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“I wish I was told not to Google anything. Trying to self diagnose was horrible. I wish I knew before. There are so many things I wish I knew. I wish I knew what I was sacrificing,” explains Tiffany Zansky, a breast cancer survivor. 

Tiff told HIH about her battle with breast cancer over an emotional hour that resulted in tears from both of us. She recalls the apprehensiveness she felt when she first discovered the lump, “It was my best friend’s wedding, and I remember feeling something in my right breast. I was in the middle of bachelorette stuff. Friends were getting married, having their first child. Those are things I was looking forward to in my next chapter. ” 

A few weeks later, Tiff received the diagnosis that the lump was, in fact, a tumor. The doctors, which she now had in quintuplicate, recommended performing either a lumpectomy, which would remove less tissue but leave room for worry, or a mastectomy, which would remove a whole breast and provide greater peace of mind. Shortly after, she received a call from her oncologist revealing that they’d found a second tumor and would now only recommend a mastectomy. This would be her first surgery ever. She was devastated by the thought of losing a part of her body, but was given a glimpse of hope when the doctors explained that they could schedule a plastic surgeon to put in implants immediately following the mastectomy. Breast implants must be done in tandem with a mastectomy or the patient will not have enough breast tissue left for a post facto procedure and must resort to a riskier one- one not recommended for former cancer patients. However, that hopeful glimpse was fleeting as the hospital was unable to provide a plastic surgeon at the time of her mastectomy. Understanding the grave effects that time could cause in her situation, Tiff decided to schedule the mastectomy without the plastic surgeon.

Prior to surgery, Tiff was constantly required at the hospital. “I had to get my heart checked for the purpose of surgery. I did 20 million visits for blood rounds. I had to talk to the nutritionist. They offered a social worker just to see if I was ok, to see if I had support at home.” 

After all the arduous check-ins and a long, but successful 6 hour surgery, she found herself without one of her breasts. “Afterwards, at the hospital, they showed me how to change my bandaid and it was really hard seeing my body. When I saw it, I was like ‘F***. Wow. What a difference.’ It just wasn’t easy.” 

Now that the tumors were separated from her body, they were able to test it to determine what stage of cancer Tiff had. She had 2B, almost Stage 3. 

Since she was relatively young to have breast cancer, family planning added another stretch in her fight against cancer. Tiff, who was 32 at the time, was encouraged to freeze her eggs before starting chemo. The doctors told her she’d have to take hormones for 5 years. During which she would not be able to have kids. “So I can’t have kids until I’m 37. And they were saying that your period won’t come right away or even at all. So I didn’t know if I’d even be able to. Not only did I have to deal with planning for chemo, but also had to prepare my body for egg retrieval which sucks because your insurance won’t cover it when you’re a cancer patient. We pulled from savings and got help from my parents. We drove to the fertility clinic every single day for 2 weeks, getting hormone injections, going under. Luckily, they were able to get 10 healthy eggs.”

After another surgery to insert her “port”, a device which allows for the transfer of chemotherapy treatments, she was finally ready to begin chemo. Tiff explains that, during her first round, “I bawled. I couldn’t believe I was there. I was so young.” For the next 4 months, she had a total of 8 rounds of chemo once every 2 weeks for 4 hours. She described how she felt after a round of chemo as, “being in Vegas a full week straight and having a hangover.” 

Chemo was difficult on Tiff’s body and mind. Some days she’d be nauseous and aching, some where she’d have energy to run errands, and other days where she’d be in a terrible mood. She described the trauma of losing her hair, which she decided to shave off entirely, “I was sad but it felt better. It was more traumatic to see clumps of hair falling out. It was a reminder that I was sacrificing my body and had no control over it.” 

Despite the physical and emotional weariness that she was enduring, Tiff actively pursued a positive outlook and healthy lifestyle. “I wrote a quote every single round I did to give me motivation and share it with everyone.” (See images for quotes she wrote!) She stopped perceiving her baldness negatively and instead saw it as an opportunity to wear wigs. She began exercising, reading, and enjoying the healthful dishes her dad would make. By her fourth round of chemo, she found the treatment center comforting. “It becomes your home. I met people through chemo. We were all there together. I didn’t look at it as a negative place to be. I looked at it as people trying to get better.” She also found solace in a Youtuber, Nalie, who was logging her own journey through cancer. “Being in that community is super helpful. Talking to people who aren’t going through it, they don’t understand.”

Radiation followed chemo and was administered to her every day for a month. “That’s really like…man. That’s like getting a really bad sunburn for 30 days. [Your skin] gets really raw. It was hard because I was wearing a wig and I was having hot flashes.”

After radiation, Tiff was done with her treatments. “I rang the bell. I felt so happy. I was like ‘Oh my God, thank you Lord, thank you Lord.’ It was a long journey. I was done in September but found out in January.” She took a PET scan that definitively determined that she was now cancer free. “I was ugh. I was overjoyed. After that weekend, I just saw friends and family. I was just so excited to see everybody.”