Meet Amanda
“Something in me just kept saying to myself, 'Something doesn't feel right.'”
Amanda found a pea-sized lump in her left breast and was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2025, at 33
After finding the lump, Amanda reached out to her gynecologist. She had a diagnostic mammogram and a breast ultrasound, after which she was told not to worry. The radiologist told her it was just a cyst, and she didn’t need to come back until she was 40. But something didn’t sit right with Amanda, and she sought a second opinion. Further testing soon revealed she had stage 2A breast cancer.
By the time Amanda received her diagnosis, the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. “I think back and wonder what stage it would have been when I first felt the lump,” she said. “What if I had listened to the radiologist and waited seven years? Would I have survived that long?”
Before beginning treatment, Amanda chose to freeze her eggs. Once the procedure was complete, she underwent chemotherapy, a mastectomy and radiation therapy. Some of her treatment decisions were because she didn’t want cancer to have the final say about her future. “I don’t know if I’ll have children or want to breastfeed, but I wanted to have the choice,” Amanda said. “Cancer had already taken so much from me.”
I feel so much gratitude knowing and trusting my instincts that something wasn't right, even though a medical professional told me otherwise.
