Warsaw Woman Gives Birth To Child Despite Battle With Cancer
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Warsaw resident and breast cancer survivor Heidi Floyd, like most mothers, is thankful for her children every day.
Heidi's unique situation is that three years ago she was pregnant with her fourth child, Noah, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Heidi, 40, and her husband, Stuart, and children moved to Warsaw two months ago from Fort Wayne for her husband to become pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church.Besides Noah, the couple have three other children: Alexandra, 13; Katherine, 5; and Isabella, 4.
Heidi was two months pregnant with her fourth child when she discovered she had a lump on her breast in 2004. She was 37 years old at the time.
She said she was advised that when a woman is pregnant they shouldn't have a mammogram. She visited her obstetrician gynecologist in Chicago where she lived before moving to Joliet.
She had a needle biopsy that tested fluid in her breast and the results did not show signs of cancer. She then received a lumpectomy and the results came back positive for breast cancer.
The cancer hit close to home because her mother, Roberta, died from breast cancer at 42 years old.
Floyd saw an oncologist in Chicago who advised her she could only be treated if she terminated her pregnancy. Floyd said the oncologist told her she needed chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but radiation could not be done while a woman is pregnant.
"I felt having an abortion was not even an option for me because I did not want to put my life before my unborn child's," Floyd said.
She said she had faith that she would wait to undergo radiation after her baby was born.
"Faith to me was not that things would turn out the way I had hoped or planned, but more importantly knowing my baby would be taken care of," she said.
She sought a second opinion from the Indianapolis University Cancer Center in Indianapolis where doctors gave her a form of chemotherapy specifically for pregnant patients. Chemotherapy continued through Floyd's pregnancy until two weeks before her baby was born.
Noah was born April 2, 2005, a month earlier than planned by C-section so Heidi could begin cancer radiation. Heidi said Noah was born a healthy baby at Hindsdale Hospital, Hindsdale, Ill.
The family moved back to Fort Wayne when Noah was 2 months old. Heidi underwent radiation treatments at Parkview Hospital for two months.
Despite her cancer battle and the joys of raising four children, she is an ambassador for Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, Fort Wayne.
The foundation was founded in 1998 by two women who lost a friend to cancer. The foundation helps fund breast cancer research and support.
She travels around the United States and speaks about her cancer experiences with others.
She said one of the most important things she has learned through her battle with cancer is to be humble.
"I have learned that my life is not more important than others and learned to embrace others who have undergone similar situations as myself," Floyd said.
She has a low dose of chemotherapy each day by taking a pill, and visits oncologists in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis once every three months
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Redeemer Lutheran Church will hold an event Oct. 28 where Floyd will tell her story. A free-will offering will be taken to raise funds for those who suffer from breast cancer.
She also will travel with Vera Bradley Foundation representatives to states such as Massachusetts, Michigan and Illinois to tell her story.
For more information about the Vera Bradley Foundation, visit verabradley.org
