Living With a Rare Cancer

In this week’s “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Michelle Velez, a married mother of two and news anchor in Las Vegas, who developed a rare gynecological cancer following a molar pregnancy.

 

“When we went back for another ultrasound to check and see how things have progressed, that’s when my doctor took one look at the screen, turned around and asked me, ‘How do you feel?’ And I said, ‘I feel awful and sick all the time.’ And he said, ‘Well, that's because you didn’t have a miscarriage. You have a molar pregnancy.’ We had no idea what that was. I'd never heard of it in my life.”

 

A molar pregnancy occurs in 1 out of every 1,000 pregnancies and is a result of a genetic error during the fertilization process that leads to a growth of abnormal tissue within the uterus, according to the American Pregnancy Association. 

 

Velez had never heard of her type of cancer and felt alone as she was coping with the diagnosis and the loss of a baby. Listen as she details the emotional journey that led to her choriocarcinoma diagnosis and how she found strength.