Cancer Treatment During Pregnancy
Willana Mack had just been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer when she found out she was pregnant. Determined to find a way to fight the cancer and keep her baby, the first challenge was to find doctors who could accomplish both these goals. In this podcast, she discusses how she juggled the medical, personal, and logistical challenges – including juggling care for her young children and dog, her teaching job, and a husband who worked nights and never gave up.
[00:00:03] Stephen Calabria: From the Mount Sinai Health System in New York city, this is Road to Resilience, a podcast about facing adversity. I'm your host, Stephen Calabria, Mount Sinai's Director of Podcasting.
[00:00:13] Today in the program, in honor of World Maternal Health Day, we welcome Willana Mack. Ms. Mack is a professional singer originally from Brooklyn and serves Music Director of the Central Baptist Church in New York City.
[00:00:27] She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in January 2022. Within a week, she discovered she was pregnant, and soon found herself struggling to find doctors to provide her the life saving care she needed.
[00:00:40] Then she came to Mount Sinai, and her story serves as a model of faith and determination. We're honored to welcome Ms. Mack to the program.
[00:00:47] Ms. Willana Mack, welcome to Road to Resilience.
[00:00:53] Willana Mack: Thank you, Stephen.
[00:00:54] Stephen Calabria: Okay, and so can you tell us, you started out your journey, that we're here to talk about today, with two children, is that right?
[00:01:02] Willana Mack: That's correct. So in January of 2022, my world just completely changed. There was an evening I was laying in bed, I was watching TV. And I, as vividly as I recall, I heard a voice or just a nudge from, had to be heaven, said, touch here.
[00:01:20] And I took my right hand and I touched my left breast and I felt a big ball, felt like a marble, Was underneath my skin and I asked my husband check this out is this thing weird to you? And he just pressed it and he responded. This is strange. You should get this looked at.
[00:01:40] Oh, so I went to sleep woke up the next morning called people called my mom and said hey, I found this What do you think and my mom's answer was you need to get that checked out Immediately, had been seeing a hematologist and I just was going to see her that day for treatment for an iron infusion.