When Laura Kostomacha was diagnosed with breast cancer, all she could think about was what it would mean for her young daughter to grow up without her mother.
The 42-year-old single mother from Markham was diagnosed for the second time in November 2023, and she says the well-being of her daughter, who was three at the time, was her top priority. Her daughter is also autistic and non-verbal.
“I was just thinking about how her life is going to be without me,” said Kostomacha, who was diagnosed with melanoma for the first time 12 years ago.
Kostomacha is sharing her story during breast cancer awareness month in an effort to uplift other women who are going through medical treatments while balancing their responsibilities as a mother.
One in eight Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Breast cancer is responsible for 13 per cent of all cancer-related deaths nationwide, the group says.
When Kostomacha noticed a lump in her breast in July 2023, she immediately booked an appointment. Tests later confirmed she had an aggressive form of breast cancer in the third stage.
Kostomacha said that by the time her first imaging was complete, the mass measured around three centimetres — and had doubled in size in just two months.
‘Mommy has to have this treatment’
“There were a lot of reasons for me to be concerned,” said Dr. Mateya Trinkaus, Kostomacha’s oncologist at Oak Valley Health in Markham.
“We had to treat her very, very aggressively.”
Kostomacha said taking care of her daughter remained top of mind during her six months of invasive treatment. At first, she had no notable side effects — she could drop her daughter off at daycare and head straight to the hospital.
Then she experienced medical setbacks that required new medications that made the process much more painful. She had extreme lower back pain, high blood pressure and flushed skin. She contracted infections and lost a substantial amount of weight.
Still, she had her daughter.
“Just her laughter with her little words and gestures,” Kostomacha said. “There were days where I was just like ‘I don’t know how I’m actually doing this, but I’m doing it.'”
One day earlier this year, she had to explain to her daughter why she was shaving her hair off. That was particularly hard, she said.
“I put her hands on my head, and I basically told her that mommy has a boo-boo and because of that boo-boo mommy has to have this treatment,” Kostomacha said.
A light at the end of the tunnel
In May, one week into her third round of chemo, doctors told Kostomacha the mass had shrunk from six centimetres to one. She underwent surgery on July 4, after which she was told that the cancer in her lymph nodes was gone — and only a small amount of cells remained in the primary tumour.
Kostomacha completed radiation therapy and is now undergoing her final few weeks of immunotherapy. Trinkaus says she’ll require a yearly mammogram to keep track of her health and make sure there’s no recurrence.
Now, as Kostomacha dips her toes back into life without cancer, she says she wants women going through similar experiences to remember they are not alone.
“You got through it,” she said. “You were determined that you weren’t going to allow cancer to defeat you.”