I felt a lump on my left breast.

I started exercising 50% more and eating healthier most days.

By my doctor’s recommendation, we planned to do a mastectomy, lymphadenectomy and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, we found out during mastectomy that cancer spread to lymph nodes, and had to change my treatment plans.

Eventually we did radiotherapy as well. After changing it, I felt a bit more discouraged, but a little less anxious.

In terms of side effects, the ones that affected me the most were: hair loss and a loss of appetite, and radiation burns. To manage them, I relied on prescribed medication and eating better.

I stuck to eating healthier every day. After knowing that I had cancer, I tried to contact my parents a bit more often. Still, I found less time for intimacy with my partner.

Soon, I plan to visit family in Texas, and be a bridesmaid for my sister’s wedding in fall. My biggest aspiration is to return to work and a normal life, which motivated me to recover quickly. Maybe I’d want to start a family.

It’s that the chemo and radiation won’t work, or that the cancer had already spread to other lymph nodes that weren’t removed. To deal with it, I talked to my doctors and started seeing a therapist.

Nowadays, I still feel the same as I did before when I received my cancer diagnosis.

To others, I would say: “Communicate with your doctors and care team because they know your cancer best. Ask around for advice and help.”