In October 2016, 40 year old DeShonjla “Shonni” Peterson found a lump
in her breast and shortly after, on November 22, 2017, she got
diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer which was during breast cancer
awareness month.
Fastword to the day she was scheduled to have a double mastectomy,
DeShonjla discovered she was pregnant! Left with two choices, her breast
surgeon suggested she terminated the pregnancy and treat the cancer or
continue with the pregnancy and delay treatment.
DeShonjla and her husband Kevin made the decision to protect their unborn child. So they kept the pregnancy.
Talking about it in one of her blog post, she wrote: “If I choose to
start chemo today, I risk something possibly harming Zoe . While there
are plenty of chemo babies out there, there isn’t enough evidence to
support me risking any additional part of her health.”
At week 20 of her pregnancy, on April 7, DeShonjla had a single mastectomy.
In her words: “If I did the bilateral and with reconstruction my baby
would be under anesthesia for close to 5 hours and I couldn’t risk that
so I went with the lesser of the evils and only had one removed”.
On Monday the 31st of July 2017, DeShonjla welcomed a healthy baby
girl, Zoe Jade. Talking about her new baby, she said: “I couldn’t be
more ecstatic to meet her”
Talking about her experience, DeShonjla said:
“Vulnerable is one of those things that I never wanted to be.
Vulnerability always equated to weakness to me. Any vulnerability was
calculated to make myself feel and look more human. Now as I sit today,
transparent in my thoughts and emotions about this journey I feel
nothing but strength and relief from my vulnerability. I feel beautiful
in this space.”
Her Instagram post is below
– – Vulnerable is one of those things that I never wanted to be.
Vulnerability always equated to weakness to me. Any vulnerability was
calculated to make myself feel and look more human. Now as I sit today,
transparent in my thoughts and emotions about this journey I feel
nothing but strength and relief from my vulnerability. I feel beautiful
in this space. This outward body is not where my beauty is housed. It is
well within and courses through every fiber of my being. I share this
image as another level of vulnerability and transparency. I don’t owe
anyone this, but this is where my beauty now resides. It resides in
everything I do. It resides in everything I am. It resides in everything
I am affiliated with. It resides in everything that I love. Thank you
all for walking on this journey with me. #shonnissupportgroup #mastectomy #breastcancer #cancer #uniboob #love #zoeskeeper #kelsismom #pregnantwithasideofcancer #pregnantwithcancer #pregnant #survivor #freedom #badtittymeat
DeShonjla has since started chemotherapy after she was able to nurse her daughter for about three weeks.
culled from fabwoman.ng