After a harrowing cancer diagnosis in 2018, a Batavia woman is celebrating not only her survival but also the arrival of her miracle daughter, who turned one on Thursday.
“Just to be able to sit here today and say that I’m cancer-free, I have a baby—those are things you always hoped would come true,” said Ioanna Lo Destro. “Living for the day that you used to pray about and being healthy, that’s all that truly matters.”
Lo Destro credits her remarkable journey to the dedicated team of doctors at Northwestern Medicine who supported her through these monumental life events. Her journey began with an advanced leukemia diagnosis that came just one day before she was set to start in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“I asked, ‘Can we have a couple of weeks to just get some eggs out?’ and the doctor replied, ‘You won’t be here in a couple of weeks,’” Lo Destro recounted in an interview with WBBM.
Faced with the severity of her condition, Lo Destro and her husband, Grant, made the difficult decision to postpone their dreams of starting a family so that she could concentrate on chemotherapy and other treatments.
However, once her health improved enough to reconsider IVF, a specialized team of oncofertility experts helped her fulfill her dream of motherhood.
Dr. Lia Bernardi, a member of that team, noted, “Ioanna came to us with some challenges, but ultimately, we were able to successfully help her build her family in the way she envisioned.”
On October 24, 2023, Ioanna and Grant welcomed their daughter, Penelope, into the world, marking a joyous chapter in their lives.
Related topics:
