New mom battles cancer and wins, in more ways than one

In October 2022, Erin Ackerman found a lump in her breast. Making that discovery even more frightening – Erin was seven a half months pregnant with her first child.

Doctors at TriStar Summit Medical Center diagnosed her with stage 2 breast cancer. And they suggested inducing her at 34 weeks pregnant. Baby Willow arrived Nov. 22, 2022, healthy and happy.

Two weeks later, mom started chemotherapy. Erin, then 32, eventually needed surgery to remove an aggressive baseball sized tumor, followed by physical therapy and radiation treatments. As you can imagine, that’s hell for anyone, let alone the young single mother of a baby.

But Erin and her daughter, who live in Mt. Juliet, got through it together. Willow even helped mom ring the bell when chemo ended.

“She was with me at the beginning of my journey,” Erin said, “and it’s important to have her by my side as I ended treatments.”

Erin is super grateful to the TriStar Summit Medical Center clinicians, who had to figure out how to treat her and her unborn daughter right after the cancer was detected.

“I cannot thank them enough for their kindness and professionalism” she said, “which made all the difference in my fight against breast cancer.”

Last month, Erin celebrated one year cancer free. Awesome!

Also awesome, Erin and her friend Jennifer Hennick decided to start a Facebook group to support other folks under 40 with breast cancer in the Nashville area. Just search for Middle TN Young Breast Cancer Alliance on Facebook and you’ll find them.

“I created the support group page so that women could have an easy route to get in touch with peers,” Erin said, “sharing stories of strength and hope and also having a support system of women who have walked the same path.”

This news story originally published:
The Tennessean, July 14, 2024
www.tennessean.com
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