Elizabeth, United States

The way I found out I had cancer was unconventional to say the least. It is crazy because if certain events didn't transpire, I would have never known. My doctors told me I had been living with cancer probably since I was 16/17, I was 26 when I was diagnosed with it. I had no "real" symptoms of cancer. No pain, no concerning signs that made me want to go get checked. I was snoring in my sleep and at times not breathing correctly in my sleep, and snoring is normal, but the inconsistent breathing was not.  I had also definitely gained some weight, and I had been working on losing weight, but nothing was working. I went to a sleep specialist first for the breathing first and they did lots of tests. Around the 2nd test I had a gut feeling something was wrong, but no one told me what was going on, I was very confused, and scared. I did not tell my family or friends yet what was going on, I didn't want to raise any flags yet, but I felt alone. They had me do an MRI, an ultrasound and a biopsy. I will never forget the ultrasound experience; it was supposed to be a 10-minute appointment, and it took way too long, and this is when I knew I had cancer. No one had told me anything but my gut. I was very scared and confused. Biopsy came and went and then the results were available. I found out on the portal that I had cancer and then the next day my doctor called. Regardless of the not-so-fun experience of finding out alone, my team was great, I had some amazing doctors once everything was diagnosed and once I was educated. I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. I was comforted with the fact that my cancer is a less concerning diagnosis.  If there was anything that I felt misunderstood with or overlooked, I would say the weight gain. Because I had gained a lot, and had struggled with maintaining weight my whole life, but this period was a noticeable change. My doctors had told me they have no evidence to support that the two are correlated, but I am forever skeptical.  What I had learned when I was going through this was that the "c" word forces people to show you their true selves. My family supported me, most of my friends were very supportive, some more than others. But what made me feel seen, heard and empowered was support groups. It is beyond helpful to have people in your corner that know exactly what you are going through. I made a lot of connections via social media support groups and it was the best thing I ever did for myself.