Pregnant woman battles breast cancer, undergoes chemo, double mastectomy
Her doctors reportedly believed the lump was due to pregnancy-related changes
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Over two years ago, Abigail Valletta, of North Carolina, discovered a lump in her breast while in the shower. Valletta, 32, was 14 weeks pregnant at the time and conducting a routine self-check exam while in the shower, according to WRAL.
Her doctors reportedly believed the lump was due to pregnancy-related changes, but Valletta wanted more reassurance, according to the report.
"Because of my age and because I was pregnant, that’s what we all wanted to believe," Valletta told the news outlet. "I asked for an ultrasound just to reassure myself."
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The result was invasive ductal triple-negative breast cancer, and testing reportedly showed it stemmed from a BRCA-1 mutation. While all women have BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, about 1 in 500 women in the U.S. have mutations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Per the CDC, “about 50 out of 100 women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation" will go on to develop breast cancer by the time they turn 70 compared to only about 7 out of 100 women in the general U.S. population.
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"We knew that my grandparents had a history of breast cancer, but we didn’t know about the gene mutation," Valletta told the news outlet.
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The rapidly growing tumor was detected during stage 2, and Valletta soon underwent chemotherapy and double mastectomy -- all while pregnant, and her baby, Madelyn, was later born healthy.
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"She was born full-term at 37 weeks. She had more hair than I had when she was born," Valletta told WRAL.
She reportedly looked to a Facebook page called Triangle Milk Share for donated breast milk, which undergoes a safety check through WakeMed’s Milk Bank.
"They fed Madelyn for 15 months when I was not able to. My other two children (now 10 and 12) were breastfed, and that was something that was very important to me," Valletta told the news outlet.
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Valletta is sharing her story during Breast Cancer Awareness month and in a bid to encourage all women to do routine self-checks for lumps or changes in their breast.