A woman diagnosed with stage three breast cancersays doctors missed opportunities to diagnose her for eight YEARS.
Tatiana Konovalov was just 19-years-old when she found a lump in her breast and made an appointment.
Despite being checked and having an ultrasound, doctor brushed it off as a benign cyst.
Although Tatiana, from California, USA, initially accepted it as a harmless lump, she continued to have it checked just in case.
But she was continually dismissed by doctors who assured her she was 'too young' to have breast cancer.
But as it grew bigger and more uncomfortable, her boyfriend, Erik, insisted for her to ask the doctor to remove it.
Following a biopsy in September 2018, the tests found that the 27-year-old did in fact have breast cancer.
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She had a lumpectomy on her right breast to remove the tumour and underwent six aggressive rounds of chemotherapy.
After her second round of chemo in November 2018, she decided to shave her head to avoid having to witness her hair falling out which she describes as 'empowering'.
She had a full mastectomy in March 2019 after she completed her rounds of chemotherapy.
While her tests have shown that the chemo has worked and she no longer has any remaining cancer cells, her journey has not yet finished.
She will still undergo 10 more rounds of antibody therapy and in a month's time she will begin radiation therapy and is due to have another mastectomy and reconstruction surgery later this year.
Tatiana, an assistant food and beverage manager, said: " After my first dismissal I just accepted that it was a lump, but it was not dangerous.
"But I routinely had the spot checked by doctors at yearly physicals, but no one was concerned because of my age.
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"I received answers like, 'it's an unnecessary surgery' and 'if it was cancer, it would be affecting you already'.
"Finally, my partner insisted that I go to the doctor and ask to have it removed because it had seemed to be growing and was uncomfortable.
"Up until my doctors had the biopsy results, they denied the fact that it could be breast cancer.
"No one wants to insist to a doctor that they might have breast cancer, now I know that I should have pushed harder.
"I was dismissed mostly because of my age and lack of family history. At nineteen, it was likely not breast cancer, and so rarely happens at that age, that it was dismissed.
"But as I got older, my doctors should have taken a more active role in monitoring my lump. I try not to look back and think about the 'what-ifs' but it's an important reminder to women.
"Women should advocate for their health, especially for diseases like breast cancer that are not screened for regularly until later in life.
"When I was diagnosed, I imagine I felt like most people do when they hear the 'C' word. My life came to a screeching halt."
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She addd: "I still have a long road ahead with radiation and several more surgeries. A huge weight has been lifted because I did have a complete response to chemotherapy.
"I haven't been cleared of cancer yet, not completely. My surgery in March 2019, showed that I did not have any remaining cancer cells, but I'm still considered active treatment and not disease free.
"Scars and a fuzzy head are my new normal and I accept that. I love that I found grace and strength in this journey and know it will define the rest of my life.
"I didn't know what to expect throughout every hurdle in this journey. Some things are harder than I expect, others easier.
"It's scary knowing you have had a disease so young in your life and there is so little data on women my age with survival rates, etc so there are a lot of question marks out there.
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"Being open and honest has helped; sometimes you have to tell your family, friends, significant other that you can't do something, or you aren't feeling well, or you need a minute."
According to Cancer Research UK there were 55,122 new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2015 and in 2016 11,563 people died from the disease.
One in 7 females in the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
In 2013 figures showed breast cancer rates rising in the under-50s, with numbers reaching 10,000 for the first time with one in 5 women diagnosed now under 50.
