PHOENIX — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a Valley mom is celebrating the birth of her first child, nearly three years after learning she’s cancer-free, following an exhaustive battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer.
Brynna Valor, a fourth-generation breast cancer survivor, wants to encourage other women to never give up on their dream of motherhood.
“In December of 2020, I was 29 years old and I had found a lump in my breast,” Valor said. “(I) had a mammogram done (and) found out that I had stage three triple-negative breast cancer.”
Valor remembers the day doctors diagnosed her with the aggressive and invasive form of breast cancer, one that’s more common in women under the age of 40.
“Breast cancer runs in my family, so when I had found my lump, I almost guessed that I knew what it was,” she said. “I thought maybe, somehow, it would have skipped me and maybe it was just a fluke.”
But when the reality sunk in, she started preparing for what was ahead.
“We were just going to have to put our heads down and get through it,” Valor said.
Before starting treatment at Dignity Health Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, doctors told Valor the treatment needed to save her life might impact her chances of becoming pregnant in the future.
“Breast cancer can often reduce fertility for many women, and it can be challenging to natural conceive,” said Dr. Kendra Gray of Dignity Health Medical Group. “Some women might even go through menopause early.”
At the time, Valor was dating her now husband, Blaine.
“That was a conversation that we had to have,” Valor said. “I’ve never wanted to be a mom as badly as I did when they told me that I may not be able to become a mom.”
They decided to move forward, but the first eight weeks of chemo were the most intense.
“It caused me to lose my hair almost immediately,” Valor said. “I was exhausted, nauseous.”
During those six months of chemotherapy, Valor's goal was to stay active.
“As a trail runner, I spent a lot of time moving very slow on my beloved trails,” Valor said. “(It) just gave me a boost of endorphins.”
But her fight wasn’t over.
“In July I had a double mastectomy with reconstruction, and in September started my radiation,” she said.
After 25 rounds of radiation, Valor concluded her treatment in October 2021.
While she says it took a lot out of her, one of her biggest supporters was her now husband.
“(Blaine was) such a huge support during my entire cancer experience,” she said.
Just more than a year later, they got engaged.
“He proposed on Christmas, and we were married last September,” said Valor.
The pair got married on September 30th, 2023.
That was the beginning of a new and beautiful chapter in life.
This past January, despite the odds being stacked against her, Valor and her husband learned some thrilling news after taking a pregnancy test.
“I took my test, and it was positive,” she said. “It was a joyous moment, it was a huge surprise.”
They welcomed a healthy baby boy nearly three years to the day after she was deemed cancer-free.
“Elias James Coury was born on September 29th of this year,” she said. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but he has been a very easy baby so far... he is a miracle in more ways than one.”
“For Brynna, it was a real blessing that she was able to conceive her beautiful son,” Gray said.
Valor wants her story of hope to inspire other breast cancer survivors who long to become mothers one day.
“To push through adversity... and come out the other side a better version of themselves," Valor said.
By sharing her story on YouTube and through social media, Valor has already connected with hundreds of women. She’s also working on launching a podcast.
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