Ashley Lazareno

In August 2021, I was at the end of my second trimester of pregnancy when I felt a lump in my right breast. I went to see the OB and the midwife did a breast examination and put in the referral for radiology. The next day I was seen by radiology to get an ultrasound for the lump and same day biopsy. After a week they notify me that there is a possibility of Stage 0 cancer and that we caught it early. Another week goes by and I’m notified that it’s actually Stage 1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Due to my pregnancy I got surgery to remove the lump first and start chemotherapy after the induction of my daughter. Shortly after my first surgery my surgeon found a smaller piece of a tumor on the outer margins of the first tumor, which in turn bumped up my diagnosis to Stage 2. The day after the birth of my daughter I was taken to get an MRI to ensure there were no other smaller tumors in the area. A week later I was back in surgery to remove the final little speck of my cancer. With the cancer finally gone I was able to start chemotherapy a month later. Upon the completion of my chemotherapy I was sent to receive four weeks of radiation therapy treatment. With everything completed I have continued to recover from my treatments and some of the permanent side effects.