Son becomes blood donor after mom’s cancer treatment

Zane Maples was one of the final donors in line to give blood at an MD Anderson community blood drive held at Conroe High School. He waited patiently throughout the donor intake process as fellow seniors completed their donations. He kept thinking of his mom.

“She’s been through so much,” he says. “This just felt like something small I could do that actually helps people like her.”

Zane and his twin brother, Brandon, were just 10 years old when their mom, Yvonne Maples, was first diagnosed with cancer. Now 19, Zane says witnessing his mom being diagnosed with and treated for three cancers changed how he sees the world.

Treatment for concurrent breast cancer diagnoses

“I think it gave them empathy, not just for me, but for others going through difficult things,” Yvonne says. “They know what 'hard’ means and how to support others.”

Yvonne was diagnosed at age 51 with infiltrating ductal carcinoma and a small stage I HER2 positive mass, both in her right breast. She was diagnosed in June 2016 when her boys were in elementary school. She had no family history of breast cancer.

She quickly underwent a mastectomy, lumpectomy and breast reconstruction, followed by 12 rounds of chemotherapy for the carcinoma and 26 rounds of a HER2-targeted chemotherapy for the mass. She worried most about how her treatment and recovery process might affect her family.

“I thought it was going to be awkward, uncomfortable and limiting,” she recalls. “Spending time together was going to look different. We wouldn't be going to the movies, but we could cuddle up on the couch and hang out together.”

Yvonne tried to be honest with her sons throughout treatment. Before her hair began falling out, she brought them along to the wig shop. They nixed the blonde hairpiece and the curly, red Reba McEntire-style wig, and instead helped her choose one close to her natural hair color.

“I think it helped normalize it for them,” she says. “Having input gave them back a little control.”

An unexpected angiosarcoma diagnosis

After treatment, Yvonne sought support for residual hip pain and back spasms. Over a series of acupuncture procedures, she noticed a bruise on her reconstructed right breast that wouldn’t go away. A punch biopsy revealed she had angiosarcoma. The rare and aggressive cancer had formed in the skin of her right breast. Angiosarcoma is more common in people who’ve already undergone radiation therapy, but Yvonne hadn’t.

“This one was a different kind of beast,” she recalls. “It was a real threat.”

Zane and Brandon were first-year high school students when their mom began treatment for angiosarcoma. At least this time, they would be prepared, Yvonne thought.

“They had a dry run at 10,” she says. “They handled that with so much grace and sensitivity. I was torn between that feeling and, ‘Really? We all have to go through this again?’”

Yvonne’s husband, Tom, rearranged his work schedule so he could take her to appointments and support her through the rounds of chemo and radiation therapy that came next.

She underwent a modified radical mastectomy on the same breast to remove all remaining affected tissue, eliminating any chance of recurrent cancer.

Sons provide support and strength

Between navigating high school theater productions and Boy Scout meetings, the twins helped their mom climb the stairs when chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy from her latest treatments made walking difficult. They also went to the grocery store to ensure there was healthy food in the house and sat and talked with her after school.

“We knew we had to step up, and we did,” Zane says. “We set up this system to help her go up and down the stairs. One walked in front; one went behind her. She wasn’t falling on our watch.”

Stepping up by donating blood

During Yvonne’s treatment, Zane learned that cancer patients often need blood transfusions, especially if they’re undergoing chemotherapy or surgery.

“I feel like my mom taught me the meaning of strength,” Zane says. “Going through chemo the second time around, she was basically bedridden, but she still did everything she could to be our mom. She told us every day that she loved us. If I can help someone else’s mom going through the same thing, I feel like giving blood is an easy thing to do.”

“We try to raise our kids with certain values,” says Yvonne, who is now in remission and celebrating milestones like her sons starting college. “Sometimes you wonder if it’s sinking in, but then they go and do something like this. I’m so proud.”

Schedule your appointment to donate blood at MD Anderson Blood Bank.