I am not here today to tell you that getting breast cancer was a blessing. It sucks that I had to walk this road and that my loved ones had to endure this with me. I am however here today to tell you that I am grateful that I am alive and that I can share my journey with you so far. The one thing that I have definitely learned during my journey is gratitude. Not gratitude for the disease but gratitude for so many things that just fell into place and that just worked out during my journey. To be honest my fight with breast cancer flew by. From founding a lump to my final surgery it was less than 6 months. Today I realise how lucky I am. I felt a lump in my right breast on 16 November 2018. I went for a mammogram 3 days later and 4 days later I was diagnosed with an aggressive, stage 3 cancer. I met with my surgeon, Dr Bezuidenhout, the very next day and also had an appointment with an oncologist the following week. I started chemo therapy on the 3rd of December. I was a healthy 36 year old with no history of cancer. Being diagnosed with cancer was so unexpected. My first reaction to the news was; FIGHT. I didn’t cry, I wasn’t angry, I just decided to take up the weapons to my disposal which was PRAYER, chemo and an amazing team of doctors to fight this disease. I made a decision to only focus on getting through this and staying positive. I did not allow my mind to go to any negative places and for someone with a history of depression this was often a huge challenge. I also had to overcome a few other challenges. I had an allergic reaction to one of the chemotherapy medications I was given which caused me to stop breathing every time I went for treatment; my grandfather passed away (who was also fighting cancer at that stage) and my husband was retrenched. But my determination in fighting this was so strong. I made a choice to be brave. Even if most days I didn’t feel very brave. I finished chemo therapy in March 2019 after 6 sessions and the tumour had shrunk to half its original size. The chemo worked! The next step was the double mastectomy. I didn’t give it much thought. It was a natural response to say yes to remove my breasts to ensure that breast cancer would not be a reality again in my future. I was young and had a husband and 2 beautiful little kids to think about. But when you actually realise that even though you will not get breast cancer again you also not have your nipples and you won’t have any sensation in your breasts. That is when you think about it twice. I know that some may say it is just boobs. But I loved my boobs. For me it was a very sad good bye. I knew it was the correct thing to do but I was still very very sad. My mastectomy was successfully and I had immediate reconstruction done. I had expanders put in directly after the mastectomy. Unfortunately I had a few complications and these had to be removed within 6 weeks of being put in. 3 operations in 6 weeks was terrible. But through everything my surgeons was amazing as was the medical staff who looked after me. I was so grateful for that support. I got permanent prosthesis put in on 14 May this year, a day before my 37th birthday. Biggest birthday present ever. I am now 5 months down the line and I am just waiting to be able to get derma pigmentation done – 3D nipple tattoos. I cannot wait for this final step to making me look a bit more like my old self. If I had to summarise my journey so far it would be CHOOSING TO BE BRAVE. As a breast cancer patient it is not just about fighting cancer it is about fighting the demons in your head that tells you that you are not good enough, not pretty enough and not women enough. It is choosing every day to ignore those thoughts, to carry on and to choose brave!