MADISON, Wis. – Andrea Moskal was in the process of weaning her 16-month-old son, Jonah, when she noticed an odd lump in her breast in December 2020.
Moskal, a registered nurse at the UW Health Transplant Center, assumed it was nothing serious, but as she was also about 16 weeks pregnant with her second child, she mentioned it to her OB-GYN during a routine check-up. An ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy confirmed that Moskal had breast cancer, specifically, stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma. This surprised Moskal, she said, as she had no family history of breast cancer.
“One of my first thoughts when I found out was, ‘I want my mom,’” she said. “No matter how old you get, that feeling never goes away, and I called her before I even drove home from the appointment.”
Invasive ductal carcinoma occurs when abnormal cells from the lining of the milk ducts spread to breast tissue, according to Dr. Amy Stella, medical oncologist, UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center, and clinical associate professor of medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
“Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common form of breast cancer, accounting for approximately 80% of breast cancer diagnoses,” she said. “However, we still had to create a unique plan for Andrea because cancer treatments can cause risks for patients who are pregnant.”
Within a couple of weeks, Moskal started treatments at Carbone Cancer Center. Her care team created a treatment plan that also focused on the safety of her baby. She began four cycles of chemotherapy, with treatments spaced out every three weeks. She also had surgery in May 2021 to remove her breast lump as well as several lymph nodes.
Even though she was an experienced nurse, Moskal still felt the weight of a cancer diagnosis, she said.
“I’d been a nurse for 15 years when I was diagnosed, but it was still overwhelming,” she said. “I don’t know how somebody goes through a cancer diagnosis without a medical background.”
After the initial treatments, she then had a five-week break in treatment before having her daughter, Josephine, on July 1, 2021. Josephine’s arrival was ushered in at 39 weeks so that Moskal could continue her cancer treatments.
“It wasn’t until that five-week break that I thought, ‘Oh I can finally enjoy my pregnancy,’” she said. “That’s when it just came down on me, the madness and the sadness of it all.”
The harsh side effects of treatment, coupled with worrying about her baby’s development, were physically and emotionally difficult for Moskal, she said.
“It’s a special time when you want to focus on growing that healthy child, and instead I was having to also focus on getting myself healthy,” she said.
About 10 days after Josephine was born, Moskal began a three-month weekly chemotherapy routine. After chemotherapy, Moskal went through 28 sessions of radiation and finished treatment just before Christmas 2021. She has been cancer-free since then, and is glad to be on the other side of treatment to enjoy her time as a mother of two.
“It makes you appreciate every little thing,” she said.
Moskal dealt with some side effects after her treatment, including neuropathy, a condition that can cause weakness, numbness and pain, usually in the hands and feet. She decided to switch from working with transplant patients to a position that enabled her to work shorter shifts at the UW Health Breast Clinic located within Carbone at University Hospital.
Learning a new field of expertise has been a welcome challenge for Moskal, she said, and her personal experience with cancer makes her very mindful of how she interacts with patients.
“Every person is an individual,” she said. “To be a part of the care team, the unique decisions for treatments for each patient, it’s inspiring.”
