An Ohio mother received the shock of her life when she discovered a lump in her breast that she attributed to breast milk was actually a cancerous tumor, while also discovering she was pregnant with her second child.
Stephanie Rifici, 35, of Cleveland, Ohio, told TODAY that while she was breastfeeding her son Luca, the milk often calcified and formed hard lumps in her breasts. They would quickly disintegrate, however, and she didn’t think much of them.
However, one of those lumps in her breast lasted an unusually long time, which worried her and led Rifici to have herself checked out by a gynecologist – where she found out she was pregnant again.
A week after learning she was pregnant, Rifici received the devastating news that she had stage 2 triple negative breast cancer.
,Stephanie Rifici (pictured), 35, of Cleveland, Ohio, discovered she was pregnant with her second child and within weeks had breast cancer. Rifici initially feared cancer treatment would harm the unborn child, but doctors at the Cleveland Clinic found a treatment plan that was safe for pregnancy
“I was very excited but very nervous,” she said.
“A week after I found out I was pregnant…I got the sad call that I do indeed have breast cancer.”
The diagnosis and news of the pregnancy put Rifici and her husband Evan Thorkelson in a difficult position.
They feared cancer treatment could harm the unborn child, but their deaths from cancer would mean none of their children would be raised by a mother.
“Some people were like, ‘You have to watch Steph [the couple’s first child]. she is the mother You already have a son. You want to make sure Steph is there for your other son,” Thorkelson told TODAY.
“We were so lucky to be able to conceive and have another son… (but) we don’t want anything to happen to Steph.”
They were told by doctors at the nearby Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation’s premier medical facilities, that they could safely start treatment in the second trimester of pregnancy, meaning Rifici would have to wait.
An expert from the Cleveland Clinic told TODAY that the pregnancy-cancer mix is relatively rare, and it takes multiple doctors with different expertise to get involved.
Rifici’s second child, Leo, was born successfully last April and is now one year old
“Timing is very critical when it comes to caring for women diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy,” said Dr. Erin Roesch, oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
The hospital’s doctors explained that there are types of chemotherapy that are effective against the cancer she had, which do not affect the placenta and protect the unborn child from radiation.
Usually in such cases, doctors recommend chemotherapy first and then surgery to treat the cancer growth, although they chose Rifici.
“The tumor board met and they actually decided that in my particular case they would do my surgery first so they could get the tumor out with little risk to the fetus because I’m so early in my pregnancy.” explained the mother-to-be.
“Sometimes anesthesia and surgery can induce early labor.”
Eventually, a due date was set during a period of rest between chemotherapy sessions, and Rifici’s son Leo was born on April 21, 2021.
She later completed her cancer treatment and celebrated Leo’s birthday earlier this year and even plans to return to work now that she’s feeling better.