Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Getting Pregnant after Hodgkin's Disease and Taking Depo-Provera | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
I am a recovering cancer patient (Hodgkin's disease - stage three) in remission for two years. I have one child (a four-year-old boy) and my husband and I would like to have another child. I have concerns if I can get pregnant, I have been on depo since my son was born. What steps do I need to take to find out if I can get pregnant? Thank you.— Babydreams in Memphis, TN | | | ANSWER |
February 25, 2002 | | | Dear Babydreams,
If I understand correctly, you are asking how to tell if your treatment for Hodgkin's disease will prevent you from getting pregnant. The very first step is to check if getting pregnant is okay with your medical doctors from a health point of view. Because assessing fertility ultimately includes actually trying to get pregnant.
Cancer treatments, including radiation treatment and some types of chemotherapy, can damage the ovaries and cause premature menopause. Sometimes this is temporary but often it can be permanent. There also is some concern that even if the ovaries work for a while after treatment, early menopause is more likely in women who have had these sorts of treatments. The likelihood of ovarian damage will depend on your age, the dose of radiation (if any) that your ovaries received, and what types of chemotherapy were used.
The first step would be to see what your menstrual cycles are like off of Depo-Provera or other hormonal contraceptives. It can take eight months or more for the Depo-Provera to get out of your system, so your periods may be absent or irregular for a while just from the medication. You should probably use a method of birth control during this time, so that you don't have to wonder, while your cycles are still irregular, if you are pregnant. If your periods are very irregular, you may want to take birth control pills for a few months while the Depo-Provera is wearing off, just to regulate your cycles.
If your cycles resume on their own by one year after your last dose of Depo-Provera, it is likely that you will be able to conceive. Of course there are no guarantees that anyone will be able to get pregnant, so run your plans by your doctors, and then anticipate that you won't really know for about a year. Good luck to you, and don't forget to take folate!— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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