Lynette Bisconti, Breast Cancer Survivor: "The surgeon came into the room and actually he stood in the doorway first and said, 'I don't know how to tell you this.' And I said 'It's cancer.' And he looked at me and he said 'And you have to terminate the pregnancy immediately.'"
Lynette Bisconti had been married for two years. Cleared by her doctor after she thought she felt a lump in her breast, now she had a baby in her belly and aggressive cancer in her breast. Her doctors didn't believe they could save both lives.
Lynette Bisconti: "I said to my family, 'Okay, I understand, I know I need to do this.' And then in private moments with my husband I would say, 'But I don't know how ... I just don't see myself doing it. I know logically I need to but I don't see myself going there.'"
Her heart said she wanted to keep her baby. She asked her doctors if she could put off treatment.
Lynette Bisconti: "You don't have the luxury of that time. You might not be here."
Eight doctors later Lynette found a team willing to talk and listen. Surgeons took the tumor out when she was 10 weeks pregnant. But the cancer had spread. She needed chemotherapy.
Lynette Bisconti: "Half of the research said the chemotherapy molecule does not pass the placental barrier so there's not a lot to worry about. The other half of the research said there are damaged placentas and it does cross the placental barrier and we know that in the first trimester there can be abnormalities that are created as results."
So she waited. Chemotherapy in the second trimester. A beautiful baby boy in the third.
Frankie Bisconti, Lynette's Son: "It's nice to say that my mom battled breast cancer and won. And I'm obviously happy she did."
Frankie is smart, loving and perfectly healthy physically and emotionally. No scars here from cancer.
Frankie Bisconti: "I'm proud of my mom, but really she's just my mom. I can say, 'Okay, she battled breast cancer. I'm glad she's here. She's healthy, but she's really a mom.'"
A mom who knows she made the right choice. Today, a choice to give back, mentoring cancer patients.
Lynette Bisconti: "It's a privilege to be with anybody who is going through what I have had the privilege of coming through."
Through her work at "The Gateway for Cancer Research" she helps raise money so others will have better options for treating their disease.
Lynette Bisconti: "Injecting urgency into cancer research and lighting a fire under everybody involved in that effort is in my head every second of every day."
I have the pleasure of hosting Gateway's fundraiser this year. Ninety-nine cents of every dollar go directly to fund cancer research here in Chicago and around the world!
If you'd like to learn more about the Gateway for Cancer Research, check out www.gatewayforcancerresearch.org.
For more stories about breast cancer and other health topics, check out www.healthkey.com.
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