{"id":101084,"date":"2025-10-25T23:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T23:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/101084\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T23:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T23:12:08","slug":"mother-of-3-receives-the-biggest-shock-of-her-life-after-going-in-for-her-first-mammogram-at-40-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/101084\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of 3 Receives the \u2018Biggest Shock\u2019 of Her Life After Going in for Her First Mammogram at 40 (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

In 2021, Nasreen Shahi faced an unexpected cancer diagnosis during what she thought would be a routine checkup<\/p>\n

She underwent aggressive treatment while navigating daily life and finding ways to stay positive and strong for her family<\/p>\n

Her journey has inspired others and highlighted the importance of early detection and resilience<\/p>\n

In October 2021, content creator Nasreen Shahi went in for what she thought would be a standard screening \u2014 her first mammogram at age 40.<\/p>\n

Like many women, she expected a quick visit and a clean bill of health, especially since she had no concerning family history. Instead, her world was flipped upside down when doctors delivered the shocking news that she had stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was literally the biggest shock of our lives. Like, we just did not see it coming,\u201d Shahi tells PEOPLE exclusively. \u201cI was \u2013 what I felt to be \u2013 so healthy at that time, so busy, so full of energy. Doing everything that I normally would. So when we found out, it was almost not believable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the cancer had already spread to her liver, Shahi found herself in a chemotherapy chair just two weeks after her initial diagnosis \u2013 beginning an intense and uncertain journey she never saw coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I was invincible. I would have never imagined I would be in this place,\u201d she recalls. \u201cLike, never in a million years \u2013 you couldn’t have convinced me otherwise. I was perfectly healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With little to no time to process the diagnosis or seek second opinions, Shahi decided to place trust in her doctor and quickly connected with a recommended oncologist.<\/p>\n

Given that her cancer was hormone-fed \u2014 estrogen positive, progesterone positive, and HER2 positive \u2014 Shahi required immediate aggressive treatment.<\/p>\n

She began six rounds of chemotherapy over 18 weeks \u2014 a combination of three drugs administered every three weeks. Throughout treatment, she used cold capping to help preserve her hair, though she still lost about 60%.<\/p>\n

\"Nasreen<\/p>\n

Nasreen Shahi<\/p>\n

Nasreen Shahi.<\/p>\n

As a mother of three, Shahi shifted into autopilot, focusing on staying organized and getting through each day as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost thought of it as checking the box. Like, okay, first I have to go get a port placed. Okay, second, I need to start chemotherapy. Okay, next I’m gonna do radiation. Okay, next is gonna be surgery,\u201d she explains. \u201cI just had to think of it almost like a checklist to stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahi underwent a double mastectomy, deep flap reconstruction and an oophorectomy to remove her ovaries to cut off the hormones fueling the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they suggested it, I was like, ‘Yes, do whatever. Let’s go as aggressive as we possibly can, so that this can be in the past,’\u201d she shares.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we did all that, then I did 28 rounds of radiation. And then, got right back on immunotherapy, which is what I’ve basically been on and off for the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nasreen<\/p>\n

Nasreen Shahi<\/p>\n

Nasreen Shahi and her husband.<\/p>\n

Today, she is classified as having No Evidence of Disease (NED), meaning\u00a0all detectable signs and symptoms of cancer are gone, a hopeful yet cautious place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe maintenance therapy for most metastatic breast cancer is indefinite. There is not a stopping point,\u201d Shahi explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way someone described it to me years ago \u2013 and I’ve always tried to remind myself of this \u2013 is that metastatic cancer is almost like being a monkey,” she says. “That you’re swinging from branch to branch, and you want to hold onto that branch as long as possible \u2013 that treatment option as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n

Continuing with immunotherapy, Shahi remains determined to maintain her health since managing the numerous side effects from her treatments and medications comes with its challenges.<\/p>\n

Since her cancer was estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 positive, she takes a daily aromatase inhibitor to block estrogen, which puts her into full menopause in her early 40s.<\/p>\n

\u201cAchy joints, fatigue, just exhaustion, all of those things, and one life-changing thing \u2013 It’s not groundbreaking, everybody should be doing it \u2013 but it’s staying active,\u201d Shahi emphasizes. \u201cThat has been the biggest game changer for me.”<\/p>\n

The busy mom maintains a daily routine of walking three to four miles and strength training at least three times a week. Regular exercise has eased her joint pain, boosted her energy and helped protect her bone health through menopause.<\/p>\n

While movement has helped her physically recover, she credits her support system for keeping her spirits high during every phase of the journey.<\/p>\n

“I really believe that cancer is such a family diagnosis. It is not a one-person show,” she says. “Like, it truly takes a village, and I am beyond lucky to have that support. My husband, my kids, but also my sisters, my parents, my in-laws, everybody \u2013 and the amount that they supported us really carried us through everything.”<\/p>\n

\"Sana<\/p>\n

Sana Ahmed Photography<\/p>\n

Nasreen Shahi and her family.<\/p>\n

Shahi believes that maintaining a positive mindset carried her through her most difficult days. \u201cIf you can’t be strong mentally, this is a really tough game to play,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After her diagnosis, the content creator admits that she wasn\u2019t sure if she was going to continue her job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, nobody’s gonna wanna look at me with no eyelashes, falling out hair\u2026like, this is not what I started for, this is not why people followed me, and nobody’s gonna wanna still follow my advice,\u201d she tells PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

However, she was pleasantly surprised by the outpour of support from the online community she had built over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that they’re a lot of the reason why I am so positive, of course, along with my family and my kids,\u201d she shares. \u201cThey just are so encouraging, so positive, and it’s almost like they rallied around me and supported my page even more, and so it gave me more of a reason to want to come back every day on social media and share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if she only had a few eyelashes left, Shahi was determined to stay confident \u2013 showing her followers facing similar health challenges that they too could feel empowered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of just raising awareness, I honestly didn’t even realize what reach this was gonna have,\u201d Shahi says. Hundreds of women have told the content creator that her story prompted them to get a mammogram, leading to early cancer detection they might have otherwise missed.<\/p>\n

When offering advice to women facing a cancer diagnosis \u2013 or supporting someone who is \u2013 Shahi admits that it\u2019s going to be difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re basically giving up a year of your life to go through absolute hell and back to get the rest of your life back. Think of it as a checklist, get through each process,\u201d she says. \u201cYour only job is to survive each part of this process. Stay positive, because you’re a lot stronger than you realize, and you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW In 2021, Nasreen Shahi faced an unexpected cancer diagnosis during what she thought would be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[73882,27622,46567,134,73884,73883,73880,73881,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-101084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ahmed-photography-nasreen-shahi","tag-cancer-diagnosis","tag-content-creator","tag-health","tag-metastatic-breast-cancer","tag-nasreen","tag-nasreen-shahi","tag-nasreen-shahi-nasreen-shahi","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}