Krystal and Matt Fleeger never planned to have children. After 18 years together, the Portland couple thought they would live out the rest of their lives together, just the two of them.
But when Krystal learned she was pregnant last December, the timing couldn’t have been better.
The 39-year-old woman experienced a rough year in 2014. She finally regained control of an active autoimmune disease, only to be diagnosed with breast cancer weeks later.
The Fleegers desperately wanted to end 2014 on a positive note. The news of little Neva Fleeger, who would be born Aug. 2, proved to be the positive they needed.
“That was a good end to 2014,” Krystal Fleeger said. “We were really excited.”
At first, 2014 seemed promising.
After five years of battling an autoimmune disease that left marks resembling cigarette burns all over her skin, Fleeger had finally gained control of the disease in February.
But just a couple of weeks later, Fleeger received the cancer diagnosis.
Fleeger’s nurse practitioner had often told her she should have her breasts checked. Fleeger chalked up the concerning lumps in her breasts to genetics. She has lumpy breasts, just as her mother does.
But at her provider’s insistence, Fleeger had a mammogram, a needle biopsy and a surgical biopsy in November 2013. They all came back clear.
Still, her provider wasn’t convinced. In February 2014, Fleeger underwent a lumpectomy, which revealed breast cancer. Fleeger was diagnosed with Stage 0 (though she was on the higher end of that classification) ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, the most common form of noninvasive breast cancer.
The tissue removed during the lumpectomy didn’t have clear margins — meaning the space around the tumor wasn’t cancer-free — so Fleeger needed more surgery. She opted for a double mastectomy.
She consulted with about eight surgeons, interviewing each of them before selecting two Vancouver doctors to perform the work — Dr. Toni Storm-Dickerson to do the mastectomy and Dr. Allen Gabriel to reconstruct her breasts.
At the end of April 2014, Fleeger underwent the double mastectomy and had expanders placed. In July, the expanders were replaced with breast implants.
Because Fleeger’s cancer was caught early, she didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation. Lymph nodes removed during surgery came back clear, so the cancer hadn’t spread.
Finally, life looked like it would return to normal. New Year’s Eve was approaching, and the Fleegers were looking for a way to ring in 2015.
“We were just waiting for 2014 to end,” she said. “We were going to burn that year.”
That’s when Fleeger learned she was pregnant.
Neva arrived Aug. 2 — a week early — weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces.
“She got my sleep gene and his eating gene,” Fleeger said, nodding toward her husband.
Neva can nap anywhere, anytime — just like her mom. And she’s a slow eater, enjoying her formula, like her dad does with his meals, Fleeger said.
Neva rarely cries. And when she does, she’s easily soothed, Fleeger said.
While the Fleegers never thought they would have a child, Fleeger said it’s important for women to realize their lives can — and will — go on after cancer.
“We had no plans for this, but it’s been great,” she said. “We’ve been together 18 years. This is a whole new chapter, another 18 years.”
