PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Cancer patients are getting younger, and women in their 20s and 30s who have grown up with social media are posting about it, sharing the struggles, searching for support and inspiring others. Noell Caldwell of Portsmouth is one of them.
“When I noticed the lump in January, of course, I’m searching breast cancer, breast cancer, what’s happening? And so, I saw a lot of other women sharing their stories,” Caldwell said. “And it really helped me kind of calm my nerves a little bit about what I thought I might be going through.”
Caldwell and her fiancée, Tyler, were just months from tying the knot when she felt one in her breast. By the time she could get a mammogram scheduled a month later, it had tripled in size.
“And then, of course, when you hear those words, ‘You have cancer,’ I was like, ‘You know what? I am going to document this so that I can help those the way that they helped me,’” Caldwell said.
Thus began her cancer chronicle on TikTok , where she takes followers on the emotional journey through treatment, losing her hair and breasts, and facing the red devil, a strong chemotherapy that really knocked her out.