Springfield native creates group to help fund research for cancer and fertility
SPRINGFIELD >> Three months after getting married, Janet Doherty was diagnosed with stagethree breast cancer. She and her husband found a way to take a devastating situation and bring hope to other couples who may be in the same situation. With the help of others they founded Preserving the Love.
“In January 2014 I was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer. My husband and I had so much support from friends and family. All I had to worry about was showing up for my appointments and treatments and getting healthy. We didn’t have to worry about money, or my job or dinners. Everybody took care of us and took care of things for us,” said Doherty.
The help from others inspired Springfield native and her husband Ian to do something for others that went beyond the usual helping hand.
“When we got through my treatment we decided we wanted to do something to help. We wanted to do something that really spoke to us. I reflected back on the two most traumatic parts of my diagnosis. Losing my hair was the main part and my husband and I might not be able to have kids because cancer treatment affects your fertility. In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is used to preserve embryos — frozen embryos — that are really our only shot the doctors think to have a child. Thinking about that is how we came up with Preserving the Love. Originally we were thinking about just sponsoring IVF treatments because it’s very expensive and insurance does not cover it. Jefferson, who we are working with, came to me to see if we would be interested in sponsoring research. There are a whole bunch of reasons why this research does not get funded,” said Doherty.
In order to retrieve eggs for freezing, a patient undergoes the same hormoneinjection process as in-vitro fertilization. The only difference is that following egg retrieval, they are frozen for a period of time before they are thawed, then fertilized and transferred to the uterus as embryos.
Doherty explains that the two main reason why research on the effect that cancer treatment has on women’s eggs and embryos is because most of the money goes towards making sure that the cancer patient‘s treatment is effective and the Right to Life federal laws.
“Most cancer research is funded by the National Institute of Health but there are laws that you can’t use federal funds to do research on eggs and embryos. There are comparable state laws. So we are teaming up with Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center to help fund research to investigate mechanisms for improving fertility preservation outcomes for cancer patients,” said Doherty
Drs. Jason Franasiak and Daniel Kaser are doing research on women who have undergone chemotherapy and may have a lower number of eggs when undergoing fertility treatment with IVF and women with a cancer diagnosis who are under a tremendous amount of stress and go through emergent fertility preservation. They want to see whether these patients compared to similar women of the same age have a higher or lower rate of chromosomally abnormal embryos. They want to see how well the fertilized eggs from these patients develop in the laboratory into mature embryos which have the highest rate of producing a successful pregnancy.
“This first level of research will show how cancer alone affects fertility and radiation and chemotherapy treatments affect fertility. No one really knows how cancer affects fertility. A younger woman or male who have cancer their chances of being fertile goes down significantly,” said Doherty.
Doherty hopes that through research there will be a way to help those with cancer have a better chance of a fertile healthy embryo. Looking to the future she hopes Preserving the Love will be active in lobbying for more funding for these issues.
Preserving the Love is sponsoring A Night Out on the Town on May 13 at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing in conjunction with the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. Tickets are limited. Last year Doherty and her group made $50,000. This year they are shooting for $100,000 to go to help cancer patients preserve fertility through research. The lead sponsor is Dechert LLP where Doherty works as a lawyer. To buy a ticket you can go to http://preservingthelove.ticketleap.com/ night-out-on-the–town2.
“I just turned 34 and some of my girlfriends have problems having kids and don’t have cancer. People don’t talk about it. I don’t know if they are embarrassed or selfconscious. It’s starting a dialogue among people at Jefferson and lot of my friends and family to talk about fertility and aging populations,” said Doherty.
“For women are only born with a finite among of eggs and men, their sperm rejuvenates. For women the eggs you are born with are the eggs you have for your whole life. If something traumatic happens to them on day one or day 1500 those eggs are not able to be used to have children. All you need is one good egg,” said Doherty.
Doherty is in remission now. She hopes someday possibly to have children. For now after going through treatments she and Ian are rediscovering who they are as young newlyweds before cancer took over their daily life.
“I am on medicine and there are reasons we can’t try to have kids naturally right now. But there is a possibility that cancer treatment really affects the quality of the eggs. This is what they (researchers) are trying to find out. They are not sure if it’s the treatment or the stressors on the body that affects the eggs,” said Doherty.
“Every one’s journey through treatment is different,” said the Springfield native. “So many people supported us and helped us get through it but it’s hard to accept at first because I like to do things on my own. Sometimes you have to let other people raise you up and get you through things. The fertility side of it is so personal and so expensive too. For us, we know we always wanted to have kids the cost whatever we’ll deal with. Some men and woman are not sure if they want kids gets a cancer diagnosis and see the price tag to preserve eggs and embryo methods. They know they will get a huge bill for their cancer treatment and chose not to do it because of finances. Years later they regret it. So we are trying to figure out ways to help generally so people don’t have to make such huge alternating life decisions on day two of their cancer diagnosis,” said Doherty.
“Get educated about your different options and look for second opinions. Listen to what doctors say but it’s your life, your fertility follow your gut and do what you think is right,” stresses Doherty.