Mother of 4 shares story of cancer battle, support from local doctors

Caitlin Howe is a loving and busy mother of four children under the age of Her days are full but amid the chaos she faced an unimaginable challenge What she thought was a breastfeeding issue turned out to be breast cancer At the time I was nursing my now year old so I thought it was just a plugged duct she advised NEWS Soon after the finding Howe learned she was pregnant with twins The type of cancer that I have is fueled by pregnancy hormones she explained Overwhelmed and uncertain about her care in Texas where she was living at the time she turned to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute I ve got a good friend in the healthcare field and she explained Caitlin you ve got to just go to Dana Farber they know what to do both with cancer and with pregnancy Her unit at Dana Farber instantly helped her develop a plan to battle the cancer while still caring for her twins Being diagnosed with cancer while someone is pregnant feels like an unimaginable coincidence but interestingly chemotherapy administration which we do in the second and third trimester appears to not have a detrimental impact on the healthcare or development of the baby declared Dr Erica Mayer of Dana Farber And this is work that we ve done at Dana Farber in our breast cancer and pregnancy initiative Howe mentioned during cure she drew strength from her children And the moment the twins arrived it was proof the fight was all worth it When they put the twins on my chest the twins held hands and everyone stopped and looked and it just felt like the culmination of all that exhaustion and all that effort was so worth it she explained Dana Farber recommends mammograms especially for women and over and regular breast exams