<div class="" data-article-body="true"><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">A Virginia mom who learned she had cancer after noticing something was off while breastfeeding is on a mission to share a message of hope and positivity.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"Many people think you get a <a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/mom-diagnosed-breast-cancer-pregnant-4th-child-126712339" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:cancer diagnosis;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">cancer diagnosis</a> [and] that it's a death sentence. It's not," Nicole Hansen told ABC News. "There are more people living with cancer than dying from it, and I'm the perfect example of that."</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Hansen, 33, said she was nursing her son Desmond, now 2, back in February when she felt a lump that wouldn't go away.</p><figure class="relative mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="Courtesy of Jen Fariello Photography - PHOTO: Nicole Hansen and her husband Christian Hansen are parents of three children – Margaret, Norah and Desmond." loading="lazy" width="960" height="639" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/QKM1W_tETI8Yxyg4EtiRsg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzOTtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/us.abcnews.gma.com/5dac1bcedad96964a98a418fd5d149d8"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5"><div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Courtesy of Jen Fariello Photography - PHOTO: Nicole Hansen and her husband Christian Hansen are parents of three children – Margaret, Norah and Desmond.</div></figcaption></figure><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"While I was breastfeeding him, I felt a lump on my right side, and I thought that it was a <a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/mom-liv-lo-golding-pens-emotional-essay-breastfeeding-79544821" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:clogged milk duct;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">clogged milk duct</a>," the mom of three recalled. "I never imagined that it could be cancer but it never really went away, even after I stopped breastfeeding. So that's when I reached out to my doctor, and she recommended that I get a mammogram."</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">A couple of months earlier, Hansen had started working as the director of executive communications at the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia, but she said she never thought she'd soon become a patient there herself.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"I had a couple of falls last year, which I just kind of chalked up to me being clumsy. I was [also] very, very tired all the time. No matter what I did, no matter how much sleep I got, I just felt constantly exhausted -- and again, I just chalked it up to being a full-time working mom with three kids," Hansen said. "But I never thought that it could be a sign that I had cancer."</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words"><a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/women-diagnosed-breast-cancer-20s-30s-40s-describe-114463866" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Amid a rise in cases, young women diagnosed with breast cancer speak out;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Amid a rise in cases, young women diagnosed with breast cancer speak out</a></p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Doctors at Massey diagnosed Hansen with Stage 2b3a <a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/breast-cancer-resources-diagnosis-treatments-support-125960215" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:breast cancer;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">breast cancer</a>, even though she said she had no history of cancer in her family and didn't have the BRCA gene. Hansen also said her doctors told her she had hormone receptor-positive cancer, a type of cancer where hormones like estrogen and progesterone can make cancer cells grow and spread, according to the <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/breast-hormone-therapy-fact-sheet#what-types-of-hormone-therapy-are-used-for-breast-cancer" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:National Cancer Institute;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>National Cancer Institute</u></a> at the National Institutes of Health.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"It's been a wild year to go from starting a new job to getting a cancer diagnosis and, within weeks, starting chemotherapy," Hansen said.</p><figure class="relative mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="Courtesy of Nicole Hansen - PHOTO: Nicole Hansen, 33, said she didn’t have a family history of cancer before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2025." loading="lazy" width="960" height="1280" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/J6MG4nCPEkawho4R6e9m.A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODA7Y2Y9d2VicA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/us.abcnews.gma.com/cc7c5779d54abd2b7c2d9c5bcffc378a"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5"><div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Courtesy of Nicole Hansen - PHOTO: Nicole Hansen, 33, said she didn’t have a family history of cancer before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2025.</div></figcaption></figure><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Hansen isn't alone. According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/bring-your-brave/breast-cancer-in-young-women/index.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</u></a>, more young women across all races and ethnicities <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/united-states-cancer-statistics/publications/breast-cancer-among-young-women.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:are getting diagnosed with breast cancer;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>are getting diagnosed with breast cancer</u></a>, and approximately 10% of all new breast cancer cases in the U.S. are women 45 and younger.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words"><a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/34-nervous-breast-cancer-risk-115160364" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:At 34, I was nervous about my breast cancer risk. Here's what I did;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">At 34, I was nervous about my breast cancer risk. Here's what I did</a></p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Hansen said she underwent cancer treatment from March to August and endured 16 rounds of chemotherapy. Even though she needed extra support and had to go to appointments weekly over the summer, she said she didn't have to give up everything in her life.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"I didn't have to quit my job. I still worked. I didn't have to completely stop spending time with my kids," she said.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Hansen said she also underwent a tumor removal surgery called a lumpectomy and an axillary lymph node dissection in September.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Today, she said doctors have told her she has "no evidence of disease."</p><figure class="relative mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="Courtesy of Kara Powers Photography - PHOTO: After getting diagnosed with cancer, Nicole Hansen said she and her husband decided to talk to their three kids about what cancer is." loading="lazy" width="960" height="1367" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Kh4GtuOD0G_yArA_9BGHIA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEzNjc7Y2Y9d2VicA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/us.abcnews.gma.com/22cd46637fb51e61b957f7b6c875eda9"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5"><div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Courtesy of Kara Powers Photography - PHOTO: After getting diagnosed with cancer, Nicole Hansen said she and her husband decided to talk to their three kids about what cancer is.</div></figcaption></figure><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Throughout her "wild" year, Hansen said she has leaned on her family, friends and colleagues. She said she and her husband, Christian Hansen, also decided not to keep her cancer journey hidden from their three kids, daughters Margaret, 7, and Norah, 5, and son Desmond, 2.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"They're curious kids and so we decided that we were going to share this experience with them," Hansen said. "We ended up doing a lot of demonstrations on Barbie, of what a breast is, putting Barbie in an MRI machine, what that looks like, what a port is, what cancer medicine is, chemotherapy, and they were so into it and have been so into it the whole time, just cheering me on."</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"Having cancer is hard enough. Trying to hide it, on top of that, to me, it wasn't worth it," Hansen added. "They know that it doesn't have to be so scary. And I think that we're all stronger, so much stronger than we could have ever imagined, because of it."</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Hansen said she hopes by sharing her cancer journey publicly, she can help another young woman facing a frightening diagnosis to feel less alone and break some of the stigma behind fighting cancer.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"Don't be afraid to go to the doctor and advocate for yourself. You know your own body, and if you feel like something is wrong, speak up and say something," said Hansen.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">"For anyone who's just newly diagnosed, it's OK to be scared, but don't give up," she added. "There is hope. There is another side and you'll get through this."</p></div>

Nicole Hansen said she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February.

Mom finds out she has cancer after noticing something was off while breastfeeding

The UN condemned continued incidents of summary executions, arbitrary killings, abductions, sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, looting and the destruction of homes. The Syrian regime needs to take more steps to ensure an end to the violence targeting minority groups in Syria, including violent offences against the Druze community, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights insisted on Friday ahead of the anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime.

‘More should be done’: UN pushes Syrian regime on justice for Druze, Alawites and minority groups

Whole milk will return to school cafeterias under a newly signed law.

What are the health benefits of whole milk for kids?

“It’s really fun,” said Dylan Aristy Mota, thrilled that he got a chance at the rite of childhood — thanks to doctors reassuring his mom that they'd be at this upstate New York camp, too.  Dylan felt good knowing if “anything else pops up, they can catch it faster than if we had to wait til we got home.”  It may sound surprising but diseases like lupus, myositis and some forms of arthritis — when your immune system attacks your body instead of protecting it — don't just strike adults.

Kids get diseases like lupus, too. As researchers hunt better treatments, this camp brings joy

The significance of choosing the right tires for your Smash 1500 couldn't possibly be more significant. Tires assume an essential part in


Instructions to Pick the Right Tires for Your Slam 1500.


Brazil's conservative-led Congress on Thursday reinstated much of a bill that makes it easier for companies to secure environmental permits, infuriating the leftist government and green groups.President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had vetoed dozens of provisions of what has been dubbed the "Devastation Bill", but Congress has the power to override those actions.

In blow to Lula, Brazil Congress revives controversial environmental bill

The basic demonstration of flossing assumes an instrumental part in forestalling gum illness and keeping up with ideal oral wellbeing. While it


Instructions to Floss Appropriately and Forestall Gum Sickness


Kristen Bell's "Veronica Mars" was the star's breakout role.

Is 'Veronica Mars' about to be your new binge-watch? It's now streaming on Netflix.

Consumers with the imported pans should throw them away due to the severe health risks posed by lead, the agency warns.

Consumers advised to dispose of 19 cooking pans due to lead leaching risk, FDA reports

A land legal counselor assumes a vital part in exploring and reporting different land exchanges, like leases, buys,


The Job of a Land Legal counselor in Property Exchanges


Grain is a well known breakfast decision all over the planet, offering a speedy and helpful method for beginning the day. With


Vote In favor of Your Favored Cereal


The president also announced a UFC event at the White House and plans for an arch monument in D.C.

Trump announces 'Patriot Games' with 2 competitors from every state and territory: What we know

In the advanced age, programming connection points act as passages to usefulness and productivity. In this audit, we dig into the


Exploring Programming Greatness: A Survey of \Easy to use Connection points\


Europe is home to probably the most amazing and different setting up camp objections on the planet. From the rough shores


Nature: 10 High priority Setting up camp Spots In Europe


Innovation has changed our lives in endless ways, and behind each major mechanical forward leap, ton this page are visionary pioneers
