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By Mandy Haggerson

For the Clemmons Courier

Pinpointing where “home” is for Darci Gagnon always leads back to family. Having lived in many different places, Darci was raised with her sister and her cousins in New York, who were more like siblings. 

Once she turned 14, her aunt, uncle and cousins embarked on a new adventure and moved to North Carolina. Darci’s family followed. 

At the same time, Darci’s future husband, Keith, also moved from New Hampshire.

“When we met, we bonded over being from up north,” said Darci. “Ironically our parents later worked together too.” 

Darci and Keith knew they had a special connection during high school. When Keith attended N.C. State University, Darci took classes at the local community college and worked for a vet.

“We got married during college, and I continued to work to help pay bills so Keith could get his PhD,” said Darci. 

Like Darci, Keith valued family. What they soon discovered was that they could not conceive.

“We struggled for five years with infertility. When we found out we were pregnant with Lucas, now 17, we were overjoyed. When Lucas was 9 months, we moved to Texas for Keith’s job. We had thought it was only going to be three years at most away from North Carolina, but it ended up being 15 years,” said Darci.

Although the Gagnons were no longer close to family, they were still committed to expanding their immediate family. Unfortunately, they were met again with fertility issues.

“We experienced a devastating miscarriage. We also explored our options with infertility treatment,” said Darci.

Three-and-a-half years after giving birth to her oldest, she welcomed her daughter, Novalee, now 13. 

Darci made sure her kids were able to be involved in sports like soccer and taekwondo. Oftentimes, that has meant playing for top soccer clubs two hours away. 

Committed to their children, and knowing the many challenges they had with conceiving, the Gagnons explored fostering to adopt.

“We had filled out the applications, and then we got some really shocking news. At 35 years old, I had gone to the doctor because I was experiencing symptoms that made me believe I had breast cancer. The nurse brushed it off, in large part due to my age. But I knew something was not right,” revealed Darci. 

Four months later, after multiple mammograms, Darci was escorted to a room where she was met by a nurse navigator.

“It was like rapid fire. I was told by her that I had breast cancer. They didn’t know what kind, I needed a double mastectomy, and so much other medical information that was jarring to hear as I sat there by myself,” said Darci. 

As Darci made plans with her team of doctors, it was agreed that a double mastectomy would be necessary, given the multiple tumors.

“Right before I was wheeled into surgery, my anesthesiologist had done a routine pregnancy test. He asked me if I knew that I was pregnant. I told him, ‘that’s not possible.’” said Darci. 

After years of fighting and struggling to conceive, Darci knew that although the baby was not expected, she would do everything to protect it.

“The senior oncologist immediately said we were crazy for not terminating the pregnancy. What would be good for the baby would not be good for me, and vice versa,” said Darci. 

As Darci was processing the news of the pregnancy, she relayed to Keith a dream she had.

“I dreamt prior to my double mastectomy that I was playing with a baby girl named Hope on the playground. Novalee later shared that she also had a similar dream,” said Darci. “It was clear this baby already had a name and was meant to be a part of our family.” 

After postponing the surgery for one hour, Darci went into surgery knowing she was going to do everything she could to fight for her baby. Once she recovered from her double mastectomy and breast reconstruction, she postponed her cancer treatment. Doing so was risky to her health because the cancer was 100 percent estrogen-progesterone driven. 

Staying vigilant about what she was given, she noticed the wrong medicine, Taxol, was about to be administered.

“Fortunately, I caught it before the nurse did because that would have harmed the baby. The doctor apologized later that day because he knew the potential danger,” said Darci. “There is now a stopgap protocol in place to prevent errors like that from occurring to others.” 

Darci was encouraged to deliver Hope early because she needed to move on to radiation therapy, which was unsafe for the baby.

“But I wanted to ensure that she was old enough not to enter the NICU. I waited until the absolute final day of week 35 for an induction to deliver our daughter,” said Darci 

Hope Eloise was born on Father’s Day.

“Once they broke the water, Hope was ready to come out into the world, and didn’t wait for the doctors to arrive. She was 4 pounds and 15 ounces,” said Darci. “She came home with me two days later.” 

With Hope just one week old, Darci began 33 rounds of radiation. 

Now in survivorship care, Darci spends her free time reading, enjoying her family and encouraging her children’s dreams.

“Seeing your children in their happiest, that’s everything to me. Keith and I fought so hard to have them, and that journey has really made us grateful,” said Darci. “While it’s not been the easiest, I do hope that others, especially women in childbearing years, have the courage to advocate for themselves. While the implication is that the mom is fighting for herself and the baby, I believe it was Hope who was fighting for both of us. She gave me strength to fight harder throughout the treatment. I hope other women can find that courage too.”