Stage III HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Rebecca's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Rebecca was in her 20s when a pinch in her armpit led her to feel a swollen lymph node. She had had swollen nodes before, so she watched it for a few weeks. When more appeared, she went to several walk-in clinics but felt dismissed as too young and anxious. She kept advocating until one doctor agreed that the nodes needed testing. An ultrasound led to a biopsy, and the biopsy confirmed breast cancer. The diagnosis left her isolated: she was the youngest person in many waiting rooms and spent weeks moving through scan after scan before she fully understood what was happening. Rebecca was officially diagnosed with Stage IIIC HER2-positive, hormone receptor-negative inflammatory breast cancer. The cancer had spread through lymph nodes up to her collarbone, but scans did not show spread elsewhere. Her oncologist told her they would throw the kitchen sink at it. She started chemotherapy 2 days before Canada entered COVID lockdown, which meant many treatments happened alone. Her infusions lasted about 3 to 4 hours, and she described 6 chemotherapy infusions and about 11 difficult months of treatment. Hair loss was especially painful because of the importance of hair in her Indigenous identity. As of March 2026, Rebecca was entering her 6th year of remission, while still managing scanxiety and yearly scares.