Staying Positive After a Diagnosis at 30 Years Old

October 1, 2026

Getting diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30 was a huge shock. Everything had been going so well. I was a newlywed, living in the heart of Winnipeg with my husband Peyton and our giant rescue dog Bowie and two cats. We loved taking long trail walks and going out to concerts and art shows. I’m an elementary school teacher and I was teaching grades 1 and 2, which are such a fun age to teach. Life was good.

No one in my family has had breast cancer, and it was an even bigger shock to find out that mine was stage 4. Before my diagnosis, I had no idea that there were different types of breast cancer. Mine is HER2-positive, an aggressive but highly treatable form of breast cancer.

One of the hardest things after I learned of my diagnosis was finding someone to connect with. In all the literature I was given, like booklets on advanced breast cancer, all the pictures and information were geared toward people in their 60s or older. We don’t often come across other 30-year-olds with stage 4 breast cancer. Not being able to find someone I could really relate to was challenging. 

Going through my treatment plan was a rollercoaster of emotions. It was tough physically, too. The nausea in the beginning had me feeling seasick, and I had bad bone aches. But all my doctors and nurses were so positive and supportive, and they really helped me to stay positive too.

Staying positive was a big theme for me. My husband was a big part of it. During chemo, when I wasn’t feeling well, we’d watch old sitcoms together and laugh as much as we could. We watched The Great British Bake Off and then started baking together. We just tried to keep things light.

In the moments when I wasn’t positive, Peyton would be there to lift me up and remind me that I was going to be okay and that we were in this together. He helped me through some challenging times. He took notes at my doctors’ appointments and reassured me when I was overwhelmed. When I was nauseous from chemo and had no appetite, he got creative in the kitchen, making soup or bao buns to try to get me to eat protein and vitamins.

The Look Good Feel Better workshop helped me to stay positive too. I was okay with losing my hair – I did a super short, fun haircut with the kitchen scissors. But I was really nervous about losing my eyebrows. The workshop had so many great tips. Learning how to do my eyebrows was a huge thing for me. And I finally learned how to do blush properly.

It’s true that when you feel like you look good, you feel better. The makeup tips and tricks I learned gave me the confidence to go out and do things, to be more social and to feel more like myself again. Especially now that I’m done with chemo – I don’t have the side effects anymore, but I also still don’t have hair. Some days I feel really good but when I look in the mirror, my appearance doesn’t match how I feel. It’s almost like a reminder that I’m still going through this – that I’m still sick. I feel good and I want to look that way, too.

I grieve for my old life before my diagnosis and the future that could have been, but I’m very thankful for targeted therapy and that I’ll be able to live and move forward with my supportive husband and my wonderful fur babies. I’m looking forward to trying a pixie cut, travelling to Italy and eating all the pasta, and getting back to “my regular life.” If you’re going through this, stay positive. It’s going to be okay. Enjoy life, and try to smile.