Instead, it got worse.
During surgery, doctors extracted a tumor along with a few vertebrae of Fauteux’s spine.
“We didnt know anything about the tumor at first.
Connor Dwyer / Stocksy
They thought it was benign,” she says, explaining that she was more focused on walking again.
But then the truth came: Thetumorwas malignant.
Fauteux had Ewing’s sarcoma, a bone cancer that usually affects children and young adults.
Fauteux before and during chemotherapy. Courtesy of Nicole Fauteux / Jessica Monte with Jessica Monte Photography
She decided egg freezing was her best option.
She began a strict regimen ofhormoneshots to ready as many eggs as possible for the retrieval and freezing process.
“I started giving myself shots every single day,” she says.
Collevechio with her family. Courtesy of Jay Wiley Photography
It could be twice a day, it could be three times a day, it really depended."
“It ended up being very successful.
“[The egg-freezing injections] introduced me to something I needed to get used to.”
Like other people who freeze their eggs, Fauteux encountered side effects.
“My family may have experienced some moodiness and emotional rollercoaster moments,” she says with a laugh.
Still, she calls the ability to freeze her eggs before having chemo “a blessing.”
Fauteux is now wrapping up her chemotherapy treatment and heading back to school soon.
It’s one less stress that I had through all the chaos,” she says.
PCOS is a common gynecologic condition that can cause irregular periods and, in extreme cases, infertility.
“We were trying for about six months or so.
The HSG test unearthed a fluid-filled blockage in one of Collevechio’s fallopian tubes.
Known as a hydrosalpinx, the blockage meant Collevechio needed minor surgery to remove the tube.
In preparation for the operation, doctors did an MRI.
That’s when they found the mass on her right ovary.
Surgery proved it to be malignant.
“I was in a state of shock,” Collevechio says.
All I know is my doctors were fabulous in creating my plan of care.”
She waited until February 2015, when she felt a bit healthier, to do the transfer.
There was the option to only transfer one embryo, but Collevechio and her husband opted for two.
“I don’t have blinders onthere’s always a chance the cancer could come back.
Now, James Thomas and Brielle Marie are a year old, and the bliss continues.
“They are a handful, but they are totally worth it,” Collevechio says.
“They light up every day,” she says.
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