\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDr. Ashley Newman<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Penn Medicine<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThat\u2019s not always the case, she emphasizes, especially for women who come in right after having a baby. With Sherer, though, it was \u201cso clear\u201d: the lump had been there since she\u2019d given birth, and it hadn\u2019t gotten smaller. It felt different from the other breast, and it didn\u2019t change when she breastfed. \u201cHer intuition made me more suspicious immediately, because I knew this was somebody who recognized a change in their own body,\u201d Newman says. \u201cAnd when women come in saying they think there\u2019s something wrong, I always believe them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNewman\u2019s next thought: how was she going to prove what her intuition was sensing? The standard procedures for investigating a breast lump become \u201creally, really challenging\u201d during the immediate postpartum period, she explains. But the immediate trust and rapport Newman and Sherer built from that first appointment was something both could lean on in the coming months. Sherer says, \u201cI knew, the moment I met her, I was in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDr. Newman and Dana sharing a heartfelt moment.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Penn Medicine<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThey started with an MRI that was \u201chorrible to interpret,\u201d Newman remembers, due to postpartum hormones. Typically, MRIs are done at a specific point in the menstrual cycle when the level of hormonal \u201cbackground noise\u201d inherently present in the breast is at a low point. That wasn\u2019t possible during Sherer\u2019s postpartum period, but with the difficult interpretation, the tumor area stood out.<\/p>\n \n\tAfter a targeted ultrasound and a biopsy of the area, Sherer\u2019s preliminary diagnosis was ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), but Newman felt right away that this was \u201cthe tip of the iceberg.\u201d DCIS, she explains, is \u201cessentially pre-invasive cancer trapped in the milk ducts. It can\u2019t go anywhere.\u201d It\u2019s not an invasive cancer (though it can progress to that stage), but based on Sherer\u2019s exam \u2014 how \u201chuge\u201d the lump felt \u2014 Newman thought they were dealing with something more. She just couldn\u2019t prove it based on the imaging and biopsy alone. <\/p>\n \n\tShe knew a mastectomy was the best way forward, but it wasn\u2019t the news she wanted to give Sherer, with whom she already felt a deep bond. \u201cNobody wants to put a woman who is less than a month out from having a baby through surgery of any kind,\u201d Newman says. The conversation with Sherer was \u201cone of the hardest conversations I\u2019ve ever had with a patient,\u201d she adds, because she knew how important breastfeeding was to Sherer.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI loved it,\u201d Sherer agrees. \u201cI was obsessed with breastfeeding\u2026 I think I was more devastated about [stopping breastfeeding] than the cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnd yet, Newman says, \u201cI really, really felt strongly [that a mastectomy] was going to save your life.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor Sherer, it meant starting to go through the phases of grief. She was in denial at first, she says \u2014 none of it felt real<\/em> until she went in for that surgery. Then she was angry, and mourning the \u201cbeautiful experience\u201d of breastfeeding that she wouldn\u2019t get to have any longer. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDana with her newborn son.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Dana Sherer<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tAt this point, she says, she was leaning on her tools: yoga, Reiki, practicing gratitude. \u201cBeing happy for what I have, and not dwell on what is being taken away from me,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause there\u2019s so much more good than negative.\u201d In the end, she got five months of breastfeeding with Hudson. \u201cThat\u2019s a beautiful thing,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s still a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe mastectomy, they found out, was the right choice. Sherer\u2019s cancer had already reached Stage 1. \u201cIt was everywhere,\u201d Newman says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t big, but it was what we call multifocal and microinvasive. So it was all over the breast.\u201d Even with a mastectomy, the margins were close; they just barely removed all the cancerous tissue.<\/p>\n \n\tThe doctors also discovered that the cancer was HER2-positive<\/a>, an aggressive form of breast cancer<\/a> that would have continued to metastasize. Since they caught it before it hit Sherer\u2019s lymph nodes, she was able to undergo a \u201cgentler\u201d course of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. \u201cHad we let this go another 6 months,\u201d Newman says, \u201cwe would have been in a very different circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAfter her mastectomy, Sherer underwent 12 weeks of Taxol chemotherapy and about a year of targeted therapy, called Herceptin. She calls that period the hardest time of her life. \u201cI did not realize how crummy I felt until I started to feel better,\u201d she says, which was only recently \u2014 when her Herceptin course finished. <\/p>\n \n\tNot only was she dealing with the physical and mental drain of cancer treatment \u2014 Sherer was also parenting two very young children. Her husband was often traveling for work so Sherer would be single-parenting for weeks at a time, relying on her parents and stepmom nearby for help. She would roll her double-stroller up to the oncology floor with bottles and snacks, and just \u201chope to God they wouldn\u2019t injure one another until I had all my vitals checked,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDana receiving treatment in the hospital<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Dana Sherer<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201cI would always joke with the nurses that like I loved going to the hospital,\u201d Sherer recalls now. \u201cThose four hours I was getting my infusions, I was like, \u2018oh, man. Just bring me the Cheez-Its. Bring me the ginger ale. Let me put my feet up. This is heaven.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe struggled with the guilt, too, of not having energy or patience to be fully with her kids, something she admittedly still beats herself up about. \u201cYou want to be the perfect parent,\u201d Sherer says. \u201cBut you don\u2019t even have time to be a patient.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tReflecting on it now, Sherer says, \u201cit challenged how I feel about myself as a mom. I really had to tell myself, \u2018you need to give yourself grace.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNow, on the other side of treatment, Sherer and Newman both want to send the same message: advocate for yourself<\/a>. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cif you feel like there\u2019s something wrong, don\u2019t let somebody tell you, \u2018It\u2019s fine, you\u2019re too young,’\u201d Newman says. \u201cI treat women in their 20s with breast cancer<\/a>. This can happen to anybody, at any time, for any reason.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnd continuing to check yourself and pay attention to your body is critically important. \u201cTake care of your breasts even during and after pregnancy,\u201d Sherer emphasizes. \u201cMake that a part of your postpartum checkup.\u201d Most women aren\u2019t thinking about a mammogram after they have a baby, but Sherer was vigilant, didn\u2019t procrastinate and made sure her voice was heard. \u201cIf I had put this off,\u201d she says, \u201cI don\u2019t know what would have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnd there\u2019s a positive side too, Newman says: imaging, treatment, and outcomes after breast cancer are better than they\u2019ve ever been. With good screenings and treatments, \u201cwomen live normal lifespans after breast cancer,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is not something that has to define you. It doesn\u2019t have to be the end of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-sheknows-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\t\tHow do we prove this?\t<\/h2>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\t\tParenting through treatment\t<\/h2>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\u201cBe your own advocate\u201d\t<\/h2>\n
\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \tRelated story \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tOlivia Munn Is Pushing to Make Breast Cancer Risk Assessments Part of Your Next Checkup\t\t<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n \t \n\tIt was January 2025. Just two weeks postpartum<\/a> from giving birth to Hudson, Sherer started to press her doctors for answers. Her OB\/GYN referred her to Dr. Ashley Newman<\/a>, a breast surgeon at Penn Medicine Princeton Health<\/a> \u2014 and, Sherer says, \u201call of life changed from that point on.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDuring their first appointment, it didn\u2019t take long for Newman to get an idea of what was going on. \u201cWhen we did her exam, I just remember thinking, like, this is cancer,\u201d she recalls. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/section>\n<\/p>\n\n\t\t\u201cThis is cancer\u201d\t<\/h2>\n