At the start, I felt a thick lump in my left breast. I was 7 months pregnant, so I thought it was pregnancy-related. But I did have a family history of breast cancer, so I made an appointment with the GP to get it checked.

I found out it was stage 1 breast cancer, and that I had a 5-year survival rate of 86%, according to my doctor.

After getting the news, I worked on exercising at least 50% more.

I was recommended

• Lumpectomy
• Chemo
• Radiotherapy

After deciding on taking these options, I still felt quite angry, anxious and discouraged about the situation. Still, I felt hopeful for what came ahead.

Right now, I’m in remission.

In terms of side effects, the ones that affected me the most were:

• fatigue
• hair loss
• numbness

To manage them, I relied on prescribed medication.

I committed to exercising more.

Before I knew I had cancer

• Called/texted my parents 10 times a week
• Visited my parents 8 times a week

After knowing I had cancer

• Called/texted my parents 10 times a week
• Visited my parents 10 times a week

My son is still very young, so I don’t have plans for my family yet. I want to take more time off work and enjoy life more. I used to work a lot before my diagnosis and found myself stressed a lot, so I don’t want to go back to that. It’s just a job & not worth the stress.

My biggest aspiration is to be a dedicated parent. This really kept me focused during my treatment. With my loved ones, I want to spend as much time as possible with them. Even just doing simple everyday tasks. I just want to be present for them.

It’s that my cancer would return & spread and my son would grow up without me. To deal with it, I do regular self-checks and am strict about my follow-up appointments.

I also do affirmations daily; I am strong, I am brave.

Now, I feel neutral.

To others, I would say: “Hang tough. Let yourself wallow if you need to, have days of self-pity. But get up and do it. Nobody else can do it for you so you need to be strong. It’s ok to be scared but ultimately science and medicine are amazing and every day there’s new research being done. Participate in these research studies where possible too as someone else may benefit in the future and wouldn’t that feel amazing to know your cancer wasn’t in vain?? And finally, be kind to yourself. This is not your fault. It’s an awful disease and nobody deserves to go through it.”