What it’s like to be diagnosed with breast cancer at age 21

Breast cancer starts as a lump in your breast. Then the lump invades your brain and convinces you that you actually are sick. Eventually, it moves to your throat you find that you can’t talk to people about the big “C-word.”

cancer.

In high school, she remember feeling a small lump in her breast, but the doctors and she believed it was nothing more than a calcium deposit. Back then, she knew nothing about cancer besides the sob stories and movie representations. Both of her grandparents unfortunately were diagnosed with cancer (bladder and lung), but through & genetic testing, she found out that breast cancer was not genetic in her family. How lucky was she?

Not so lucky, it turns out. Years later, when she walked into her appointment, she had her third eye open. she knew something would be devastating to me. Looking back, it was better to walk in with the mindset of being diagnosed with cancer than to let it smack her in the face.

But still, nothing could have fully prepared her for that moment. she remember just picking at her thumbs for 20 minutes after she heard those words: “Mia, you have cancer in your breast.”

It was time to fight.

Finding her inspiration to fight:

She is 21 with breast cancer. She also 21 with a mental illness.

She didn’t feel human in the beginning. At first, she felt more like the smallest dust bunny in the corner of the house — weak. Her borderline personality disorder mixed with depression made her think that nothing would get better, that she was going to have a pity party every week. It’s not that she wanted to feel this way; it’s just the wiring in her brain.

What truly got her through was music. If you’ve ever heard of Florence and the Machine, you’re blessed. She blessed every day to hear her music and she was even more blessed to see her live for the fourth time during chemo. That’s what pushed her every day — staying healthy so that she could do all the things people told her she wouldn’t be able to do. Can most people say they’ve gone to Austin City Limits alone four days after a chemo treatment? She doubt it. But she did it

With cancer, there are good days and there are bad days. Some days, she feel amazing. Other days, honestly, she feel like the ugliest cotton swab to walk the Earth. But the good days outweigh the bad.

No one wants pain and no one wants to feel like “that sick cancer patient.” We just want to be seen and heard. This is just the ride we’re on, but she gaining control of the wheel.

Each & every milestone matters, from your first chemo to your last. You get through one day, then you get through another and another until you can look back and say, Wow, she got through all of that.

Cancer has definitely opened her eyes to know she have a purpose. You(Cancer) and she are so strong. Surviving this means she can live my life how she want to live it, which is making movies. This is something I’ve always loved and a dream she plan to pursue.