Author Archives: Amandabreeden

Undergoing an ovarian reserve test includes an ultrasound and blood draw. The ultrasound concludes how many follicles/eggs they can visibly see. This does not mean this is as many eggs as I have left. However, it gives them an idea of how many eggs can be retrieved. My ovarian reserve test came back sufficient enoughContinue reading “IVF Round 2”

Adelyn was the only embryo we had that was considered healthy (no chromosome abnormalities) and did not carry the BRCA gene. She was created from the eggs I had retrieved prior to starting chemotherapy in 2022. We do have 6 more embryos frozen that have either chromosome abnormalities or the BRCA gene. Not great optionsContinue reading “Another baby?”

For those of you who have been following along, you know my cancer/tumor marker lab values were elevated during pregnancy and postpartum. My oncologist’s recommendation was to wait approximately one month to redraw them to see if they came down after recovering slightly more postpartum. To my pleasant surprise, the CA 2729 came back withinContinue reading “CA 2729”

During pregnancy, my cancer lab values were elevated and I was eager postpartum to get my labs re-drawn, check for tumor markers and complete any screening that I couldn’t do while being pregnant. About 10 days postpartum I had my labs re-drawn and an appointment at Cancer Care Northwest. Returning to Cancer Care Northwest afterContinue reading “Cancer screening post pregnancy”

While pregnant, you are at a lower risk of developing ovarian cancer due to your ovaries being “quiet” during pregnancy. However, what they don’t tell you is that all of your tumor markers and cancer bloodwork can come back elevated due to being pregnant. But how do they know if it’s due to pregnancy orContinue reading “Cancer and pregnancy”

Hair loss during chemotherapy is also known as chemotherapy-induced alopecia or CIA. There is not much you can do to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy, however there is scalp hypothermia (cooling of the scalp). Cold restricts blood flow. When you cool your scalp, you temporarily decrease blood flow to that area. This reduces the amountContinue reading “Hair Growth after Chemo”

Someone asked me the other day, “How long did it take you to recover from having Cancer?” It took me awhile to respond because it wasn’t just cancer I had to recover from. It was chemotherapy and then the following surgeries. However, if I had to give it a timeline this is what I wouldContinue reading “Recovery”

So now that I am pregnant, I have less of a risk of getting ovarian cancer. Being pregnant actually reduces your risk of ovarian cancer because your ovaries are “quiet” during this time. I still have to go in every 3 months to my oncologist for blood work and physical exam, however should have lessContinue reading “Pregnancy”

The first 3 months of IVF pregnancy are not fun to say the least. Continuing the medications, shots and vaginal inserts seems like eternity and then on top of that I started to get all of the pregnancy side effects around 7 weeks through about week 11. Around 12 weeks, I started to feel likeContinue reading “IVF Pregnancy”

So 9 days after the embryo transfer I go back in for my blood draw to tell me if the transfer was successful or not. Drumroll… IT WORKED. “Congratulations, you are pregnant!” What a long 9 days, but all worth it. Now what? Now you continue to take your medication through the first trimester ofContinue reading ““Congratulations””