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Breast Cancer Patient Follows Her Instinct
Annual Report - Winter 2011
Harrold delivers son just after radiation treatment
By Lana Maciel
Some MD Anderson doctors might consider Keenya Harrold’s 2-year-old son a miracle. And, indeed, he is.
Peyton Anthony George was born a healthy baby on Feb. 9, 2009, something doctors initially didn’t think would be possible.
That’s because when Harrold found out she was pregnant, she had just completed radiation treatment for stage III breast cancer, her second bout with the disease, and was still taking Herceptin®.
Possible threat averted
Doctors informed her that the timing of her pregnancy shortly after radiation posed a potential threat to the baby’s health.
Keenya Harrold is enjoying life
cancer-free.
Photo: F. Carter Smith
“There were doctors who suggested I have an abortion,” she says.
But Harrold — who was treated at
MD Anderson’s Regional Care Center in the Bay Area near Galveston — had always wanted to be a mother. Being a woman of strong faith, she followed her heart and did what she thought was right.
Now cancer-free, she spends most of her time keeping up with Peyton, whose smile and laughter remind her daily that miracles really do happen.
“My son has been such a joy to me,” she says. “Every time I see him it gives me hope. When I look back at all that happened, my little man was definitely worth it.”
Annual Report - Winter 2011
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