Hello, my name is Jessica, and this is the second year running for my sister Nicole. The best way to spread awareness is to share her story and this is exactly what I plan to do. Below you will find my sisters story and the journey that lead to her Stage 3 diagnosis. 

Hello, my name is Nicole, im 26 and was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma in July of 2023. (ER/PR+ HER2-)

At the end of 2022 i went to see my family doctor about pain in my breast. After lots of ultrasounds, mammograms and a biopsy I was then diagnosed with stage 0 DCIS. I underwent surgery in June, it was a right nipple sparing mastectomy with an expander placement, as well as the removal of 5 lymph nodes for testing.

A few weeks went by and pathology came back stage 3, finding an almost 8cm tumor in surgery and 3/5 positive lymph nodes. My lack of knowledge and understanding about dense breasts is what made this difficult for me. I went through all the proper testing and my tumor still went undetected.

Right away I was sent to the fertility clinic and began the process. I later began 8 rounds of ACT chemo and finished that in November!!

Because the margins of my first surgery were positive, I had a second surgery in December. This was to remove my expander, my nipple, and as much skin as possible to put me flat, as well as a full axillary node dissection. Chemo definitely did its thing because everything sent to pathology was clear!

I began radiation in January of this year and completed 36 rounds.

The road ahead is still long, a couple more surgeries and a decade of medication but I am grateful to wake up everyday and tell my story.

The stigma towards young women and cancer needs to subside. We are seeing more and more young women get diagnosed everyday and changes need to be made. Young people need to be taken seriously when voicing their concerns, and screening and tests need to become more readily available.

Additional screening is also so important for women with dense breast tissue. Not only are women with dense breasts at higher risk for breast cancer but it renders the mammograms to be less effective.

I can only pray and hope to see positive strides forward in the development of breast cancer research, as well as the treatment for those battling metastatic cancer.