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, Virginia, 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.

According to a new American Cancer Society report, the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer has increased 1% a year over the last decade. A steeper increase is seen among women in their 20s 30s and 40s, at 1.4%

Dr. Nina Balanchivadze, a breast cancer specialist with Virginia Oncology Associates, said it is unclear why the rates are increasing.

“We don’t know,” Balanchivadze said. “I get asked that all the time, what is the reason, or why are younger women diagnosed with breast cancer more? And the truth is, we don’t know.”

Some things can increase risk:

• Family history
• Excessive weight
• Heavy alcohol use
• Smoking
• Radiation exposure

“They didn’t have an answer for me,” Caldwell said. “Like a lot of other young women, they just they don’t know why yet. But I think they’re trying to figure it out.”

There are studies underway, but the ACS and others want more.

“You know, is it genetic causes, or is it what we call epigenetic, meaning, what is in our environment,” Balanchivadze said.

The doctor said fertility rates have decreased in general. Women are getting pregnant at an older age. Could that be part of it? Or, could what we eat and drink be feeding this cancer frenzy?

Younger women tend to get more aggressive breast cancers with a higher death rate according to research.

Caldwell completed five months of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, which took physical and emotional tolls.

“Often times, these are intimate relationships that are affected by how these women look or they don’t feel good,” Balanchivadze said. “A lot of these women have children, or want to have children, and cancer and cancer treatment can affect fertility.”

Caldwell and her fiancée had one week to decide if they would freeze her eggs, which would add about $15,000 to mounting medical debt.

The couple canceled their wedding. They opted instead for a courthouse union and head shaving ceremony at home, which Caldwell documented on social media.

“I was just talking to my husband,” she said. “I asked him, ‘Did you think that I was going to die? Did you have those thoughts?’ And he said, ‘No.’

Youth does have its advantages.

“When we are young, we kind of think we’re invincible,” Balanchivadze said. “And young women tend to stick together to form relationships. … And so it’s nice to see how these women are uplifting each other.”

With no scientific explanations as to what’s driving the increase in young women, Balanchivadze advises what women can do to protect themselves is to know your body and advocate for yourself.

She said, if you feel something, get it checked out. Don’t think you’re too young for cancer. Early detection and treatment saves lives.

Caldwell’s next social media posts will take her followers through radiation.
Then, when its all over, there will be a vow renewal to celebrate life and love on the Caldwells’ one-year anniversary.