My sister suddenly passed away in September 2023 at just 30 years old. We were incredibly close, and her death devastated me and my family. Around the same time, I started experiencing pain underneath my right breast.
It seemed to come on after eating a large meal or drinking alcohol. Looking back, I wish I had paid more attention to it, but at the time I was grieving and trying to get through each day. Then, in January 2025, my dad passed away too.
It felt like my family simply couldn't catch a break. We were dealing with one loss after another, and in the summer of 2025, my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Throughout all of this, the pain under my breast never really went away.
I was also constantly bloated, nauseous and exhausted. But I was in survival mode. I told myself it was anxiety, stress, period pain, or simply the result of everything I had been through.
In January 2026, I woke up one morning feeling particularly unwell. The pain had spread from beneath my breast into my shoulder, and I found it difficult to take a deep breath. I met up with a friend, but the pain kept getting worse.
Eventually I started vomiting. I went home thinking maybe I just needed to lie down, but the pain became a sharp, stabbing sensation on my right side. It was worse than anything I had ever experienced before.
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