Compassionate team-based care guides a pregnancy through breast cancer

Every holiday season Lynnette Allen and her daughter Kathlynn Allen visit the Optum Mission Hills clinic, handing out homemade chocolate train candies to thank the team who helped save both their lives. It’s a scene of gratitude and joy that has repeated in this Southern Californian clinic for years.

“It’s absolutely heartwarming. It’s so satisfying to see Lynnette come back and see her doing so well,” says Dr. Hany Farid, a general surgery specialist with Optum. “It reminds us why we’re here.”

More than 25 years ago, Lynnette walked into the Mission Hills Optum clinic with a heavy heart. It was the one-year anniversary of her sister’s passing, and now she was worried about a breast mass found during her annual exam. Instead of scheduling her first mammogram, Dr. Farid performed a needle biopsy and sent it to pathology.

When Lynnette returned for her results, the news was devastating. She had breast cancer. Still reeling, she began routine testing ahead of surgery. As part of the standard preoperative workup, Dr. Farid ordered a pregnancy test. At 41 years old, Lynnette was stunned when the test came back positive — after years of trying to conceive without success.

She and her husband made a courageous decision: they would keep the pregnancy. Dr. Farid and a multidisciplinary team — including her obstetrician, primary care physician, and oncology specialist — worked together to honor their wishes.

The guiding practice of expert, team-based care

Navigating a complex health system can feel overwhelming, especially when facing a diagnosis like breast cancer during pregnancy. Optum teams like the one that helped Lynnette are redesigning care delivery to make it more connected, team-based, proactive and easier for families.

Lynnette’s team came up with a treatment plan: her obstetrician would manage the first trimester of her pregnancy, Dr. Farid would do the surgery during the second trimester, and chemotherapy would begin after a scheduled cesarean section delivery.

The surgery went smoothly. After giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Lynnette began six months of chemotherapy followed by radiation. “Every step was hard, but every heartbeat reminded me why I was fighting,” she says.

Today, she is thriving and so is her daughter, Kathlynn, who accompanies her mother on this annual tradition that started when she was a little girl. “When I was little, I thought it was just a tradition to spread joy to other people,” says Kathlynn. “I’m so grateful to Dr. Farid and the team that helped my mom, because she and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”