Diagnosed while pregnant
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: STEPHANIE LEMONS
The summer of 2018 was a joyous time for Stephanie Lemons and her wife. A nurse at St. Louis University Hospital, Lemons had just found out she was pregnant after years of trying to conceive. She was finally going to be a mom.
But the excitement Lemons felt over the new life growing inside her was suddenly met with fear over her own 18 weeks into her pregnancy. It turned out the tenderness Lemons had been feeling in her chest wasn’t nothing as she initially thought — it was breast cancer.
DECISIONS ALONG WITH A DIAGNOSIS
“It was terrifying,” Lemons said. “I was far enough along that clearly I wanted to finish the pregnancy. I think for some people, that would be a very hard decision to make.”
Lemons had a long road ahead of her that involved 19 more weeks of pregnancy, a double mastectomy, 22 rounds of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation. Fortunately, she got through it with a healthy baby girl named Ryan thanks to the support of loved ones as well as the free services provided by Pink Ribbon Girls St. Louis.
“I would definitely say just to take advantage of this great resource,” Lemons said of PRG. “I think sometimes we try to just push ahead and, looking back on it now, it was just a huge relief (to have those services).”
Lemons had no reason to panic about the tenderness she had been experiencing in her left breast. She discussed it with her obstetrician-gynecologist, and an initial exam revealed nothing of concern. Lemons was also young with no family history of breast cancer, so they chalked it up to the fertility hormones Lemons was taking to get pregnant.
TRUSTING HER BODY AND DECISION
Lemons’ OB decided to revisit the matter in November when Lemons was about halfway through her pregnancy and still experiencing the tenderness. Lemons was immediately scheduled to have an ultrasound in the same building she had worked for the last 10 years.
“I was just like, ‘Hey, let’s do this on my lunch break,’” Lemons said. “I went in for this ultrasound to rule everything out, like no big deal.”
Things stopped feeling so casual when Lemons’ ultrasound revealed a mass in her left breast as well as inflamed lymph nodes, prompting her to undergo four biopsies and a mammogram that same day.
“Basically, it started being kind of scary at that point,” Lemons said. “I went home for that evening, which was a super long night, just like, ‘What is even going on?’”
Lemons received more answers the following day when she asked one of the doctors with whom she worked to retrieve her results. She said he acted with urgency, walking her down to the pathology department and having her prognosis read to her right away.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Lemons was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer — her pathology was finalized the day after Christmas. With four months left in her pregnancy, she was slated to undergo a less aggressive chemo treatment that was thought to pose minimal risk to the baby.
Lemons said a silver lining of having cancer while pregnant was getting frequent ultrasounds to monitor her daughter’s progress.
“The entire time, we just took it as, ‘OK, what’s next?’” Lemons said. “‘What are the next boxes for us to check off?’ Because we had a baby coming at the end of it.”
Lemons underwent four rounds of chemotherapy while pregnant, which put her at a higher risk of infection. She embraced the kind of socially distant lifestyle that soon became the norm for society, limiting her interactions and avoiding most public settings in a pre-pandemic world.
“Kind of how we’re living our life with COVID, we started that really early — just being aware of all of the possibilities that could enhance the risk,” Lemons said. “At that time, I not only felt responsible for me, I felt responsible for a baby.”
Lemons was in between treatments 37 weeks into her pregnancy when she was induced into labor. Ryan Addison was born on May 5, 2019 — a Cinco de Mayo baby, which Lemons said was already her favorite day of the year.
“I love Mexican food — any reason to have tacos and a margarita is a good reason for me,” Lemons said. “It was awesome, I cried. … I had a perfect little baby girl.
Ryan’s arrival was certainly a relief, but Lemons was still in the fight for her life. Five and a half weeks after giving birth, she did four more rounds of chemotherapy before having a double mastectomy in September.
CONTINUING TREATMENT
After her surgery, Lemons went through 25 rounds of radiation and another year of chemo. She had no shortage of support from family and friends, but adjusting to motherhood while going through treatment was overwhelming.
Then, a nurse introduced Lemons to Pink Ribbon Girls. Lemons was most interested in utilizing PRG’s house cleaning services, as the fatigue from chemo and caring for a newborn made doing such chores incredibly taxing.
INTRODUCTION TO PRG
“(The house cleaning services) can make a big difference and provide a lot of relief,” Lemons said. “My wife went back to work and, when she got home from the day, we could just enjoy time with our baby rather than have all of these other things to do.”
Lemons eventually signed up to receive meals, too, relieving her and her wife of one more burden.
“It was awesome because the meals were just dropped off at your door, you didn’t have to meet anybody or be there to pick it up,” Lemons said. “I could just put it in the freezer and have it whenever.”
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Today, Lemons is thriving — she finished chemo in July of 2020.
Not only is Lemons cancer-free, but her family is also growing once again. Lemons’ wife is pregnant with another baby girl, and she’s due in November.
To the couple’s delight, it has been an uneventful pregnancy.
“It’s nice to be boring,” Lemons said. “My wife and I have both agreed we want to continue to support (Pink Ribbon Girls) because it’s amazing and it’s something that we never would have known anything about had we not gone through a traumatic experience.
“Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of people learn about it, but I’m really glad that it’s there.”
