A Mom of Four Had to Stop Breastfeeding to Start Fighting for Her Life

Monica Rejaei Brooks was living a picture-perfect life in September 2023.

She was 38 years old and an accomplished attorney raising her family with her husband in Germantown, Tenn.

They, along with their three children, had just welcomed a beautiful baby boy to the family, providing pure joy and happiness that reverberated throughout their family and social groups.

It didn't take long for this family of five to settle in and adjust to being a family of six. Monica was getting back to work and practicing law after being on maternity leave for a couple of months.

Life was great.

Like her other children, she breastfed her newborn and pumped when necessary, but one day in early 2024, something felt wrong. She thought she felt something slightly palpable and unusual. By now, she knew what to expect and not expect when breastfeeding and pumping- this was something she hadn't noticed before.

Her intuition was sounding the alarm bells.

"I can't remember if it was breastfeeding or pumping or a little bit of both," Monica recalled.

"I felt something. It wasn't large, it was very small, that felt like a full milk duct. But something, to me, just felt mentally off. I decided to go to my OB, and she took it very seriously," Monica said.

The OBGYN told Monica she was concerned and that she was referring her to get some imaging done. Monica came to the Methodist Comprehensive Breast Center in Germantown to get a mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy.

A few days later, on Feb. 13, 2024, Monica was working from home and got a phone call.

She remembers it vividly.

She was prepared for bad news but had no idea the voice on the other end of the phone was about to change her life forever.

The lab tests showed that she had Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of cancer that's only seen in about 10-15% of all breast cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

Perhaps out of muscle memory or through years of practice as an attorney, Monica started to prepare.

She needed to tell her husband, her young children, her boss at the law firm, her social groups and her OGBYN provider.

"My husband took it pretty hard," Monica said. "He and I have been together since we were 20, and [now] we're both 41. We've been together pretty much our whole adult lives," Monica said noting how devastating the news was for those closest to her.

"We told our oldest, who at the time was 10. That was hard. She did not take it very well," Monica said. She told her other children, who were perhaps too young to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

But perhaps just as heartbreaking was what Monica had to do for her baby.

"I had to stop breastfeeding when I started chemo and that was really hard," Monica said. "I breastfed him up until the morning when I went for chemo."

As any breastfeeding mother can attest, you can decide to stop breastfeeding, but your body doesn't know that you're trying to stop-it continues to produce.

So, for the next several weeks and while undergoing treatment, Monica would have to pump and discard the milk she produced, which was incredibly difficult for Monica.

The milk that nourished and sustained her baby for the first few months of his life could now be a source of real danger carrying life-threatening risks since Monica's body was now being subjected to a toxic mixture of chemicals from constant chemotherapy treatments.

16 rounds of treatment to be exact.

Fortunately, her baby was able to transition to a bottle with relative ease. But Monica's transition to her new normal went beyond the limits of what any person should have to experience.

Her new normal was undergoing 12 rounds of Taxol, carboplatin, and four rounds of Adriamycin-the "Red Devil chemo."

Six months of immunotherapy.

Four weeks of radiation.

A lumpectomy.

And throughout that grueling course of treatment, life was still happening for her and her family. She made the decision to double down and focus on her family and her work.

The sporting events for her kids didn't stop. The plays and performances went on as scheduled. Her baby had milestones to hit. Monica said her husband had to carry a heavier load since she was now immunocompromised and often very tired and weak from treatment.

But that didn't impact her mental fortitude, and she still found ways to safely and actively participate in things to make sure she experienced those big milestones and moments.

"I was not the person that went to chemo and was like, sad, you know? I went and sometimes brought cookies for my chemo nurses. I was always talking when I was awake," she said. Having a support person at her treatment was also a big help, whether that was a friend or family member.

Her family motivated her to keep moving forward, but Monica also found solace in her legal community. She continued to practice law and helped her clients whenever she wasn't being treated.

She received a lot of support from her law practice and was even granted approval to appear by phone and video for many of her court hearings, providing her with an escape from the daily grind of treatment.

But perhaps her biggest source of support and comfort came from an unexpected source. It came not from the bench and the bar, but from her husband's church. He invited his pastor to come over to speak with Monica and pray for her as she faced this uncertain road.

Monica went to church casually as a child, but after her talk with Father Jolly, he administered a special sacrament called "Anointing of the Sick," which had a profound impact on her.

Receiving that sacrament started another journey for Monica, one that helped her find her faith.

After that, she started attending mass regularly at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Germantown and ended up being received into full communication with the Catholic Church through the Sacrament of Confirmation during treatment.

This confluence of events helped her realize the need to have a mind shift so she could be more present and not worry about what may or may not lay ahead.

"I was a workaholic before, and still am, but I wake up now and concentrate more on my day and my faith and my kids," Monica said. "I just worry about what's happening now instead of constantly stressing about what's going to happen in a month or 6 months."

Monica was fortunate to learn that her cancer was caught relatively early and had not spread to any lymph nodes, which gave doctor's an encouraging prognosis.

Despite hospitalization early on in treatment, allergic reactions, and weeks and months of uncertainty, Monica has decided to be grateful in the face of extreme adversity.

"Everything was literally perfect," she said realizing how fortunate she and her family were before her diagnosis.

"I went through school, I've got this wonderful job, I married the love of my life right out of college, we both went to college together, we finished law school, we got married, we started a family… I mean almost the perfect ideal American family," she added.

"And everything is going amazingly and then a huge shift. It just really made me sit back and think like, gosh, how amazing I have it, and how grateful I need to be."

This diagnosis and journey helped Monica put things into perspective and helped her stay strong during a time of immense tumult and uncertainty. She had an immeasurable amount of support as she quite literally worked her way through cancer treatment.

She completed her treatment and was given the all clear in the fall of 2024.

Monica now undergoes tumor testing every six months or so to make sure there are no signs of cancer. She acknowledges the importance of screening and said it could very well save your life.

"Screening is so important. I mean, it will save your life. You won't know unless you go get screened," she said, thinking about the start of her journey.

"If you do get diagnosed, as hard as it is, especially at the beginning of that journey, you have to stay positive, and you have to go through your treatment with a smile on your face."

Monica survived an unfathomable journey. It was hard. There were, of course, dark moments. But her family and faith helped guide her and ground her.

If you ask Monica, she'll tell you she's still living the American Dream, just with a few physical and mental scars-all reminding her of a life worth fighting for.

She may be living in the present more than ever before, but rest assured she is looking forward to every one of those milestones that lie ahead for each of her four children.

To learn more about the importance of breast cancer screenings please visit https://www.methodisthealth.org/healthcare-services/womens-health/breast-health/.

You can schedule your mammogram at one of our five locations by call 901 516 9000 or 662-996-2122 in Mississippi.