In the Prime of Her Life and Expecting Her Fourth Child, Breast Cancer Struck

A 29-year-old Bethlehem resident and mother of three boys, Alexis Elicier was looking forward to the birth of her fourth child, due in March 2024. Sometime before that, she noticed a lump in her breast. She thought it was related to her pregnancy. However, when the lump got bigger, she decided to see her OB-GYN, who recommended Alexis have a biopsy. 

Alexis’ son Zakai was born via a cesarean section on March 7, and just a couple of days later she received the results of her biopsy. “I was at home and got a call from the nurse navigator, who told me my test showed stage 2 breast cancer,” Alexis says. “I was all alone on the couch with my baby and thought, ‘This can’t be happening.’” 

Because she had a negative experience with another hospital, Alexis put all her faith in the care at Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, part of Jefferson Health. The staff got her – along with her new baby – in as soon as possible to meet with the Cancer Institute’s Multidisciplinary Tumor Board. 

The group includes specialists across the spectrum as well as nurse navigators and social workers, together with the doctors who would be handling the case. This way, they can evaluate the best treatment from every angle. 

“As soon as they had the diagnosis, they had a plan,” Alexis says. “They knew what they were doing and got me to the right people. Going to the Cancer Institute was the best decision I ever made.” 

Alexis started her treatment with chemotherapy on April 8.

“This aggressive cancer required chemotherapy first,” says hematologist oncologist Simi Rai, MD, who explained Alexis would not need radiation because six months of chemotherapy would be powerful enough.

Alexis knew this period would be challenging and reached out for help. The children’s father, Raselisha, who is very involved in the children’s lives, stepped right up, as did her mother and Raselisha’s Aunt Sylvia. Alexis’ father also came from New York.

“I was very sick with constant nausea. I couldn’t hold or feed my baby,” Alexis says, who turned 30 in the hospital and was treated to a visit from her children, who brought balloons.

She was inspired to find strength from her grandmother who had passed away from pancreatic cancer some time ago. “I knew God wanted me to fight this battle because my grandma couldn’t,” she says. “I knew I was going to make it.” 

The next steps were surgery in October 2024, and reconstruction, which was performed at the same time.

“Alexis decided on a bilateral mastectomy [removal of both breasts] and removal of positive lymph nodes after completing chemotherapy,” says surgical oncologist Heiwon Chung, MD. “Her decision was based on her young age and aggressive cancer type, despite negative genetics. She also had a benign [not harmful] mass on the opposite side that concerned her.”

At the same time the mastectomy was done, Alexis agreed to a newer approach to reconstruction, called the aesthetic flat option or the “Goldilocks” procedure. This state-of-the-art technique is a highly specialized solution for certain patients.

“Essentially, all the skin and fat left after the mastectomy is pulled together to create a breast mound,” says plastic and reconstructive surgery Randolph Wojcik, MD, Chief, Division of Plastic Surgery, Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence, part of Jefferson Health. “After a mastectomy, the patient’s chest may dip in; this surgery creates a flat to elevated chest. The more skin or fat a patient has, the larger the breast mound can be.” 

“Some patients are happy with their size,” he adds, “but some may opt to add more volume to their breasts a few months later, either using their own tissue through fat grafting (liposuction, with flaps or using implants.”

The good news for Alexis is that when her final pathology came back, it showed her cancer had completely “melted away,” meaning chemotherapy had destroyed the tumor – the best response possible. She was elated to return to being a mom and taking care of her family. 

“The doctors kept telling me they were going to get me back to my kids and that’s what they did,” Alexis says. “I did my part and they did theirs, and that’s how we did it.”