Stephanie Wysaski, a 35-year-old mother of three, recently found out she has breast cancer while pregnant with her fourth child. It had started when she noticed a lump up high on her sternum while breast-feeding her 11-month-old daughter. The subsequent diagnosis left her reeling. This unforeseen health surprise has severely affected her pregnancy experience and home life with her family.
Wysaski first discovered the lump earlier this year after seeing a TV news spot on breast self-exams. “I feel a lump, a pretty sizable lump high on my chest,” she stated in an interview on “Good Morning America” on October 21, 2025. She knew this was a growing health crisis that needed to be addressed. Meanwhile, she was still figuring out the twists and turns of early pregnancy all while raising a toddler and a preschooler.
Given the rate at which the lump was developing, it required immediate medical care. Dr. Annabelle Veerapaneni, Wysaski’s oncologist at Northwestern Medicine, noted that the lump’s progression to a lymph node indicated a need for swift action. Now, we’re grappling with a crisis that we absolutely have to solve in the most expedient way that we can,” she said.
Even with a diagnosis like Wysaski’s, her chemotherapy regimen would be customized to keep both her and her unborn child safe. Do you know any pregnant people? By the time she was finally prescribed chemotherapy, her baby was only 15 weeks old. Dr. Veerapaneni’s message to Wysaski was that “the mainstay of treatment that is provided in pregnancy is extremely safe, very, very safe.”
As Wysaski moved through her ongoing treatment—which finished in August—she thought a lot about the duality of her experience. I too get stuck in my head, ruminating over cancer. My kids still deserve to have me take them to school and pick them up, not to mention they need and love our cuddle time. Finding this balance has been difficult but necessary to keep life somewhat normal for her family.
It’s perhaps the ultimate role reversal. Wysaski is set to give birth herself, on Tuesday morning, at 34 weeks. She painted an intimate portrait of her grief over the diagnosis, and how it changed her pregnancy. “Who even considers the risk of a cancer diagnosis during pregnancy?” she said. Despite the enormous strain it’s caused, she is still determined not to let it overshadow the joy of welcoming her fourth child. “My baby is kicking, rolling and punching,” she said with child-like wonder through a heavy traffic jam of adversity.
