Jenney Bitner all the time appeared ahead to her household’s annual journey to see her mom in San Diego. For her three youngsters, it was a two-week trip at their grandmother’s home. For Bitner and her husband, it meant some stress-free time within the solar whereas their Washington dwelling battled moist February climate.
In 2020, the journey was much more welcome than common: Bitner was 22 weeks pregnant, and she or he appeared ahead to the household time amid the second half of her being pregnant. However after someday, Bitner felt too sick to get off the bed. Her head ached, she was nauseous and vomiting, and she or he felt unsteady on her toes.
Two pressing cares prompt she was simply coping with being pregnant signs. That did not really feel proper to Bitner, however she figured an upcoming appointment together with her obstetrician would offer solutions. However when the household bought dwelling from San Diego, Bitner fell twice. Her husband insisted on bringing her to the emergency room.
An MRI revealed a “large tumor” in her mind. Docs scheduled an operation to take away as a lot of the tumor as attainable. Checks on the mass revealed Bitner had Stage IV melanoma that had unfold to her mind. It was a shock: melanoma normally presents with a mark or lesion, and Bitner had by no means seen one. When the illness has unfold this far, sufferers have a five-year survival fee of about 35%, in keeping with the American Most cancers Society.
“I had simply turned 38, and I used to be pregnant with my fourth child. I used to be pondering, ‘I am too younger for this to be taking place,'” Bitner recalled. “I used to be pondering, ‘There isn’t any approach I’ll make it by way of this. I am by no means going to see this child survive to a 12 months previous.’ I used to be terrified.”
Jenney Bitner
Treating most cancers throughout being pregnant
Bitner’s docs beneficial aggressive therapy. The primary surgical procedure had eliminated a lot of the tumor, however her neurosurgeon hadn’t been capable of take out all the mass with out inflicting everlasting mind harm. Additional testing additionally discovered a cancerous nodule in Bitner’s again that was so giant it might be felt by way of her pores and skin.
Bitner wanted immunotherapy, however that wasn’t protected for her unborn little one. Docs mentioned the newborn would seemingly should be delivered early so therapy might start. After a number of weeks of shut monitoring, the choice was made to ship Bitner’s little one by way of C-section at 34 weeks.
Days earlier than the scheduled supply, Bitner once more skilled nausea and complications. A scan confirmed that her tumor had grown again to its full measurement in simply weeks. On high of immunotherapy, she would want one other mind surgical procedure.
“I had these three and a half kids, and my thought was, ‘I am not going to see them develop up,'” Bitner mentioned. “I began writing them letters, like, all this stuff that I used to be going to need to say to them, as a result of I did not suppose I might be there to say it to them.”
Jenney Bitner 
On Might 4, Bitner’s son was born. They named him Marcus, after her neurosurgeon. He weighed 3 kilos 12 ounces and wanted a while within the NICU, however in a journal entry shared on-line, Bitner’s husband described him as “a fighter” who was “feisty already.”
One week later, Bitner had the second mind surgical procedure. This time, her surgeon was capable of take away all the tumor. She spent one other week recovering. Each mom and son had been deemed match to go dwelling on the identical day. In one other journal entry, Bitner’s husband mentioned having his total household collectively finally was “joyous.” The older youngsters had been thrilled to fulfill their child brother, he wrote.
“And so begins the sleepless nights. I will take ’em,” he wrote.
A “fairly outstanding” restoration
In early June 2020, Bitner started immunotherapy. The purpose of the treatment was to spice up her immune system so her white blood cells might assault the cancerous cells in her physique and mind. Checks had proven new areas of concern close to Bitner’s lung, thigh and mind, leaving her anxious about how the therapy would go.
However inside days, Bitner’s husband famous that he could not really feel the cancerous spot on her again. Quickly, different lumps on her pores and skin shrank. Scans confirmed her “fairly outstanding” progress. By her last immunotherapy session, Bitner felt effectively sufficient to drive herself there.
She suffered uncommon unwanted side effects, together with an allergic response and a bout of encephalitis. Each incidents left her hospitalized. However it all felt price it, she mentioned, when her oncologist mentioned in October 2020 that she had no proof of illness.
Dr. Alicia Zhou, the CEO of the Most cancers Analysis Institute, a non-profit that helps immunotherapy analysis, mentioned Bitner is considered one of many sufferers who’ve been helped by cutting-edge immunotherapies. The therapies are “a section shift within the discipline,” she mentioned, and provides sufferers like Bitner an opportunity to not simply survive, however thrive.
Jenney Bitner 
“Earlier than immunoncology, we weren’t actually capable of say the phrase ‘treatment’ for these sufferers who had been affected by Stage IV metastatic illness, and now we are able to,” Zhou mentioned. “It is actually, really transformational for these sufferers.”
Almost six years, Bitner is proud to have beat the percentages and is concentrated on elevating consciousness for brand spanking new immunotherapy analysis and spending time together with her household.
“I really feel like day-after-day I’ve had since all this has occurred has been a present. I should not have had all this time, and so I take day-after-day as one thing valuable,” Bitner mentioned. “It is chaos in my home on a regular basis. And there was a time I might have dreaded it … however now these are sounds I did not suppose I used to be going to get to listen to, in order that they’re music to my ears. The messy home is a ache, however it’s a messy home I did not suppose I used to be ever going to have.”
