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Oct. 10 - Oct. 17, 2004 |
Meni Smiles Again
Mother defeated breast cancer and welcomes surprise
By Mariella Policheni
For the past eight months, happiness has had the face of Meni Pitoscia. In less than a month, this Italian-Canadian woman will deliver her second child, and preparations are underway. Everybody, from her husband John to her five-year-old son Claudio, from her mother-in-law to her mother, from family to friends, are frantic.
This would look like just any other young woman's story, but it isn't. Meni defeated breast cancer in 2000, facing surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplant. She suffered even more because she thought that Claudio would remain an only child. "We have to rule out completely any possibility of a second pregnancy," she had been told. "Look at me now, here's this big belly that is growing by the day," laughs Meni. "I'm so happy."
For Meni, a volunteer of the Canadian Cancer Society, this child came as a huge surprise. "My doctor had been very clear: I could not have any more children. This had saddened me deeply, because I had hoped to give Claudio a sibling," remembers Meni. "Therefore, when I skipped my cycle for several months I did not consider the possibility of a pregnancy."
Meni learned she was indeed expecting in her third month, thanks to an ultrasound scan. "I felt like I was carrying a child in my womb, but at the same time I thought I was crazy, as it just couldn't be," says an emotional Meni. "The ultrasound scan confirmed that I was indeed pregnant."
A real shock for Meni and her husband. "We looked at each other, speechless. Our joy was overwhelming."
Telling it to the families, Meni recalls, was a lot of fun. "I wanted to wait some more, at least until the end of the third month, but I couldn't. It was such an important thing for me that I had even thought of adopting a child... so I called my brothers Onofrio and Pietro, my sister Flora, my mother Antonietta and my mother-in-law Palmina, inviting them over to my place. When they asked me why, I simply answered, come and you'll find out."
The cake reading "Pink or blue we welcome you" was still not enough to give anyone a suspicion as to Meni's pregnancy.
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