Maureen Flanagan’s pregnancy with her third son, Tommy, was going along as expected. But in her fourth month, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer specialists at
University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center worked in unison with her OB-GYN team at Ohio’s only dedicated women’s hospital – UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital. Together, they moved forward with a plan that was both safe and extraordinary. First Maureen underwent a mastectomy. Then her baby was delivered fi ve weeks early. This meant mom could undergo urgently needed chemotherapy that much sooner. Tommy, though premature, thrived under the watchful care of nationally recognized newborn specialists in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. Today, Tommy is a happy, healthy six-year-old with a happy, cancer-free mom.