Pregnancy for Young Adults who had cancer treatment

[Nikki_YAC]

hi, i would like to catch up anyone who is trying to, or has had a baby after their cancer treatment :)

[#2]

Hi Nikki, How are you? Just logged in here for the first time since the changes & it's much better, really great. You know I can not have any more children after my treatments but Im lucky enough to have my 2 boys and I'm so thankful for them. I dont think its something that is really addressed well enough by doctors when treating a younger person with cancer but obviously it concerns us. Infertility is the most devestating thing to have to deal with when all the treatments are done. I hope you get some more replies. Chat to you soon;

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi Butterfly, so great to see you here. I agree that the new website is MUCH better than the last one.... and its SO COOL that YACs have a place to call their own here too!! I bet you are so glad to have had your 2 boys already. I totaly agree with you that infertility is such a devastating side effect of YAC cancer treatment, because we are at the age when we are wanting to start or already may have a young family, and so cancer affects us in many long lasting ways. How have you cope with having cancer and 2 young boys. what have been the challenges and rewards of being a young mum? I too get really angry when the docs take away hope for us YAC patients, and tell us that 'you will be infertile from your treatment'. These words are from my own actual case staudy, where I was told this. BUT 7 years down the track from 33 weeks of chemo that did send my body into menapause at age 29 years, I can tell you now that I am 19 weeks pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess i started this forum discussion to share the fab news and offer some hope and inspiration to any YAC out their who is going through treatment, that there is still light at the end of the tunnel, and that you should challenge any doctor that tells you you will be infertile from you treatment. Ask your docs for all information and choices regarding your fertilty before you start any treatment, even idf you are 19 years old... because even if you do not think you want to start a family at age 19, you certainly should have the choice to do so later in life. IT IS YOUR RIGHT! Nikki 🙂

[#4]

Nikki, That is such fabulous news CONGRATULATIONS!! I had no idea, Im so happy for you. I guess you have proven that pregnancy after chemo is possible. I think chemo can cause temporary menopause, maybe thats what happened with you. It's so nice to hear some nice news & first thing in the morning too!! Did the Doc's say the chances were not good for pregnancy? If they did then, how wrong were they!! I agree the site is so much better and really good to have a whole section dedicated to us YAC's. Butterfly

[#5]

Hi Nikki, I found it really hard to have the energy to take care of the kids during my treatment especially on my chemo days, but it did have a plus side I guess because I had less time to mope around the place feeling sorry for myself. It was probably the fatigue that was the worst thing, especially because my youngest was only 1 year old. I really struggled with the waking during the night and up early. Really all I wanted to do was sleep, with my partner at work my mother and Aunty were a great help & I think thats really important to be able to accept the help when it's offered. The kids also gave me that extra push I needed to recover and get well again. Im still exhausted all the time now, but I guess most Mums are anyway. There is help out there for woman who need it. I know there are mums with cancer who dont have a partner & my guess is they would really need some extra help. Sleep is probably the most important thing anyone can do when having treatments & if thats hard to come by then you can wind up exhausted! Butterfly

[jules_jp]

CONGRATULATIONS Nikki!That's fantastic news. Thank you too Butterfly for the info on this post - you are truly amazing. I am so interested to hear of younger womens journeys. I was diagnosed at 34 in 2007 (married with no children). I'm coming up to 1 year out of treatment. I'm on tamoxifen and taking Microlut (apparently I'm not supposed to have monthly bleeds). Am yet to have transvag ultrasound and CA125 test so I'm uncertain about my fertility status. I am anxious about this because its a reminder of the diagnosis. I am at a point now where I just want to move on. In a year or so, I plan to stop all pills (being min 2years of tamox) as I will be 37 next year. The Drs told me there was an 80% I could still conceive naturally after treatment and about 70% chance of conception after one cycle of IVF (so I chose the natural option and if I couldn't, then I'd have to accept it at that time). My husband has never been one to push for children, I've had my clucky moments and he said he'd support my decision either way. People who haven't had cancer already have so much to think about in terms of pregnancy and raising a family, so for us survivors/remission - its an obstacle/burden (both physically and mentally) which I'm discovering very few understand.

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi again Butterfly, yes it is such great news... thanks 🙂 I have my 20 week scan coming up next friday, and to tell you the truth, i have been waiting for this scan before I go fully public with my pregnancy. I just want to make sure everything is OK. If it is, I hope to cover my preganacy journey through the Young Adult blog I will run here on this website. My doc told me straight out that I would be infertile from my treatment, as I did not have time to harvest eggs ect with my chemo starting 24 hours after i was Dx. But the docs never talked to me about fertility options at that stage... they did not explain anything other that "you will be infertile". A year and a half later, I was having 30 hot flushes a day and was on HRT. My cycle started again after I got some herbs from my TCM doc. My cycle and hormones where all over the place for the next few years and the western medicine docs could not tell if i was releasing an egg or not. When the time came in my life last year, my partner and I went on a pre-conception health plan for 6 months before we tried to conceive. We read the book "The natural way to better babies" - by Francesca Naish & Janette Roberts, and followed the many suggestions within this book. Amazingly, we conceived in the first month of trying!! :) n

[Nikki_YAC]

I can not begin to imagine what it must be like to have such young kids and do cancer at the same time. thank god for the family support you had! Like you said, it must be absolutely tiring for and single mums or dads having to do it alone. I think you also hit the nail on the head, in that your kids gave you the "extra push" to keep going. That was one thing I used to think about when I thought I was infertile.... that i would never experience that connection and love that only a mother and father get from becoming parents. Did your kids pick up on your cancer? did they get upset or scared? if so how did you handle these situations? How did you handle the fatigue? was it hard to ask for help at the beginning so you could rest. Do you still ask for help when you feel tired now? Do you tell other parents what you have been through, so they understand why you feel so tired, as I am sure you are having to deal with more fatigue than the average young parent after all that you have been through both physically and mentally. :) n

[Nikki_YAC]

Hi misti, thanks for your reply to my topic and your congrats. I certainly do feel really fortunate to have things work out for me the way they have and thats why i want to share this with others like you who are at the stage in life where having children is a key time. It is good to see that you have some postive fertilty stats for your future. I agree with you that raising a family is even more daunting for those who have gone through cancer, and it is hard to find the right health professionals to talk to about this. I see that you are 1 year post Dx and still on Tamoxifen etc... do you currently have a fertility specialist on your treating team? do you have any counsellors that you or your husband can to talk to about your fertility issues? Having to front to any follow-up scans, tests and appointments is an unfortunate and continual reminder of having had cancer. These apponitments for me got easier as time went on, as I got more informed and gained confidence to ask questions. I would always take either my mum or relative with me to all these appointments. we would have a list of questions that we would not leave until they were answered. hope this helps 🙂 n

[#10]

Hi Misty & Nikki, Dont get me wrong I know how lucky I am that I had my 2 sons before I was dx with cancer, but we had planned on another & to have that option taken away has been a massive thing for me to have to deal with. Not so much for my husband, he has 2 boys so does not understand, but anyway Im also really thankful to be alive for the 2 I have got and to be around to watch them grow up. I think Nikki's story is the perfect example of how the doctors can get it wrong when it comes to infertility after cancer. Sometimes they just dont know. And Misty I would say those odds you have been given for a pregnancy are pretty good odds' if you decide that's what you want. It is really important to look after yourself & thats one thing I find extremely hard at times, because I just dont have the time. Extra sleep or actually even a little I would probably do just about anything for (I need to learn to get to bed earlier). Take care