Rebecca Porter

Rebecca is a two-time breast cancer survivor and advocate. During the pandemic in 2020, she was diagnosed with stage 0, grade 3 breast cancer and paget's disease at the age of 27. Breast cancer doesn’t run in her family and she doesn't carry any genetic mutation and so, she was told by many doctors that she was "too young" for breast cancer. She continued advocating for herself for 8 months until a breast surgeon agreed that her symptoms were suspicious and sent her for a mammogram. After catching this aggressive cancer early, she had a double mastectomy and a reconstruction surgery and was declared cancer free! She continued to monitor her body, but a year and a half later, in 2021, the breast cancer returned and she made the difficult decision to withdraw from medical school to fight this terrible disease. It was stage 1, grade 2 and after completing IVF treatment, three months of chemo, and another surgery, she is once again cancer free! Rebecca shares her story on her social media platforms to raise breast cancer awareness and spread the message that self advocacy and early detection saved her life and could save yours too! After undergoing IVF treatment (for fertility preservation) and scalp-cooling (for hair preservation), which are rarely, if ever, covered by insurance, Rebecca was inspired to start a nonprofit that will provide financial help directly to cancer patients!