Angelique Laliotis' Life-Altering Breast Cancer Diagnosis at 24
For Angelique Laliotis, a single ordinary moment in November 2023 quietly divided her life into a definitive 'before' and 'after'. The then-24-year-old was standing alone in her bedroom, putting on a bra after a shower, when her hand brushed across her chest and paused on something that felt distinctly wrong.
A Discovery That Defied Expectations
'I had no other symptoms but I just had a bad feeling about it at the time. It was huge - the size of an egg,' she revealed to the Daily Mail. The young woman experienced no visible changes or sharp pains demanding attention, yet this subtle shift under her skin soon unravelled into a diagnosis as shocking as it was devastating.
What followed was news no one anticipates in their early twenties, particularly for someone vigilant about health who had received an all-clear just months earlier. Angelique was not unfamiliar with breast lumps, which made subsequent events even more difficult to process.
From Routine Checks to Devastating Diagnosis
She first experienced lumps at 19 and underwent multiple biopsies over the years, each time receiving reassurance they were benign. In January 2023 - less than a year before her diagnosis - she attended a routine check and was told everything was completely fine.
'I have a history of breast lumps, but none of them had been cancerous before,' she explained. When she suddenly felt the egg-sized lump in November, the scale alone shocked her. Acting quickly, she arranged a telehealth appointment with her GP and secured an ultrasound referral.
The diagnosis arrived swiftly with devastating clarity: invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common breast cancer form that begins in milk ducts and invades surrounding tissue. Her illness was classified as grade 3, meaning cancer cells were fast-growing, aggressive, and more likely to spread - which they already had by detection.
'I found out it had spread to my lymph nodes,' she said. At 24, with no family cancer history or genetic mutation to explain it, the diagnosis felt frightening and deeply confusing.
Fertility, Fear, and Impossible Choices
Almost immediately, Angelique faced decisions shaping her treatment and future. Because her cancer required urgent chemotherapy, she received less than 24 hours to decide about undergoing IVF to preserve fertility.
The young woman revealed it felt 'surreal' because she'd barely begun processing her diagnosis. 'It was really overwhelming, because I had just been diagnosed, and then I had to decide what I wanted to do to preserve my fertility,' she said. 'I was so young.'
She chose to proceed, completing one IVF round and egg retrieval surgery before treatment began. Angelique's cancer was hormone-positive, fuelled by oestrogen, so she was placed into chemical menopause to shut down hormone production and reduce cancer progression risk.
'Being in menopause at 24, 25 years old… that in itself has side effects,' she said. 'I had bone pain, fatigue, I felt really nauseous all the time.'
A Body That No Longer Felt Like Her Own
Angelique underwent 16 chemotherapy rounds alongside oral chemotherapy medication, followed by three weeks of radiotherapy and tumour removal surgery. The treatment proved relentless, with cumulative toll profound.
'The chemo made me very sick and I lost all my hair. I was quite unwell for the duration of that,' she said. Chemical menopause compounded everything, intensifying fatigue, nausea, and the sense her body had become something 'unfamiliar' - something she constantly tried to manage, endure, and understand.
Angelique stepped away from work almost immediately after diagnosis, entering a long uncertain treatment period stretching from November 2023 through September 2024, where days blurred in cycles of appointments, sickness, and recovery.
She explained that serious illness at a young age brings particular grief - for what's happening presently, and for the version of yourself you thought you'd be. 'Emotionally, going through cancer completely changed my perspective on life and my relationships,' she said. 'It changed how I looked at myself, my self-esteem, my body image. It was just very difficult.'
Simple Rituals That Carried Her Through
Amid something so consuming, Angelique found small, grounding ways to move through each day, leaning into routines offering comfort and distraction. She walked when possible, read when her body allowed, journaled thoughts, and cooked - often gravitating toward simple foods like soup.
'I think because I was feeling so nauseous and unwell, I had an aversion to food, so I found that cooking kind of helped me and relaxed me,' she said.
What sustained her most were people around her. Her partner, family, and friends all showed up in ways helping relieve Angelique of carrying her diagnosis alone. 'My partner and my brother would try and make me laugh during chemo so I wouldn't be thinking about what I was experiencing,' she said. 'My grandmothers would spend time with me, my friends would come and see me… there was a lot of love, and I am so grateful.'
Life After Treatment - Learning to Live Again
Now 27, Angelique is no longer in active treatment, but the impact continues shaping her life. She remains on medication keeping her in menopause, receives monthly injections, and undergoes six-monthly bone infusions countering treatment's long-term effects, with ongoing side effects including:
- Fatigue
- Body aches
- Hot flushes
Quieter, more insidious aftershocks include health anxiety lingering with constant questions beneath the surface. 'I can be in the happiest moment of my life, and it will still creep up,' she said. 'When I have any sort of aches or pains I think, oh my gosh, what is this? Is the cancer back?'
Alongside that fear exists a deepened gratitude - a recalibration of what matters. 'The small things are the big things that I miss,' she said. 'Feeling well enough to go for a walk, or do a Pilates class, or go out for dinner with my partner… feeling like myself again.'
After finishing treatment, she consciously reclaimed life parts put on hold, travelling to the Great Barrier Reef and returning to Greece to reconnect with heritage - experiences she describes as deeply healing. 'It felt reassuring that I can still do the things I wanted to do,' she said.
Finding Meaning and Offering Hope
Angelique still finds her feet, navigating what living means after something altering her self-sense. 'I try to live my life with so much gratitude and appreciation,' she said.
For others facing similar diagnosis, her advice proves simple: 'Just keep swimming, just keep going. You're not alone… and you're so much stronger than you think.'
Throughout her journey, organisations including Cancer Chicks, the McGrath Foundation, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation provided crucial support and advocacy, helping young women like Angelique feel less alone in experiences that can otherwise feel isolating.
