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She refused to abort while fighting cancer. Now, she's an oncology nurse on a mission.
When Alicia Henry Harris was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant, she was initially encouraged to have an abortion. Then, another doctor offered her treatment, and she safely delivered her baby.
Today, she works as an oncology nurse in the same unit that saved her life.
Harris found a lump in her breast when she was 14 weeks pregnant; she was soon diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer.
Her first doctor recommended abortion, but she got a second opinion, and was given treatment during her pregnancy until she was able to safely deliver her daughter at 36 weeks.
She created a foundation to support other pregnant mothers fighting cancer.
Harris has since become a nurse, and works in the same oncology unit which saved her life.
Alicia Henry Harris and her husband were thrilled when they learned she was pregnant with their first child. But when she noticed a lump in her breast at 14 weeks, she initially assumed it was her milk coming in early. Instead, she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer.
"Hearing the words 'you have cancer' while carrying a baby felt like my whole world stopped," she wrote for Cure Today. "I remember holding my stomach and praying for strength, not just for me but for the tiny life growing inside me."
In an interview with Brighter, she said her doctor encouraged her to have an abortion; she refused and sought another opinion, so she could allow herself to go through treatment while pregnant, saying that her baby gave her motivation to survive.
In her second trimester, Harris underwent surgery to remove the lump, and then went through chemotherapy in the third trimester.
"One time, baby girl kicked so hard during treatment, the nurse jumped and said, 'Was that you or the baby?'” she told Brighter. "I said, 'That’s her letting you know she’s fighting too.'”
Every kick, she said, was another push to keep fighting. At 36 weeks, she was induced, and safely delivered her daughter, Journi. She immediately continued treatment, including radiation, after giving birth.
As she wrote for Cure Today:
I was recovering from childbirth, learning to care for a newborn, and still sitting in chemo and radiation appointments. My body was tired, my mind was foggy from chemo brain, and I often felt like I was running on empty. But I kept pushing through because giving up wasn’t an option.
The nurses who cared for me became my family during that time. They didn’t just treat my cancer, they treated my spirit. They asked about my baby, celebrated my small wins and gave me hope on the days I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. Their compassion and kindness stayed with me long after treatment ended.
When I finished treatment, both my baby and I had made it through. I named her Journi because that’s exactly what it was — a journey of faith, pain and strength. The fight that my baby and I went through together changed me forever.
Harris created a non-profit foundation, Journi For Two, to offer more support and resources for pregnant mothers fighting cancer, including after they have overcome it.
"After you ring the bell, that’s only the beginning of something that’s a lot longer. Survivorship is forever,” she told PEOPLE. “Nobody really understands what survivorship is, because you really lose a part of yourself after all of that. Going through treatment and having to go through postpartum while having radiation and while doing treatment was just a hard time, really hard time."
The foundation looks to offer both financial and emotional support, through their pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood journeys. Yet she still wanted to do more to give back.
Harris went back to school at the age of 40, with the goal of becoming a nurse.
"Going back to school while raising a toddler and still healing was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done," she admitted. "There were nights when I studied with my daughter asleep on my chest, reading the same line over and over because my brain was still foggy from chemo. Some days I questioned if I could really do it, but then I’d remember the nurses who carried me through. I wanted to be that for someone else."
Harris had worked in the beauty industry for 20 years prior to this, and said she struggled with imposter syndrome. But she was able to graduate from nursing school, and now works in the same oncology unit that saved her life.
She said she wants to be able to do for other women what was done for her: reassure her that she was not alone, and that she could do this.
“I had a nurse that told me the same thing during my first appointment, and she held my hand, and she told me, ‘Listen, it’s gonna be okay. I was once in your shoes, and look at where I am today,’” she said.
"Being a breast cancer survivor shaped me as a nurse," she said in a video for Uniform Advantage. "As a mom, a survivor, a nurse, I want to make sure that no other mother feels alone while battling cancer."
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·She refused to abort while fighting cancer. Now, she's an oncology nurse on a mission.
When Alicia Henry Harris was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant, she was initially encouraged to have an abortion. Then, another doctor offered her treatment, and she safely delivered her baby.
Today, she works as an oncology nurse in the same unit that saved her life.
Harris found a lump in her breast when she was 14 weeks pregnant; she was soon diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer.
Her first doctor recommended abortion, but she got a second opinion, and was given treatment during her pregnancy until she was able to safely deliver her daughter at 36 weeks.
She created a foundation to support other pregnant mothers fighting cancer.
Harris has since become a nurse, and works in the same oncology unit which saved her life.
Alicia Henry Harris and her husband were thrilled when they learned she was pregnant with their first child. But when she noticed a lump in her breast at 14 weeks, she initially assumed it was her milk coming in early. Instead, she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer.
"Hearing the words 'you have cancer' while carrying a baby felt like my whole world stopped," she wrote for Cure Today. "I remember holding my stomach and praying for strength, not just for me but for the tiny life growing inside me."
In an interview with Brighter, she said her doctor encouraged her to have an abortion; she refused and sought another opinion, so she could allow herself to go through treatment while pregnant, saying that her baby gave her motivation to survive.
In her second trimester, Harris underwent surgery to remove the lump, and then went through chemotherapy in the third trimester.
"One time, baby girl kicked so hard during treatment, the nurse jumped and said, 'Was that you or the baby?'” she told Brighter. "I said, 'That’s her letting you know she’s fighting too.'”
Every kick, she said, was another push to keep fighting. At 36 weeks, she was induced, and safely delivered her daughter, Journi. She immediately continued treatment, including radiation, after giving birth.
As she wrote for Cure Today:
I was recovering from childbirth, learning to care for a newborn, and still sitting in chemo and radiation appointments. My body was tired, my mind was foggy from chemo brain, and I often felt like I was running on empty. But I kept pushing through because giving up wasn’t an option.
The nurses who cared for me became my family during that time. They didn’t just treat my cancer, they treated my spirit. They asked about my baby, celebrated my small wins and gave me hope on the days I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. Their compassion and kindness stayed with me long after treatment ended.
When I finished treatment, both my baby and I had made it through. I named her Journi because that’s exactly what it was — a journey of faith, pain and strength. The fight that my baby and I went through together changed me forever.
Harris created a non-profit foundation, Journi For Two, to offer more support and resources for pregnant mothers fighting cancer, including after they have overcome it.
"After you ring the bell, that’s only the beginning of something that’s a lot longer. Survivorship is forever,” she told PEOPLE. “Nobody really understands what survivorship is, because you really lose a part of yourself after all of that. Going through treatment and having to go through postpartum while having radiation and while doing treatment was just a hard time, really hard time."
The foundation looks to offer both financial and emotional support, through their pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood journeys. Yet she still wanted to do more to give back.
Harris went back to school at the age of 40, with the goal of becoming a nurse.
"Going back to school while raising a toddler and still healing was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done," she admitted. "There were nights when I studied with my daughter asleep on my chest, reading the same line over and over because my brain was still foggy from chemo. Some days I questioned if I could really do it, but then I’d remember the nurses who carried me through. I wanted to be that for someone else."
Harris had worked in the beauty industry for 20 years prior to this, and said she struggled with imposter syndrome. But she was able to graduate from nursing school, and now works in the same oncology unit that saved her life.
She said she wants to be able to do for other women what was done for her: reassure her that she was not alone, and that she could do this.
“I had a nurse that told me the same thing during my first appointment, and she held my hand, and she told me, ‘Listen, it’s gonna be okay. I was once in your shoes, and look at where I am today,’” she said.
"Being a breast cancer survivor shaped me as a nurse," she said in a video for Uniform Advantage. "As a mom, a survivor, a nurse, I want to make sure that no other mother feels alone while battling cancer."
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Carole Novielli
·Human Interest
Bridget Sielicki
·Guest Column
Kelsey Lebo
·Human Interest
Bridget Sielicki
·Human Interest
Anne Marie Williams, RN, BSN
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Pop Culture
Cassy Cooke
·