It's''.

Philecia La'Bounty smiles in all black before her diagnosis.
La'Bounty said she was "just living life in Southern California — a really fun life" before her diagnosis.Courtesy of Philecia La'Bounty
  • A woman with a lump in her breast said she was denied mammograms because of her age.

  • The TikToker said she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after her lump grew to 8 cm.

  • The medical system ignores serious symptoms for young women.

Philecia La'Bounty had a lump in her left breast when she adjusted her sports bra at the movies with her boyfriend.

She said on TikTok that it felt different than the rest of her breast tissue.

When La'Bounty went to a free clinic, the results came back clear. She was told by the doctors that she had nothing to worry about.

She traveled internationally for modeling work while she was a 29-year-old in Southern California.

La'Bounty requested a mammogram because she was uneasy about the mass. The request was denied twice because of the lack of family history.

"I had perfect blood work, no other symptoms, no other mass, so they denied any other treatment, told me I was too young to have breast cancer, that I was healthy, it was just a cyst and come back if it bothered me," La'Bounty said on

La'Bounty was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's sharing her story to encourage other young women to be aware of their breast cancer risk and to push for answers when they feel unwell.

Philecia La'Bounty in the hospital bed with a shaved head, giving a thumbs up.
La'Bounty said the first chemotherapy treatment she got, known as "the red devil," "nearly killed" her.Courtesy of Philecia La'Bounty

She said she would have taken her situation more seriously if she had seen someone posting about it. I would have tried to find a way to pay for the mammogram.

She said that saving one life is worth everything she posts.

La'Bounty said she knew her diagnosis was bad when the clinician kept leaving the room during scans

In the months leading up to La'Bounty's diagnosis, her lump grew to eight centimeters and she wore tight dresses at car shows.

Before her diagnosis, La'Bounty traveled internationally to model for car shows.Courtesy of Philecia La'Bounty

She was taken to the emergency room when she came back to the clinic. The technician left the room between scans to consult with other clinicians. She told Insider that she knew it was bad when she saw it.

"My heart sank, I was scared to lose my life, my family, my boyfriend," she said. I was afraid of dying.

La'Bounty and Maggard went to breakfast, and then to work, after receiving her cancer diagnosis. "I didn't really know what else to do," she said. "I just was like, 'What am I going to do, go home and cry?'"Brent Maggard

According to the CDC, 9% of all new cases in the US are found in women under 45 years old. La'Bounty said that breast cancer is no longer a disease of old women.

Almost all of the women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

If you think something isn't right, make an appointment. She said it was better to know than not know. It's better to find it sooner.

La'Bounty says she'll likely be on chemotherapy for life

She said she couldn't swallow her own saliva.

She feels like garbage every five to six weeks.

La'Bounty and Maggard, who've been together nine years, on the day La'Bounty's port was put in.Courtesy of Philecia La'Bounty

La'Bounty said that she will likely be on Chemo for the rest of her life after a recent PET Scan showed no evidence of disease.

She had her ovarian and fallopian tubes removed in order to prevent the disease from recurring. For the same reason, she's on hormones. She has been put into early menopause. She said that the hot flashes were the most difficult thing to deal with.

She doesn't want to think about her condition. She said that there's more to do than worry about her cancer. I try to live a normal life instead of a cancer one.

La'Bounty will need a surrogate to have children

La'Bounty found out through a video that the treatment could cause her infertility. She said she panicked.

The doctor told the woman that she didn't have time to discuss every option.

After that treatment, La'Bounty found a new doctor who gave her time to freeze her eggs.

La'Bounty during her initial cancer treatments.Philecia La'Bounty

When La'Bounty and Maggard are ready to have a family, La'Bounty will need a surrogate since she wouldn't be able to have a baby on her own.

La'Bounty spoke on TikTok.

She told Insider that she wanted to carry her own kids. I'm in therapy for that.

Young women can be victims of medical gaslighting

Medical gaslighting is when medical professionals dismiss symptoms, deny tests or treatments, and end up misdiagnosing them, according to research.

A woman who was too young and healthy for cancer told Insider that she was dismissed as a gallbladder problem because she was too sick. She was diagnosed with cancer.

It took five months and seven doctor's appointments for doctors to take her persistent cough seriously. She had a rare form of cancer.

Georgia Ford said that her pain, vomiting, and weight loss were all in her head. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

Women are not being believed, and that is causing significant delays in care, misdiagnosis, late diagnosis, ineffective treatment, and ineffective triaging. The women are paying a high price.

Insider patients who are feeling dismissed by their doctors should ask for the hospital's patient advocacy office and try to practice "charitable" thinking.

If you don't think you're getting adequate care, you should assume that the reason is outside of the provider's control. Varshavski said that he would try to get the most out of his visit.

He said that if both parties exhibit charitable thinking, you get the best outcomes.

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