Warning: This story includes references to suicide and mental health and may be distressing.

Pyes Pā woman Stephanie Samuelson’s life flashed before her eyes when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last January. “I was so scared that I was going to die.”

The 34-year-old went from being “super bubbly, outgoing, nothing-can-stop-me” to suffering panic attacks two days after her diagnosis.

Doctors caught her stage 3, fast-growing tumour early.

Young and fit, Samuelson assumed the lump in her breast was a cyst. But it didn’t go away after five months, so she booked an ultrasound and a mammogram. When her doctor asked her to come in and bring a support person, she knew it wasn’t the news she wanted to hear.

Samuelson received her diagnosis in January 2025 and had a full mastectomy in February.

Steph Samuelson at her home in Pyes Pā. She and husband Mikey Samuelson named their property The Sanctuary. Photo / Brydie Thompson

However, she wasn’t the first person in her family to be diagnosed with breast cancer – her mum, Sue Shrimpton, and older sister, Tara Williams, have both suffered.

Mum then sister

Shrimpton, now aged 71, was diagnosed in 2020. “She’s a trooper, that woman,” Samuelson said.

Williams, aged 49, was diagnosed a year later in 2021, after a free mammogram once she turned 45. “Every week there was something,” Williams said. “CT, MRI, and biopsies.”

Her biggest tumour was 35mm and grade 3. Williams described her five months of chemotherapy as “super rough”.

Having seen her older sister endure chemotherapy, Samuelson decided against the treatment. As an alternative, she was put on a drug called tamoxifen, which she likened to a hormone blocker. After two weeks, she came off the drug because she experienced every side effect. Samuelson was suicidal. “If I didn’t come off it when I did, I would not be here today,” she said.

But the sisters said at least they had each other’s backs. “We’re a really tight family,” Samuelson said.

Williams said a different family member accompanied her to every chemo session.

When Samuelson, the youngest of all eight siblings, was diagnosed, Williams’ first thought was: “This can’t be happening.”

Husband and son

Samuelson’s son, 8-year-old Kooper Samuelson, also struggled. She choked up while saying: “It affected him more than he realised.”

Her husband, Mikey Samuelson, has been “so supportive and working so bloody hard”.

“He’ll work a 12-hour day, come home, cook and do the dishes. I could not thank him enough.”

Samuelson said her diagnosis came as a shock even though her mother and sister suffered from breast cancer, because her previous gene testing was negative.

Williams has teenage daughters, so their future also plays on her mind. She doesn’t want to scare them at such a young age, but advised others to check themselves.

Don’t let it sit!

“If you feel anything different, you’ve got to let your doctor know. No matter what age you are, if you feel something, check. Don’t let it sit there at all.”

Samuelson said she was at her fittest when she received her diagnosis. “I had never felt better. I was exercising so much. I wouldn’t have known anything.”

Stephanie Samuelson leaving the hospital after breast cancer surgery. Photo / Stephanie Samuelson

When Williams was diagnosed, Samuelson, 32 at the time, tried to have a mammogram. However, because of her young age, medical professionals decided against the screening.

They predicted that if she were to get breast cancer, it wouldn’t happen until she was in her forties. Two years later, she was diagnosed.

Recovery

Recovery has been a “mental battle” for Samuelson, who gets vitamin C and IV fluids every couple of weeks at Godfrey Medical Centre, since she said no to chemotherapy and radiation. She has to sit away from others sometimes, because it’s “too much” hearing about their experiences. Something will trigger her, setting off an anxiety spiral.

Samuelson said she’s been struggling with anxiety and panic attacks ever since her diagnosis. The panic attacks had stopped her from keeping her hairdressing salon open, and she hasn’t been able to return to work.

“I absolutely miss my clients. They’re not just people to me; they are like friends and family. I get messages all the time from them.”

Williams isn’t the same either, now facing heart problems that could be a consequence of chemotherapy and radiation. She tends to her garden but experiences fatigue and body aches.

BCSSTT support

The Breast Cancer Support Service Trust Tauranga (BCSSTT) had been “amazing” throughout both sisters’ journeys.

“The ladies are so lovely,” Samuelson said. “They ring you all the time just to check in and see how you are, if you need anything.”

The sisters particularly raved about support worker Kath Hamilton and massage therapist Michelle Stewart.

After Samuelson received her diagnosis, she rang the BCSSTT. Hamilton answered and insisted that Samuelson come into their office. Hamilton told Samuelson: “Come in, come in – just come in!”

Samuelson left with her arms full of food. “They just want to give you something all the time.”

Despite the challenges Samuelson has faced, when her son Kooper raced in Rotorua’s Crankworx mountain biking competition in March, “nothing was stopping me [from cheering him on]”. She climbed the hilly Redwood Forest with drains attached to her body.

Nothing was stopping Samuelson from conquering breast cancer either. Nine months on from diagnosis, she described her stage now as “precautionary, alternative treatment”.

Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.