The story began for DeShonjla “Shonni” Peterson in October 2016 when she found a lump in her breast.
Barely a month later, on November 22, 2017, DeShonjla got diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer “who knew that during breast cancer awareness month I would discover that I had breast cancer?” she said
The situation got complicated when she realized on the day she was supposed to have a double mastectomy that she was pregnant!
DeShonjla Peterson feeding her baby
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DeShonjla had two choices, to terminate the pregnancy and continue with her cancer treatment as advised by her breast surgeon or keep the pregnancy and defer the treatment. She choose the later.
DeShonjla and her husband Kevin decided to protect their unborn baby. So they kept the pregnancy “If I choose to start chemo today, I risk something possibly harming Zoe . While there are plenty of chemo babies out there, there isn’t enough evidence to support me risking any additional part of her health.” she revealed in a blog post.
DeShonjla had a single mastectomy at week 20 of her pregnancy, on April 7, “If I did the bilateral and with reconstruction my baby would be under anesthesia for close to 5 hours and I couldn’t risk that so I went with the lesser of the evils and only had one removed”.
On Monday July 31, 2017, DeShonjla Peterson delivered a baby girl, Zoe Jade “I couldn’t be more ecstatic to meet her” the proud new mom said.
DeShonjla wrote in a post on Instagram
“Vulnerable is one of those things that I never wanted to be. Vulnerability always equated to weakness to me. Any vulnerability was calculated to make myself feel and look more human. Now as I sit today, transparent in my thoughts and emotions about this journey I feel nothing but strength and relief from my vulnerability. I feel beautiful in this space. This outward body is not where my beauty is housed. It is well within and courses through every fiber of my being. I share this image as another level of vulnerability and transparency. I don’t owe anyone this, but this is where my beauty now resides. It resides in everything I do. It resides in everything I am. It resides in everything I am affiliated with. It resides in everything that I love. Thank you all for walking on this journey with me.”
She has since started chemotherapy after she was able to nurse her daughter for about three weeks.
See more pictures of her and her daughter below;
DeShonjla breast feeding her baby, Zoe
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DeShonjla and her husband Kevin with their children
DeShonjla with her baby, Zoe
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Source: Gossip.naija.ng