Identity with Danielle
Meet Danielle Trops - you can follow her @dani_trops
Meet @dani_trops. She has the brightest spirit imaginable, she is open and honest, and she is one of my Breast Friends! I am beyond honored to share her story.
Hi I’m Danielle! I was diagnosed with stage 1 invasive Ductal Carcinoma in October 2017 at just 30 years old ER/PR+ HER2-, I’m gene negative so why this happened is a mystery... Cancer flipped my life upside down and at the time I thought it was going to be for all bad reasons. Since my diagnosis I’ve gone through a double mastectomy and had 5 rounds of chemo (3 more to go!)
At first I was really insecure about my chemo treatments and how I don’t “look the part” of cancer. The type of chemo regimen I am on doesn’t always cause total hair loss and it made me feel bad to have a full head of hair while I meet these amazingly strong beautiful women who did not have that chance. I constantly have been told “You look great! You don’t even look sick” which caused me to have a bit of an identity crisis. I don’t look sick but man do I feel it. Chemo isn’t easy, I struggle like anyone else. The main thing I learned is that you really can’t judge a book by its cover. We all have struggles we are going through and you may not know it just by looking at a person. Each person’s struggle is unique to them. It’s the hard times in life that make us stronger and shows us how beautiful life is.
Though cancer has changed me a lot, it’s actually made me better. I am more present now than I ever have been and I really live each day to the fullest. I don’t look too far ahead and I don’t ruminate on the past, because all I have is the now and I want to focus everything I have on that and not miss a second. I’m hoping to spread as must positivity as I can but like everyone I have bad days....
I am so thankful for the breasties and to have found such an amazing group of young women who are supportive, caring and open allowing me to feel so comfortable sharing the good and bad of my journey. I owe a lot of my strength and positivity to them 💕