PORTLAND, Maine — Sara Yeransian was just 30 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I still remember exactly where I was driving when I got the call, and you know, I almost couldn't believe it,” she says.
Her treatment included two surgeries, three months of chemotherapy, 20 rounds of radiation, and infusions every three weeks for a year. But while her body was being ravaged, her heart and mind were blooming. “Whether it's cancer or a mental illness or another disease or any hardship you're going through it's always, mindset is so important, and how you view that situation,” she says, “Trying to focus on the positive as best you can is what I've learned to be the most valuable.”
Yeransian says, through her ordeal, she met some amazing people and learned a lot about herself. “And I think there's so much I still can be grateful for even going through cancer at 30 during covid. It's taught me many, many lessons and there have been some silver linings. And I've realized in myself this inner strength that I never knew I had.”
That’s the strength she knows she can tap into no matter what life throws at her next. “Cancer is such a scary word, there are so many unknowns of it, and that's such a hard part of cancer,” she says, adding “Going through this past year, I'm like, I'm ready for anything.”