At 29 weeks into her pregnancy, Kiersten Rapplean was eagerly getting ready to welcome her second baby boy.
Then came the news that every mother-to-be dreads.
Kiersten had been diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer.
The 32-year-old Missouri mother was nearly seven months pregnant with her son Travis when doctors discovered HER2-positive inflammatory invasive ductal carcinoma.
There was no safe way to simply postpone treatment until after the baby arrived.
Her doctors carefully designed a treatment plan that would protect the pregnancy as much as possible while still attacking the cancer.
Kiersten received two rounds of AC chemotherapy before Travis was born.
Then, within just a few remarkable days, her life changed again.
On March 25, at 36 weeks and one day, doctors induced labor. Travis was delivered weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces.
The following day, Kiersten finally underwent the scans that had been delayed during her pregnancy.
And just three days after giving birth, while her tiny newborn was still being cared for in the NICU, Kiersten began targeted cancer therapy.
She had barely had a chance to recover from childbirth before another demanding stage of treatment began.
By June, Kiersten had completed five rounds of TCHP chemotherapy.
On July 11, she underwent a double mastectomy and later continued receiving regular infusions as her medical team worked to manage her stage IV cancer.
Meanwhile, Travis spent 17 days in the NICU before finally going home healthy and thriving.
Through it all, Kiersten wasn’t fighting for anything extravagant. She simply wanted more time.
More birthdays with her children. More bedtime stories. More quiet, ordinary moments with her two boys.
Then, by July 2026, an incredible milestone was reported by local Missouri news outlets: Kiersten was cancer-free.
Stage IV cancer can require ongoing treatment and close monitoring, so the journey was far from over.
Still, after everything Kiersten and her family had endured, reaching this point was an extraordinary victory.
During a single pregnancy, Kiersten was preparing to give her baby life while simultaneously fighting to save her own.
Imagine receiving chemotherapy while feeling your unborn child moving inside you.
Could you imagine having to fight two battles at the same time?
