Chicago cartoonist overcomes cancer and preserves fertility with innovative surgery

CHICAGO - At Northwestern, surgeons are able to not only save a Chicago cartoonist's life but her fertility as well.

What we know:

Iona Woolmington was just 35 years old when she was diagnosed with stage three rectal cancer during the height of the pandemic.

Her tumor was in a complicated area, deep within her pelvis, and radiation and chemotherapy were necessary to shrink it before surgery. But those treatments would likely impact her egg quality, damage her ovaries, and trigger early menopause.

"When you're young, you don't necessarily understand how impactful menopause can be, but many of us, as we get older, recognize it's a big deal, and to go through that as a young person on top of everything else that Iona was going to face, it was important for her to try to avoid that," said Dr. Emily Jungheim.

So first, Woolmington began the process of removing and freezing her eggs so she could use them later in fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization. Then, she was told she could get a surgical procedure known as ovarian transposition. That’s when doctors move the ovaries from the pelvis into the abdomen to protect them from radiation.

"Let’s do it. Like, why would I not do that? I mean, again, learning I had cancer is one thing, and then learning the list of everything you have to deal with is a second thing. Like, oh, you're also going to have an ostomy, you're also going to have to do chemotherapy. Not having to go through menopause at 35, if I could cross that off the list, that would be great," Woolmington said.

Surgeons removed Woolmington’s cancer in 2021 and now, she is cancer-free, and her ovarian function is normal.