Meet Sarah Olsen: Breast Cancer Survivor

My name is Sarah, I love traveling, I completed the JetBlue 25 for 25 challenge in the middle of my diagnosis (25 airports visited in under 2 months), and I’m ready to use all the points I earned to reward myself for all I’ve been through!

How did your Cancer Journey Begin? 

My journey began when I found a lump on my breast in June 2025. It was large, like a brussel sprout or hard boiled egg, so I ignored it thinking it was just a cyst. In August it still hadn’t gone away, so I told my best friend about it, and asked her to feel it. She insisted I call the doctor the next day. I had just gone to my OB/GYN in the beginning of 2025 and they didn’t feel anything then - so surely it couldn’t be anything serious to grow so fast. I made an appt and they said I should get a first time mammogram (I was 35). When I went for my appointment other patients came and went, and they kept asking me to go back and take more and more images. I knew deep down something was wrong then. I then went immediately for an ultrasound & the radiologist came in and told me right then and there I had cancer and I needed to see a breast surgeon.

What did your treatment journey look like?

I had a double mastectomy in November followed by a DIEP flap in February & a revision with fat grafting & implants in May. I feel like everything happened so quickly I was on autopilot for the majority of the time. Constant appointments kept me busy. It was after the surgeries I really struggled with mental health and my self image. It wasn’t the pain of the surgeries that I had a hard time with - it was the learning to live in this body. I knew what surgeries I was having and what they would do but I wasn’t prepared for the numbness/nerve shocks/weird feelings I got. Touching my chest or stomach and not being able to feel it, looking in the mirror not recognizing myself. It still is difficult. I put on a brave face and people always say I’m so strong, and have such a good attitude but behind closed doors have been some of the hardest mental days of my life.

How did having cancer shift your relationships with friends and family? 

People who I thought would be there for me, weren’t, and some people I’d never expect to be there for me reached out. People who I would walk to the ends of the earth for couldn’t even send me a text to ask how I was. It was eye opening, and really difficult to deal with. It really put into perspective my place in people’s lives and their place in mine. I’m so thankful for the small circle I do have, those who always checked in on me, who never stopped reaching out, who helped me through this. I couldn’t have done it without them.

What advice or tips do you have for others facing similar circumstances?

 No one’s journey is exactly the same. I did so much research trying to find information and posts/reels/tiktoks to understand and relate and I did find so many helpful, informational things and I was so glad I could relate to so many other women going through the same thing, to realize I am not alone but I never found someone going through the *exact* things I went through. Some women have had the same surgeries but different treatment, the same treatment and different surgeries. But despite being on different journeys - every single one of us started out the same - a doctor told us we had cancer.

Is there anything else you wanted to share for this interview? 

My last surgery was in May, and I’m not sure if any more will be in my future (revisions) , for now I am taking targeted therapy medication, hormone therapy, hormone suppressing injections. The appointments now are spaced further apart so I’m not so much on auto pilot anymore.. so I’ve really had time to think. Some days are better than others. I still struggle with feeling like this is not really my life and that all this happened to someone else. I know what my body has endured and all I went through, but it’s such a mind-f%ck sometimes. Sometimes it gives me courage “damn.. I went through that?!?” and sometimes it hurts my soul a bit “damn.. I went through that?!” Both things can be true at once. Healing isn’t linear. I’ll never be the person I was before this, but I think I’m finally slowly starting to learn to love me after. If you are currently fighting your own battle, or walking alongside someone who is, please know this: you are not alone. Take it one day, one breath, and one sunrise at a time.