Christa learned that she had breast cancer on the same day that she discovered she was pregnant. She thinks she could have shared this in a better way with others.
Transcript
Well I think the very first person I told was my dad and I told him about both things. I was just leaving work to go to the doctor’s appointment to find out what the results came back as and I phone my dad on the way there. I said “I’m pregnant.” And so he was excited because I’m his first daughter and the first one to have grandchildren. He’d always wanted them so he was really excited. Then I called him on the way out too and told him… and I don’t think I handled it really well, I didn’t think about how I was going to do it with the first couple of people that I told. I just called and said “I’ve got cancer!” I think he was away on business somewhere and it would have been horrible as a parent to hear that like in that way. I definitely… but I just I couldn’t think properly.
And then for my husband, when I told him, he just came home from work. He walked in the door and I was crying. He said “What’s wrong?” and I told him “Oh I’m pregnant and I’ve got cancer too.” So like he found out both things like within like a minute of walking in the door he didn’t even have his shoes or anything off. So that probably could have been done better too. But I didn’t want to tell him on the phone I wanted to tell him in person. I think that those two were the ones that were the ones that were my first two so I said it just like that. With everyone else, I don’t remember as much but I think it was a little bit more… I think I found out actually on my middle sister’s birthday and I didn’t want to tell her on her birthday so I waited until the next day. Even though I knew and everybody else knew, I just didn’t want to tell her on her birthday, I think that’s what had happened.
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- How it affects family and friends – ChristaChrista learned that she had breast cancer on the same day that she discovered she was pregnant. She thinks she could have shared this in a better way with others.
- Challenging emotions – ChristaChrista experienced postpartum depression right after her breast cancer treatment.
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- Testing and diagnosis – ChristaBeing diagnosed with breast cancer and finding out she was pregnant on the same day was difficult for Christa.
- First symptoms – ChristaDespite her family history, Christa had to insist on being screened as a baseline when she was only 35.
- Sexuality, femininity and intimacy – ChristaChrista and her partner were ultimately able to resolve these difficulties.
- Recurrent and metastatic (advanced) breast cancer – ChristaFacing the possibility of more bad news was extremely difficult for Christa.
- Follow-up care and the risk of recurrence – ChristaChrista's concerns led her to insist on additional follow-up after being told it was no longer necessary.