A Texas woman and her daughter have a lot to celebrate this mother's day. A diagnosis of cancer during pregnancy occurs in about one in every thousand women. That was the frightening scenario for a San Antonio woman who is beating the odds along with her daughter.
47-year-old Julie Louviere has been battling breast cancer almost two decades, three different times. At her side for the last 14 years, her daughter Alis. Julie was pregnant with Alis when she got news of her first scary recurrence.
Louviere said, "I find out later that they had only given me two months to live and for me to terminate my pregnancy."
"That child received the same chemotherapy that she did. And we found that things are safe in second and third trimester to use certain medications for cancer fighting without harm to the fetus," said Dr. Sharon Wilks.
The baby came through with flying colors. She was born on Valentine's Day, perfectly normal.
Alis, now an eighth grader at Bush Middle School, noticed patients got cold during cancer treatment. So she and her mom make cozy fleece blankets to give away. It's her small way of showing patients she cares what they're going through. After all, she went through chemo in the womb.
Alis said, "Oh, it's very interesting. But it's something that I've been around ever since I was little, so cancer's not really scary to me, I guess. I've kind of been around it since I could remember."
At the cancer care centers of south Texas, Julie is being treated with targeted therapies that are less toxic than drugs she took ten or 15 years ago. Cancer that had spread to her liver has disappeared for now.
"She's in complete remission right now. On her recent reports, just recently, there's no traces of her disease," said Dr. Wilks.
Louviere said, "At the end of the day you have to have a feisty, sassy attitude because cancer doesn't like that."
Julie is taking part in the Susan G. Komen race for the cure to raise money for breast cancer this weekend. Her team of 45 people is called "Julie's Sole Sisters and Brothers."
47-year-old Julie Louviere has been battling breast cancer almost two decades, three different times. At her side for the last 14 years, her daughter Alis. Julie was pregnant with Alis when she got news of her first scary recurrence.
Louviere said, "I find out later that they had only given me two months to live and for me to terminate my pregnancy."
"That child received the same chemotherapy that she did. And we found that things are safe in second and third trimester to use certain medications for cancer fighting without harm to the fetus," said Dr. Sharon Wilks.
The baby came through with flying colors. She was born on Valentine's Day, perfectly normal.
Alis, now an eighth grader at Bush Middle School, noticed patients got cold during cancer treatment. So she and her mom make cozy fleece blankets to give away. It's her small way of showing patients she cares what they're going through. After all, she went through chemo in the womb.
Alis said, "Oh, it's very interesting. But it's something that I've been around ever since I was little, so cancer's not really scary to me, I guess. I've kind of been around it since I could remember."
At the cancer care centers of south Texas, Julie is being treated with targeted therapies that are less toxic than drugs she took ten or 15 years ago. Cancer that had spread to her liver has disappeared for now.
"She's in complete remission right now. On her recent reports, just recently, there's no traces of her disease," said Dr. Wilks.
Louviere said, "At the end of the day you have to have a feisty, sassy attitude because cancer doesn't like that."
Julie is taking part in the Susan G. Komen race for the cure to raise money for breast cancer this weekend. Her team of 45 people is called "Julie's Sole Sisters and Brothers."
