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She's since beaten that cancer twice ...
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...and given birth to two sons: Richard Louis III and Henry. Robinette's family and friends have a GoFundMe page to help the family with medical expenses: Visit bit.ly/2NTBAuj. "Dealing with a stage IV metastatic breast cancer diagnosis has been no small thing," Robinette wrote June 6 on her GoFundMe page. "I keep thinking of all the things I have to live for, not the least of which Is my little family. I’m determined to manage this diagnosis and disease as a chronic condition."
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In 2014, Chiara was taking a shower when she felt the lump. She double-checked her findings with her husband Rich, who concurred. Chiari said her general practitioner ordered an ultrasound, which led to a diagnostic mammogram, then to a biopsy and finally the cancer diagnosis. "It was pretty devastating," Chiara said. Up to that point, she and Rich had been talking about starting a family. "All of a sudden, we were looking at treatment options," Chiara said.
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Because the cancer was limited to the breast, Chiara opted for a bilateral nipple-sparing mastectomy, which meant reconstruction surgery would give her a more natural look, instead of "being left with a bare chest," she said. In addition, Chiara and Rich still wanted children, so they also opted for fertility preservation. But when Chiara was about to begin the egg retrieval process, she had another surprise. "I was pregnant," Chiara said. The pregnancy was completely normal. Chiara didn't even experience much morning sickness, she said. "I enjoyed every minute of my pregnancy, savored it really," Chiara said. "Richard was born in April 2015. We waited six weeks and then started chemotherapy,"
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Chiara said she had 12 weekly treatments of a chemotherapy that was specific to her type of breast cancer. That was followed by a second chemotherapy medication. "There was no hair loss or any of the associated chemotherapy side effects you think of with cancer treatments," Chiara said. "I completed a year of that." In 2016, Chiara and Rich were given the "green light" to expand their family. "Then in 2017 I had a recurrence and I had to put that on the back burner," Chiara said. "I was fortunate that the lump presented itself on top of the implant instead of inside the chest wall." This time, she and Rich did complete fertility preservation and froze nine embryos, she said. "I felt really blessed," Chiara said. "Not that many people get that many embryos to freeze."
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Chemotherapy this time was "more taxing," especially since she was also caring for her young son. Chiara had six total treatments, one every three weeks for 18 weeks. "When you hear about chemo making people feel sick and fatigued, that was definitely my experience," Chiara said, "I got through it with a lot of help from my family and my husband's family." In August 2017, Chiara had a complete mastectomy on her right side. Then she had radiation, Monday through Friday, for six weeks. Chiara said her prognosis was so good, she and Rich were ready for another pregnancy. "We had no reason to think I'd wind up in stage four breast cancer," she said. "In November of last year, I had an embryo implanted and it took the first time."
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The hip pain started after Chiara completed her first month of pregnancy. An old workout injury was blamed and Chiara was sent for physical therapy and then to a chiropractor. By April, Chiara was having back spasms that dropped her to her hands and knees, she said. So Chiara was sent to a pain specialist. "I did steroid injections in the lumbar area," she said. "It took away those horrible back spasms, so I got some relief from that." But then around Mother's Day, Chiara's legs became so weak, she struggled to climb stairs, so she stopped climbing them. She also stopped driving, for fear she'd lose ability behind the wheel. She finally had an MRI. The cancer had returned. It was in her spine and liver. And Chiara had six weeks left of her pregnancy.
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According to her GoFundMe page, Chiara had a laminectomy on May 20 to relieve the pressure on the nerves in her spine. The goal was to get Henry to 34 weeks gestation. Chiara received steroid injections to speed up Henry's lung maturity. Henry was born June 12 at 34 weeks. After spending some time in the neonatal intensive care unit, Henry joined his brother Richard at home.
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Richard is a "perfectly healthy, happy rambunctious 4-year-old right now," Chiara said. Henry is doing well, too, her Facebook page said.
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Chiara has a new treatment plan and lots of hope. Her health care team is amazing, she said. "I'm going to live my life," she said. "We have no reason to believe it's not going to work...Women are living longer and longer with metastatic breast cancer. I plan on being one of them."