Carrying 4-month-old Haven, Apryl Roberts chases 2-year old Charlee around the house Wednesday, to the delight of all three. (Dan Bates / The Herald)

Carrying 4-month-old Haven, Apryl Roberts chases 2-year old Charlee around the house Wednesday, to the delight of all three. (Dan Bates / The Herald)

Lynnwood mom gets good news in her battle against cancer

Seven months into a fight for her life, Apryl Roberts isn’t battling alone. She is buoyed by good news, good friends and her family, the center of her world.

The Lynnwood mother, first featured in The Herald in May, was diagnosed in March with inflammatory breast cancer. It’s a rare and aggressive form of the disease that, because there is no lump, defies early detection.

Roberts was almost seven months pregnant when she was diagnosed. She and her husband Peter Roberts had their second daughter, Haven Lee, on May 31. The baby joined 2-year-old sister Charlee. At nearly 5 months old, a healthy, happy Haven weighs 13 pounds and has a sweet smile.

The 36-year-old mom shared an update on her cancer fight Wednesday.

“I’m done with the really hard chemo, and my hair is kind of growing back,” said Roberts, who is being treated at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Edmonds. She is getting what she called maintenance chemotherapy, and expects to take two cancer drugs, Herceptin and Perjeta, indefinitely. Those treatments are every three weeks.

Encouraging news came five weeks ago when scans showed no evidence of disease.

Three weeks ago, Roberts had surgery, a single right mastectomy. She was back in the hospital a week later with an infection, requiring more surgery. Now healing, she’ll soon be treated with radiation at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. She’ll have 33 treatments, one every weekday for about six weeks, aimed at lowering the chance of recurrence.

New fears were allayed last week. Roberts had been feeling woozy. Doctors did MRI scans to see if the disease had spread to her brain. “We’re really, really praying,” she said Wednesday. On Friday morning, she shared that those prayers were answered. The scans “came back clear,” she said.

Filled with family and friends, the Roberts household is a busy place.

Alicia Marroquin, a friend since seventh grade, had come last week from Walla Walla to help. Marroquin is now a pink-bracelet-wearing member of “Team Apryl.”

A friend from Everett, Breanna Mosebach, was there Wednesday with her 4-month-old son, Joseph. She and Roberts once worked together at a Starbucks in Lake Forest Park. With children the same age, they get together for play dates.

Roberts’ mother, Debi Morris, was also visiting. She comes every Wednesday from Bainbridge Island, and spent a week with her daughter after the surgery. “She has an amazing spirit,” Morris said.

Keeping spirits up can’t be easy. In May, Roberts talked about how her oncologist, Dr. Eileen Johnston, was frank about the disease. Johnston told her at the time of diagnosis that she had stage 3 or 4 inflammatory breast cancer — and just a few years to live.

Full of life and joy on Wednesday, Roberts picked up Haven and chased a giggling Charlee around the dining room table.

She showed her courage Sept. 25 when she participated in the 2016 Run of Hope Seattle, a 5K-run to support brain tumor research at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “I pushed Charlee in the stroller, and my husband walked with Haven,” she said.

A lifelong athlete, Roberts climbed 69 floors of a Seattle skyscraper in a fundraiser for the Leukemia &Lymphoma Society two days before being diagnosed. She hopes to do it again next year, but first she is signing up to run with her sister, Autumn, in Seattle’s Jingle Bell Run. That Arthritis Foundation fundraiser is scheduled for Dec. 11.

Her surgery kept her from being part of the Snohomish County Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. The Oct. 15 walk, an American Cancer Society event, raised more than $77,000 to fight the disease. “I want to get through all this and get out and share more awareness,” she said.

For now, there is life and love.

“It’s nice to be busy with sweet little girls,” she said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

How to help

Apryl Roberts, a mother of two small daughters, is battling a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. Donations to help the Lynnwood area family may be made at: www.gofundme.com/aprylsbigclimb

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.