Jessica was in the prime of her life when a nagging feeling led to the unthinkable after she ignored the warning signs
A young mum has opened up about the devastating moment she was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 30 – after putting off seeing a doctor for weeks amid fears of what they might say.
Jessica Ryan, from NSW, was in the shower when she first felt a lump in her breast.
It wasn’t painful, and she assumed it was just a cyst – after all, her friends had experienced similar lumps before.
But when a nagging gut feeling wouldn’t go away, she finally booked a doctor’s appointment.
What followed was a life-changing diagnosis.
‘I didn’t want to be told I had cancer,’ Jessica, now 31, told FEMAIL.
‘I thought maybe if I ignored it, it would go away. I didn’t want to Google it and panic. I just wasn’t ready.’
But the lump wasn’t a cyst – it was stage two breast cancer, and it had already spread to her lymph nodes.
A young mum from New South Wales has opened up about the devastating moment she was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 30
Jessica’s world came crashing down in February 2024 when she went in for her biopsy results.
Her mother went with her to the appointment, while her youngest child, just two years old at the time, waited outside.
The weight of the moment was unbearable.
‘I don’t think I’ve fully processed it, even now,’ she admitted.
‘It didn’t feel real. I felt like I was in a trance, just passing on the news. It wasn’t until I started treatment that I realised everything was actually happening.’
Jessica and her husband, Gil, have three children – now aged eight, six, and three.
In the midst of her own fear and uncertainty, her biggest concern was how the diagnosis would affect her kids.
‘I told them that, “Mummy has something bad in her body, and if she doesn’t get it out, it will make her really, really sick”,’ she explained.
Jessica Ryan, now 31, was in the shower when she first felt the lump in her breast
‘I kept it simple. My daughter is older, and she does comprehend, but I didn’t want to go into too much detail.’
Jessica underwent three surgeries in the months following her diagnosis.
The first, in March 2024, was a lumpectomy to remove the tumour.
When doctors couldn’t get clear margins, she needed a second operation but complications led to a third procedure.
Then came five gruelling months of chemotherapy.
‘The first three months weren’t as bad, but I lost my hair about four sessions in,’ she said.
‘That was difficult. I loved my hair – it had always been a big part of my identity. Losing it was heartbreaking.’
As treatment continued, she lost her eyebrows and eyelashes, and that was when people outside her immediate circle began to notice her illness.
Jessica’s world came crashing down in February 2024 when she went in for her results
‘My cancer became more visible to people who didn’t know what I was going through,’ she said.
‘Mentally, it was a lot to deal with. I had breakdowns, especially with my husband.
‘I felt disconnected from myself, like I had lost a part of who I was.’
Her husband, family, and friends rallied around her.
Gil and some loved ones pooled their money to buy her a high-quality wig that looked natural.
‘That helped me get through it,’ she said.
‘I was so grateful, but mentally, it was still tricky to accept that it was my hair now.’
Now in remission, Jessica is on a hormone-blocking injection, which she must take for 10 years.
The medication has forced her body into early menopause – a brutal side effect for someone in their early 30s.
‘It’s a shock to the system, definitely,’ she said.
‘Some days, I get down because, for me, this is a prime time in life where you’re finally figuring yourself out, setting roots in your family or career.’
The sudden hormonal changes have caused bone pain and density issues.
‘Waking up in the morning, complaining that my back and knees hurt – that’s a constant reminder,’ she said.
‘But I will take that any day. I will sacrifice all of that to be here with my family.’
Jessica considers herself one of the lucky ones.
Because her lump was at the top of her breast – at the ’12 o’clock’ position – she was able to feel it easily.
‘If that lump had been under my breast, I would have never felt it,’ she said.
‘It wasn’t a spot I would typically check. But because it was on my chest, it was prominent. If it had been underneath my breast, it would have been a different story.
‘I probably still wouldn’t have noticed it, and that could have changed everything.’
She now urges other women to check their breasts regularly.
‘It’s such a small thing, but it could make a huge difference,’ she said.
Now in remission, Jessica is on a hormone-blocking injection which she must take for 10 years
