去看吉娜·丹福德和她两岁的女儿玩耍, Samantha, 旁观者绝对猜不到是运气和医疗技术让他们走到了一起.
保留生育能力帮助癌症幸存者成为母亲
Danford was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 19. "My life went from college classes, papers and midterms to oncologists, diagnostic tests and an impending surgery,现年37岁的诺瓦托居民说, California. “当你听到‘你得了癌症’这句话时,你的整个十大赌博平台排行榜都会改变."
对于那些患有卵巢癌的人来说,这种180度大转弯尤其强烈. 每年大约有2万名女性被诊断出患有卵巢癌,其中1.5万人死于这种疾病. With no reliable screening methods, it can often spread before it is detected, which means lower survival rates.
But Danford was lucky. 癌细胞已经发展到一个小篮球大小,并没有扩散到她的右卵巢之外. 外科十大赌博平台排行榜切除了她右侧卵巢和输卵管的肿瘤, Danford was declared cancer free.
In celebration of her full recovery, Danford finished college on time, 获得了MBA学位,拥抱了她内心的旅行者. 她在德国生活和工作了一年. In 2000, she moved to San Francisco, where she met her future husband, Pete, on a blind date; they married in 2002. Although they knew they wanted children, 和许多情侣一样,他们计划先过二人组的生活.
2006年,一项名为CA-125的扫描和血液检查(两项都是有卵巢癌病史的女性的常规筛查程序)表明丹福德的癌症又复发了,这个计划出了问题. This time the mass was on her left ovary. "I'd been so lucky," she says. “我不认为我能再次战胜癌症."
当面对癌症时,许多患者和十大赌博平台排行榜都进入了治疗模式. 但是癌症治疗会威胁到生育能力,丹福德的病例也不例外. 她的妇科肿瘤十大赌博平台排行榜解释说,她很可能会失去剩余的卵巢,甚至子宫.
With her life on the line, 她觉得有一天要个亲生孩子的愿望是次要的:探索这种可能性需要时间, and time seemed a luxury she couldn't afford. 但她的十大赌博平台排行榜鼓励她考虑自己的选择. That's when she and her husband met Dr. Mitchell Rosen at UCSF Medical Center.
罗森是生殖内分泌学家和生育专家 UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. As director of the UCSF Fertility Preservation Program, 他帮助癌症患者保留生育能力, despite aggressive cancer treatment. "Dr. 罗森很了不起,善良又善解人意,”丹福德说. “他向我们介绍了我们的选择,回答了我们所有的问题."
Meet Gina's care team
Under Rosen's care, 丹福德选择将癌症治疗推迟到冷冻胚胎, a technique called cryopreservation. The decision didn't quash her doubts; like many young women in her situation, she grappled with stark questions. What if the cancer had already spread? 如果她有了孩子,癌症又复发了怎么办? 如果她活不到生孩子的时候怎么办?
经过一个月的荷尔蒙训练, Danford had 33 eggs retrieved from her left ovary; 19 became embryos. 手术在周五进行,接下来的周一,外科十大赌博平台排行榜切除了她卵巢上的肿块. To everyone's relief, the growth was benign. After a slow recovery, 这对夫妇等着确定丹福德是健康的,2009年,经过一个月的艰苦训练,她的身体准备好了荷尔蒙, Danford had 33 eggs retrieved from her left ovary; 19 became embryos. 手术在周五进行,接下来的周一,外科十大赌博平台排行榜切除了她卵巢上的肿块. To everyone's relief, the growth was benign. After a slow recovery, 这对夫妇等着确定丹福德是健康的,并在2009年继续前进 in vitro fertilization (IVF).
经历了几次手术和癌症恐慌, 丹福德觉得自己准备好了面对任何必要的医疗程序, 但体外受精的生理和心理压力让她感到惊讶. 她说:“这次不只是我的命悬一线. "It was my child's."
The first two rounds failed. 第三次尝试将是他们最后一次尝试——这对夫妇在情感上和经济上都筋疲力尽, most insurance companies do not cover IVF, 而且价格很容易攀升到数万美元. Again, they got lucky. 在第三次尝试中,丹福德怀上了他们的女儿萨曼莎.
Samantha was born in May 2010, 丹福德现在想和其他身患癌症的年轻人分享她的成功. “我想让女性知道,患癌症并不意味着你要牺牲做母亲的愿望," she says. "There are options."
Her story doesn't end there. 2012年1月,丹福德帮助成立了总部位于旧金山的商业咨询公司ALTUS. 她认为自己与癌症的斗争激发了她的勇气, 她不知道自己拥有力量和决心. "Even though it was horrible, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, good things do come out of it," Danford says. “最终,这段经历给了我女儿."