{"id":48365,"date":"2020-09-18T13:54:02","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T04:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/uncategorized\/%e7%a7%81%e3%81%af%e7%94%a3%e5%be%8c1%e9%80%b1%e9%96%93%e3%81%a7%e5%8c%96%e5%ad%a6%e7%99%82%e6%b3%95%e3%82%92%e5%a7%8b%e3%82%81%e3%81%be%e3%81%97%e3%81%9f\/"},"modified":"2021-03-08T17:26:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T08:26:09","slug":"chemotherapy-after-giving-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"I started chemo a week after giving birth"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

PiNK 2021 Winter Issue<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_separator type=”normal” color=”#515151″][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

When writer Laura Pearson was diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy, she felt so isolated and feared for her unborn child. <\/strong><\/h4>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]\u201cI found a lump in my breast on the day of my 20-week scan,\u201d says Laura, 39, who was pregnant with her second child.<\/p>\n

After a visit to the GP and the breast clinic, a few weeks later Laura was told the lump she\u2019d felt was breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was diagnosed on April Fools\u2019 Day 2016,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was really scary.\u201d
\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”48px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Alone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text]The time spent waiting for a treatment plan was terrifying, says Laura, who was 35 when diagnosed. She found herself fearing the worst.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour primal instinct is to protect your child. My fear was they\u2019d tell me I had to terminate the pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time I felt like I must be the only person this was happening to. I felt alone on two fronts. I didn\u2019t realise first that young people get breast cancer, and second that people who are pregnant get breast cancer.\u201d
\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”48px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Missing out<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text]Treatment began with a lumpectomy to remove the cancer when Laura was 27 weeks pregnant.<\/p>\n

At 35 weeks, labour was induced with a plan to start chemotherapy soon after the birth. But barely 24 hours after she was born, baby Elodie was taken to an intensive care unit in Sheffield, a long way from the family\u2019s home in Leicestershire. She would remain there for the next two weeks, watched over by Laura\u2019s husband Paul, while Laura stayed with Elodie\u2019s older brother Joseph, then two years old.<\/p>\n

Chemo began as one-week-old Elodie was still in hospital. Reflecting on this time, Laura feels she missed an important part of her daughter\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look back I don\u2019t really remember her being a baby,\u201d says Laura, who spent the first four months of Elodie\u2019s life having chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve missed out,\u201d she says.
\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”48px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

More news<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text]Laura is grateful to family who helped out during this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had lots of support from both sets of parents,\u2019 she says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have to do any cooking or cleaning, which meant Paul and I could look after Elodie once she came home from hospital after two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because her mother had had breast cancer too, Laura was offered testing for the known genetic alterations that can increase the risk of breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Laura tested positive for the altered BRCA2 gene, which significantly increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was given the news over the phone while I was on holiday,\u201d says Laura.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like one thing after another, that everything that could go wrong did go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura later went on to have surgery to remove her ovaries, followed later by a double mastectomy.
\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”48px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

A lifeline<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text]Laura found support through the Younger Breast Cancer Network, which provides private Facebook chat groups to younger women with breast cancer.<\/p>\n

It was here she found out about Younger Women Together, Breast Cancer Now\u2019s two-day support events for women under 45.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt local support groups or at the breast clinic all the women I saw were in their 60s, 70s or 80s. If I went to appointments with my mum, everyone assumed it was my mum who had breast cancer.\u201d says Laura, who attended a Younger Women Together event in Bath.<\/p>\n

It felt like a huge weight off knowing there were other people in the same situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was intense and emotional. I felt drained afterwards. But finding people my own age, and having conversations with people who really got it, felt like a lifeline.\u2019
\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”48px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Making it happen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text]Laura, who has an MA in creative writing, always wanted to be an author. Despite coming close, she\u2019d never found an agent or publisher for her first two novels.<\/p>\n

In November 2016, shortly after finishing treatment, she decided to take part in NaNoWriMo<\/em>. National Novel Writing Month challenges people to write 50,000 words in 30 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made it a charity challenge,\u201d says Laura, \u201craising money for Mummy\u2019s Star.\u201d The charity helps women affected by cancer during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

A year later Laura submitted the work to a small publisher, who offered to publish it along with her first two novels.<\/p>\n

\u2018I Wanted You to Know\u2019 came out in 2019. It follows a young woman with incurable cancer who writes letters to her daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote all my worst fears in the book,\u201d says Laura. It was a way of pouring out all the things that could happen. I found it really cathartic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author partly attributes her success in getting published to her breast cancer experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what I\u2019d always wanted,\u201d she says. \u201cI had to make it happen.\u201d
\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text] PiNK 2021 Winter Issue [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_separator type=”normal” color=”#515151″][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text] When writer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":48260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[66,1225,694,1226,1169,1168],"class_list":["post-48365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pink-article","tag-chemotherapy","tag-giving-birth","tag-pink-en-2","tag-pregnancy","tag--en"],"yoast_head":"\nI started chemo a week after giving birth - RFTC Japan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I started chemo a week after giving birth - RFTC Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text] PiNK 2021 Winter Issue [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_separator type=”normal” color=”#515151″][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text] When writer...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RFTC Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-18T04:54:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-08T08:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/wpdata\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marco Magnani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marco Magnani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marco Magnani\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fb71c04b0dc2d2feed17e8d55cdeaa6\"},\"headline\":\"I started chemo a week after giving birth\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-18T04:54:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-08T08:26:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1016,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/wpdata\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"chemotherapy\",\"Giving birth\",\"PiNK\",\"Pregnancy\",\"\u598a\u5a20\u4e2d\",\"\u7523\u5f8c\"],\"articleSection\":[\"PiNK\u8a18\u4e8b\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/\",\"name\":\"I started chemo a week after giving birth - RFTC Japan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/wpdata\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-18T04:54:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-08T08:26:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fb71c04b0dc2d2feed17e8d55cdeaa6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/wpdata\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/wpdata\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/pink-article\\\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I started chemo a week after giving birth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"RFTC Japan\",\"description\":\"Japan's Leading Breast Cancer Foundation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rftcjapan.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fb71c04b0dc2d2feed17e8d55cdeaa6\",\"name\":\"Marco Magnani\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I started chemo a week after giving birth - RFTC Japan","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I started chemo a week after giving birth - RFTC Japan","og_description":"[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text] PiNK 2021 Winter Issue [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_separator type=”normal” color=”#515151″][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_column_text] When writer...","og_url":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/","og_site_name":"RFTC Japan","article_published_time":"2020-09-18T04:54:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-08T08:26:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/wpdata\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marco Magnani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marco Magnani","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/"},"author":{"name":"Marco Magnani","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5fb71c04b0dc2d2feed17e8d55cdeaa6"},"headline":"I started chemo a week after giving birth","datePublished":"2020-09-18T04:54:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-08T08:26:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/"},"wordCount":1016,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/wpdata\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg","keywords":["chemotherapy","Giving birth","PiNK","Pregnancy","\u598a\u5a20\u4e2d","\u7523\u5f8c"],"articleSection":["PiNK\u8a18\u4e8b"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/","url":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/","name":"I started chemo a week after giving birth - RFTC Japan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/wpdata\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-09-18T04:54:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-08T08:26:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5fb71c04b0dc2d2feed17e8d55cdeaa6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/wpdata\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/wpdata\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PiNK-SUMMER-2020.003.jpeg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/pink-article\/chemotherapy-after-giving-birth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I started chemo a week after giving birth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/","name":"RFTC Japan","description":"Japan's Leading Breast Cancer Foundation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5fb71c04b0dc2d2feed17e8d55cdeaa6","name":"Marco Magnani"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48365"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51376,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48365\/revisions\/51376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rftcjapan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}