Diagnosed During Pregnancy: Ohio State Leukemia Patients Shares Her Story

Controlled chaos but in a good way – that was Kelly Cerovcevic’s life. Happily married, mother to two-year-old Lucy, pregnant with her second child and enjoying her work at a veterinarian’s office while her husband finished his master’s degree, Kelly was busy but on her game.

Then a routine glucose screening changed the game on her: Kelly was diagnosed as anemic, and with extremely low platelet counts, her doctor was more than a little concerned, sending her straight to the nearest hospital. There, at 24 weeks into her pregnancy, Kelly underwent a bone marrow biopsy that revealed a blood disease known as myelodysplastic syndrome.

Anxious about the future of her unborn child, her family and her own life, Kelly and her husband, Yanosh, decided to have her pregnancy induced at 34 weeks, undergoing weekly ultrasounds and visits with a high-risk pregnancy physician leading up to being induced.

At the urging of her doctor, Kelly had a repeat bone marrow biopsy, which confirmed the disease had progressed to a new diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

That’s when she was referred to The James for treatment and to medical oncologist Alison Walker, MD, a nationally recognized expert in blood cancers.

“Dr. Walker was amazing,” Kelly says. “She was ready to get me in and to treat me.”

At 34 weeks, Kelly delivered a beautiful son, Colin, and then just two weeks later, when Colin was strong enough to be released from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Kelly began induction chemotherapy treatments with Dr. Walker.

When her platelets dropped dangerously low, a bone marrow transplant was needed, and after multiple bouts of fighting graft-versus-host disease, Kelly can now proudly say that she has been in remission for more than a year.

“I remember,” shares Kelly, “that one of my nurses, Dee, would come and see me after the transplant. There was such compassion from everyone throughout the process, and they walked me through everything emotionally, too.

“Everyone remembers who you are,” she continues. “They remember my kids and my family, too. They honestly and truly care, beyond the treatment, and you can feel it.”

Now back at work, Kelly is once again enjoying a happy, beautiful and bustling life with Yanosh, her healthy baby boy (who just turned one in January) and now four-year-old Lucy.