Personal trainer Helena, 28, was hopeful when doctors said she was ‘too young’ for a mammogram. Then they glanced at the ultrasound and the room fell silent

Helene Duncan had every reason to feel exhausted at the start of the year. 

The 28-year-old personal trainer was finishing her bachelor’s degree in exercise science, completing placement, sitting exams and working. She was also preparing for a master’s degree and planning her wedding. 

When persistent fatigue followed her each day in February, she blamed her busy life. 

‘I brushed it off as related to my workload,’ Helene told the Daily Mail.

‘As I was working through it, I kept wondering, ‘Am I depressed? Am I tired? What is going on?’ I was very fatigued all the time.’

Nothing in Helene’s family history suggested anything serious. She had no known genetic or family history of cancer, and at 28 did not consider herself at risk of breast cancer. 

Three months later, she found a lump in her breast while showering. 

This led to a stage two breast cancer diagnosis, months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and an abrupt end to the busy life she had worked so hard to build. 

She has since stopped working, reduced her university studies to one subject and put much of her future on hold as weekly blood tests, medical appointments and treatment cycles fill her days. 

‘I went from full-time study, wedding planning, and working to essentially nothing but medical appointments and chemotherapy every week,’ she said.

Helene was used to testing her body’s limits through work and exercise, which made it easy to rationalise the exhaustion before her diagnosis. 

‘The first person I told about the lump was my partner. He told me not to stress because it was probably nothing, but he also told me to go to the GP immediately.’

Like many faced with unexplained changes, Helene turned to Google for information about breast lumps. 

She did not wait long for medical help. Her GP saw her the next morning and referred her for an ultrasound and mammogram, which she underwent the following day. 

That urgency faded when she arrived at the radiology clinic. 

Staff raised their eyebrows at her age and told her that, being under 35, she would likely not need a mammogram. They planned to do the ultrasound first and decide if further imaging was necessary. 

Their reaction gave Helene a false sense of reassurance. 

‘Being dismissed originally gave me a bit of false hope,’ she said.

‘In that moment, I felt like, ‘If they’re not worried, I’m not worried’.’

But the atmosphere changed during the ultrasound. 

‘I remember the woman doing my ultrasound got very quiet all of a sudden while she was going over the lump,’ Helene said.

‘She then started talking about how they might have to do a mammogram. It was an emotional rollercoaster going up and down.’

The images were sent to the head radiologist, who ordered an immediate mammogram and requested a biopsy as soon as possible. 

‘Looking back, I think it’s awful that people can be so easily dismissed based on their age,’ she said.

Helene had the mammogram that day. The clinic rearranged its schedule for her to return for a biopsy on Monday, the only test that could provide a diagnosis. 

She was told the results would take two days and booked an appointment with her GP at the earliest opportunity. 

When Helene arrived, the written pathology report had not reached the clinic, but her GP had already seen the scans. Not wanting her to wait, he called the pathology lab and requested a verbal result. 

The answer confirmed his fears, Helene had invasive ductal carcinoma. Further scans showed the cancer had spread to two lymph nodes, placing it at stage two. 

Helene was then referred to a surgeon and began chemotherapy and immunotherapy. 

She is now nine weeks into treatment, having completed three of eight planned cycles. Each cycle lasts three weeks, so the first phase is expected to continue until November. 

Her doctors will then assess her tumour before deciding on surgery. 

Cancer has changed almost every aspect of Helene’s life. 

Her work as a personal trainer requires energy, strength and regular client contact – things treatment no longer allows her to offer. 

She has stepped away from her job, though her employer has assured her the position will be waiting for her return. The decision has left her without income.

Helene had planned to move straight into full-time postgraduate study, but has now reduced her master’s degree to one subject. 

‘There are a lot of days at home,’ she said.

‘On the good days, I manage to get out and see my friends, but I also have a lot of doctor’s appointments. I have to get blood tests every week now, which is not fun.’

Treatment has brought relentless side effects including fatigue, bone pain, neuropathy, nosebleeds, breathlessness, night sweats, hot flushes and cognitive difficulties known as ‘chemo brain’. 

Her red blood cell levels fluctuate during chemotherapy, sometimes leaving her breathless, and hormone-blocking treatment for fertility preservation has stopped her periods and put her into a medically induced menopause.

Then she lost her hair; she decided early to shave her head when it started falling out.

‘I would rather take control of the situation than wait and watch it fall out in front of me,’ she said.

‘But your hair is something you associate with your femininity. It’s part of how you feel lovely and pretty.

‘It was awful, and it was so overstimulating because there was hair everywhere. It was in my bed, on my pillows, on the floor, in my jumpers, in my hats – everything.’

When it was time to shave, Helene invited friends to her home for a barbecue, turning the moment into a hair-shaving party. Five friends shaved their heads with her. 

‘It was so lovely, and it became such a positive experience, but it was definitely still overwhelming,’ she said.

‘I shed quite a few tears. Having everyone around me for support made it a positive experience rather than a negative one.’

Helene’s family and friends have stepped into the parts of her life she can no longer manage alone.

Her partner attends every appointment. When he cannot be there, her best friend goes to chemotherapy with her. 

Her parents have repeatedly flown to Brisbane to support her, while her brother, mother-in-law and friends fill her freezer with meals. 

Others have sent flowers, checked in or offered encouragement when little else could be done. 

She joined an oncology exercise physiology clinic, where she met women who had finished or were still undergoing breast cancer treatment. 

Having built her career around exercise, Helene found comfort in a place that understood both the physical effects of treatment and the emotional weight of losing control over her body. 

‘They have given me an unimaginable amount of support. They’ve been incredible,’ she said.

The rest of the year will revolve around treatment, with uncertainty making it hard for Helene to plan beyond the next cycle. 

Her job, degree, wedding plans and daily routines remain suspended around a medical schedule that did not exist months ago. 

Helene now hopes younger women realise that breast cancer can occur well before the age linked with screening. 

BreastScreen Australia offers free mammograms every two years to women aged 40 and over, while women aged 50 to 74 are actively invited. The programme is designed for women without symptoms; anyone who notices a breast change should see a doctor rather than wait for routine screening. 

Cancer Council advises people to know the normal look and feel of their breasts and seek medical attention for changes such as a new lump, thickening, persistent pain, changes in shape or size, skin dimpling, nipple changes or discharge. 

Helene believes younger women often receive little practical information about breast awareness, as public messaging tends to focus on older age groups. 

‘There seems to be a very big gap in preventative strategies between younger women and women over the age of 40,’ she said.

‘Younger women don’t really have all the information. Since being diagnosed, I’ve had so many young women tell me they learned to do a self-check, or started doing self-checks, because they saw me posting about my diagnosis.

‘I think there is a disparity in awareness. Young women don’t always know that you can get breast cancer under 30, or definitely under 35.’

She also urges people facing cancer to protect the parts of their lives that still bring happiness, even when treatment changes everything else. 

‘Make sure you protect your mental health as well as your physical health,’ Helene said. 

‘It matters just as much. You don’t need to give up the things you love, or doing things with the people you love, just because you’ve received a cancer diagnosis.

‘Your community will support you, help you, and guide you through the dark times, so don’t be afraid to embrace the people around you and accept the help they offer.’