Meet Darielle DeViccaro: Stage 4 triple-positive breast cancer survivor

I’m Darielle, a wife, esthetician, and creative living with stage 4 breast cancer. Diagnosed at just 31 years old, two months after getting married, I now share my journey to connect with others facing similar circumstances, spread awareness, and remind people that even in the midst of life’s hardest moments, there is still room for joy, creativity, adventure, and living life to the fullest.

1. How did your Cancer Journey Begin?

I was diagnosed with stage 4 triple-positive breast cancer at 31 years old in November 2024, just two months after getting married. By the time I was diagnosed, the cancer had already spread to my lymph nodes and lungs.

It was a complete shock. I was young, newly married, and had never imagined that cancer would be something I would have to face, let alone at stage 4. My life changed very quickly, and I had to learn how to navigate a world I knew very little about. 

2. What did your treatment journey look like?

After my diagnosis, I was immediately taken off birth control because my cancer is hormone-receptor positive, meaning hormones can contribute to the growth of my cancer. I was also encouraged to freeze my eggs before beginning treatment, so I went through an expedited fertility preservation process because we needed to start chemotherapy as soon as possible.

As soon as I finished the egg retrieval, I had my port placed in my chest and started chemotherapy on January 7, 2025. I went through six rounds of TCHP every three weeks for four months, along with cold cap therapy and medically induced menopause.

I initially wasn’t sure about cold capping because of the cost and the mixed reviews, but I ultimately decided to try it, and I’m so grateful that I did. I ended up keeping about 90% of my hair, which made a really difficult experience feel just a little more manageable.

After chemotherapy, I continued HER2-targeted treatment every three weeks, which I am still receiving today. I had my double mastectomy with lymph node removal and tissue expanders on June 3, 2025. After chemotherapy and surgery, there was no longer any evidence of detectable disease.

Over the following months, I had my expanders gradually filled until they were around the size I had been before my mastectomy. I had my final reconstruction on September 10, 2025.

Unfortunately, in July 2026, a small amount of cancer was detected again. We’re currently keeping a very close eye on it and continuing to navigate whatever comes next.

3. Is there anything you want to mention regarding mental health and cancer and how you dealt with that?

To be honest, I don’t think I’ve fully processed everything I’ve been through. There are still days when I look back and think, “did that really happen to me?”

I tried very hard not to give my diagnosis more power than it deserved. I stayed extremely positive and focused on getting through one day at a time. I know positivity isn’t always easy, and I don’t believe you have to be positive every second of every day. I definitely had moments when I felt awful physically or emotionally and the reality of what was happening would hit me.

I learned that being strong doesn’t mean you never have hard days. I’ve had to learn how to let myself grieve, too. I can be incredibly grateful to still be here while also grieving the body, health, life, and sense of normalcy that I had before cancer.

Keeping my mind occupied and leaning into my creativity helped me tremendously. I found things that gave me something to look forward to and reminded me that I was still me outside of my diagnosis.

I think the changes to my body have probably been one of the hardest parts for me. I’m incredibly grateful for reconstruction and for the fact that I’m here, but gratitude and grief can exist at the same time. I think that’s something people don’t always talk about enough.

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

Cancer taught me a lot about relationships, both in beautiful ways and in difficult ones.

I’m incredibly grateful for my husband, who became my caretaker throughout all of this. He was beside me through absolutely everything: the good, the bad, and the ugly, and he never once made me feel like a burden. We said “in sickness and in health” when we got married, and he was immediately put to the test. He passed with flying colors.

I also had an incredible army of support around me, from my parents, family and close friends, to people I hadn’t spoken to in years, and even complete strangers within the breast cancer community.

I decided to share a lot of my journey on social media because social media was actually one of the places I turned to when I was first diagnosed. I found women sharing their stories who made me feel less alone and helped me understand what I was about to go through. I figured that if sharing my own experience could help even one woman feel a little less scared or alone, then it was worth it.

My diagnosis also caused me to lose some people, which was painful. But in some ways, I’m grateful for that clarity, too. Cancer has a way of showing you who is truly willing to show up when life gets hard. The people who couldn’t show up for me during one of the hardest seasons of my life aren’t people I need to carry with me into the best seasons.

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

My biggest piece of advice is to accept help.

You do not have to be a hero, and you don’t have to prove how strong you are by doing everything yourself. That was something I personally struggled with because I’ve never been someone who likes asking for help. I would push myself too hard because I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

Eventually, I had to accept that I was in an incredibly vulnerable position and that allowing someone to help me didn’t make me weak or a burden. People who love you want to help you. Let them.

I also know how difficult it can be to remain hopeful when it feels like your entire world is falling apart. I’m not saying you have to force yourself to be positive every day, but I truly believe that protecting your mindset can make a huge difference.

Some mornings, you just have to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this, but I’m going to do it.”

Take it one day at a time. Let yourself have bad days. Let people help you. And remind yourself that you are so much stronger than you probably realize.

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

One thing I really wish more people understood is how much cold cap therapy can mean to someone going through cancer treatment. I was fortunate enough to be able to afford it, and because of it, I kept about 90% of my hair.

Keeping my hair didn’t make cancer easier, and I don’t want to minimize what anyone experiences when they lose their hair. But for me, being able to look in the mirror and still recognize myself made a huge difference. It allowed me to hold onto a piece of my identity during a time when so much of my life and my body was changing. I honestly believe my mental and emotional experience may have been very different if I had lost my hair.

That’s why I wish cold cap therapy was more accessible and covered by insurance for cancer patients who want the option. It shouldn’t have to come down to whether someone can afford an additional treatment on top of everything else they’re already going through.

And beyond that, I think the biggest thing I want people to understand is that cancer doesn’t have to become your entire identity. For a while, it felt like every part of my life revolved around appointments, scans, treatment, surgeries, medications, and trying to understand what was happening to my body. And while cancer is a huge part of my story, it is not the whole story.

I’m still a wife, a daughter, a friend, a creative person, a traveler, and a woman who wants to experience as much of life as possible. I’ve learned to appreciate the little things so much more and to be intentional about creating experiences and memories instead of waiting for the “right time” to live my life.

I don’t know exactly what the future holds, and that’s something I’ve had to learn to live with. But I do know that I’m here, I’m living, and I’m going to keep finding ways to make my life beautiful, even alongside the uncertainty.

I’m really grateful to have been given the space to share my story. Cancer can be an incredibly isolating experience, and I know how much other people’s stories helped me when I was first diagnosed. If sharing mine can give someone hope on a really dark day, remind someone that there is still a life to be lived after a cancer diagnosis, or simply make someone feel a little less alone, then everything I’ve been through has a purpose beyond just my own story. I’m grateful for the opportunity to pass along the same hope and support that others gave me when I needed it most.