain<\/a> at the Austin Cancer Center reviewed her results and diagnosed her with breast cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: KXAN News<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThank God that Yvonne didn\u2019t let it go, and she went and got it checked out, because then the mammogram showed 14 1\/2 centimeters of calcification \u2014 spanning the entirety of her breast,\u201d Dr. Kolluri says. \u201cThat\u2019s a very large area of calcifications. And all of that was cancer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Hossain adds that \u201ca second evaluation was honestly the game-changer\u201d in preventing Gonzales\u2019s mass from developing into a more invasive and less curable cancer. Yvonne really did catch it right at the nick of time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: KXAN News<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cancer diagnosis was a terrifying one for Yvonne, who couldn\u2019t bear the thought of possibly having to leave the little family she\u2019d waited so long to get.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI automatically thought of dying. That I didn\u2019t \u2014 I don\u2019t \u2014 want to die,\u201d she says. \u201cI thought of my children, of me finally becoming a mother. Having not just one but three. To not be here for them would be the hardest, hardest thing ever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yvonne underwent a mastectomy<\/a>, performed by Dr. Kolluri, while still pregnant with her son. A few months later, she gave birth to her healthy baby boy, Mason. Afterward, she began radiation treatments on her chest wall, which she could thankfully safely do while breastfeeding her son from her healthy breast. She didn\u2019t have to stop breastfeeding until she went on medications to keep the cancer from recurring.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: KXAN News<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yvonne is now encouraging other women to be their own advocates when they suspect something is wrong with their bodies. If she hadn\u2019t continued going back to her doctor for more answers, she would likely not have caught her cancer before it had spread further, leaving her with a much worse prognosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know your body better than any physician knows your body,\u201d Dr. Hossain says<\/a>. \u201cUnderstand your concerns and be an advocate for yourself. At the end of the day, if we do a workup and everything is negative, you\u2019re reassured that you were empowered and you took control of your body \u2014 and that you feel good about your negative results.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: KXAN News<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yvonne also feels strongly about sharing her survival story with her children. She\u2019s already educating her eldest daughter about what happened and how important it is to be an advocate for yourself and your own body.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI explained to her, \u2018If the doctor hadn\u2019t removed my breast, then I would no longer be here,’\u201d she says. \u201cShe\u2019s smart\u2026so, she\u2019ll ask from time to time. She\u2019ll put her arms around me, and she\u2019ll tell me she loves me. That\u2019s just the best feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations on your new little family member and on catching your cancer before it got worse, Yvonne! We wish you all the best!<\/span><\/p>\n

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