Reprinted from Karmanos Hope Magazine, Summer 2006.

Her story begins in 2004, when – at age 26 – she discovered a large lump in her breast.
“I went to the doctor and they told me it was probably nothing, just a calcium build-up,” Sheronza says. “They said I was too young for it to be anything else.”

But Sheronza pressed the issue – knowing her aunt had been diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. She went to a local hospital for a mammogram, but doctors there still said the lump was nothing to be concerned about.

She went on with her life, but in four months the lump had grown even larger. That’s when she turned to the Karmanos Cancer Center.

A mammogram and biopsy revealed it was invasive ductal breast cancer. Within days Sheronza met with Cassann Blake, M.D., a member of the Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Team at the Karmanos Cancer Center, and assistant professor of surgery at Wayne State University. Dr. Blake and members of the team collaborated to develop a treatment plan aimed at removing the cancer while saving Sheronza’s breast.

“Her mass was of the size that we could not save her breast without chemotherapy,” Dr. Blake says. “But with this particular type of chemotherapy, there’s a risk of something called ‘chemotherapy induced ovarian failure.”’

Dr. Blake informed Sheronza there was a chance the chemotherapy would cause premature menopause – making her unable to have children.

“That was a risk I was willing to take, even though I really wanted to have kids someday,” Sheronza said.

So Sheronza received chemotherapy for six months and with a very good response to the treatment, her tumor shrunk in size. At that point, she was ready for surgery. Dr. Blake was able to save Sheronza’s breast by performing a lumpectomy and an axillary lymph node dissection. Then Sheronza started the last leg of her treatment: radiation therapy.

At about this time, Sheronza stopped having her monthly menstrual cycle. It seemed the chemotherapy had, in fact, caused ovarian failure. But Dr. Blake wasn’t so sure.

“Her treatment was going very well,” Dr. Blake says. “But I counseled her that even though you’re not seeing your monthly cycle, it doesn’t mean you are necessarily infertile. I wanted her to see an OB/GYN to be sure.”

But Sheronza was so focused on her battle with cancer, she didn’t worry about the question of fertility – at least not at first. She and her longtime boyfriend, Walter, simply went forward with their lives, making peace with the fact that she’d probably never be able to have children.

“A few months later, my treatments were over and it looked like I’d beaten the cancer. So I started thinking maybe I would like to have a baby someday,” Sheronza says.

She researched the adoption process. She even talked to a cousin about the possibility of her becoming a surrogate mother for her. Then something happened.

“I was gaining weight and just not feeling well,” she says. “I was having stomach problems and I started feeling this hard lump in my stomach.”

When Sheronza saw a television show about ovarian cancer, she quickly became convinced the cancer had returned. She went to the emergency room of her local hospital.

“With my history of cancer and this hard mass in my stom¬ach, they took me seriously,” she says.
The Emergency Department physicians were about to do a CT scan when the results of Sheronza’s urinalysis came back. She didn’t have cancer, she was five months pregnant.
“At that moment, I felt unbelievably blessed,” Sheronza says.

Through the remaining months of her pregnancy, Sheronza followed up with her physicians at the Karmanos Cancer Center as well as her obstetrician. Her cancer was gone and her pregnancy was on track.

On January 12, 2006, Sheronza and Walter welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world. They named her Sage Madison Reese.

“She’s a beautiful, healthy little girl. We are so blessed,” Sheronza says. “I’m so thankful to God for getting me through this and giving her to us.”

She says she’s also thankful to Dr. Blake and everyone at Karmanos. “When I was sick, I prayed that God would bring me caring doctors with careful hands, and that’s exactly what I found at Karmanos.”