Brisbane model’s shock cancer diagnosis at 28

At 28, Tianah was thriving – healthy, happy, and chasing her modelling dreams. Now, she’s fighting one of the rarest and most aggressive forms of breast cancer after a chance discovery. READ HER EMOTIONAL STORY.

A 28-year-old Brisbane woman who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer says her message to other young people is: “cancer doesn’t discriminate”.

Tianah Groundwater is in the midst of a gruelling year-long fight with Triple-negative breast cancer after being diagnosed in March.

The model and hairdresser said her world changed overnight after she noticed a lump earlier this year and went to have it checked after it grew rapidly within weeks.

After an ultrasound Ms Groundwater was sent for a mammogram and biopsy, which led to an urgent call from her doctor.

“He said he needed me to come in now. My Mum picked me up from work and we went in together. He told us in the room that it was breast cancer and me and my Mum – we just sat there and broke down together,” she said.

“I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me.”

She‘s now undergoing six months of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy before then facing either more chemotherapy or radiation.

Tianah Groundwater has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Picture: Richard Walker

Ms Groundwater said when she was preparing to get breast implants in her early 20s, her surgeon asked a routine question: ‘Do you have a family history of breast cancer?’

While she didn’t think so at the time, her grandmother and great-grandmother had both battled breast cancer and carried the BRCA2 gene mutation – a genetic marker that dramatically increases the risk of developing the disease.

Following her shock diagnosis, she now knows she carries it too.

She said, ironically, her implants may have saved her life because they caused the lump to be “super noticeable”.

Ms Groundwater urged other young women to be more aware of their family history and vigilant with their health.

“I never really knew what my family history was,” she said. “In hindsight, that’s because I just didn’t take my health seriously.”

“If I could tell my younger self anything, I would say: ‘Just because you’re young and fit and healthy, doesn’t mean that you can’t get cancer’.”

The Bray Park local said she only discovered she carried the gene mutation after her shock diagnosis in March this year, when her world changed overnight.

Ms Groundwater, who is six rounds into chemotherapy, said she is determined to stay positive.

“I’m sort of getting on with life as much as I can,” she said.

“There’s random days where I might feel a bit more lethargic or a bit spacey – there’s definitely brain fog there.

“But I am young and I don’t want to miss out on things.”

But she said the lifestyle changes were initially “confronting”.

Brisbane's Tianah Groundwater has already started chemotherapy in her year-long battle with Triple-negative breast cancer after being diagnosed in March. Picture: Supplied.

“I’m such a social person and I had been going out a lot and having fun with my friends, drinking and stuff like that,” she said.

“Then they (doctors) said you need to avoid drinking, you can’t be going out.

“To some people that might not be a big deal, but for me, being 28 and young and newly single, I was expecting this year to be such a fun, exciting year for me.”

Tianah had plans to move to the Gold Coast to further her modelling career – something she had dreamt of since childhood. But now, it’s been “put on hold”.

“I’ve been doing modelling since I was a little girl and I was going to take it seriously this year and sign up to an agency,” she said.

In an industry so focused on looks, Tianah admits initially the physical impacts of her diagnosis were one of the hardest parts to accept.

“My looks are such a big part of who I am,” she said.

“For example, when I got told I was definitely going to lose all of my hair, they were the things (sic) that I was just so upset about losing.”

But her perspective has since shifted.

“If I do lose all my hair, it will grow back,” she said.

“The main thing is that I beat this thing and I get to live a long, fulfilled life.”

Brisbane's Tianah Groundwater has already started chemotherapy in her year-long battle with Triple-negative breast cancer after being diagnosed in March. Picture: Supplied.

Brisbane's Tianah Groundwater has already started chemotherapy in her year-long battle with Triple-negative breast cancer after being diagnosed in March. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Groundwater said she wants to use her story to encourage young women to self-check, push for answers, and advocate for themselves.

“If you feel like something’s off with your body, or there have been changes, I think trusting your intuition and getting a second opinion is so important,” she said.

Her message is clear: “cancer doesn’t discriminate”.

“We should start screening from a younger age. They say to us we should start screening at 40 and I think it needs to be taken down to 20.”

Ms Groundwater believes genetic testing should also be more widely encouraged – especially for women with a family history.

“It’s more of a new thing, so I don’t think there’s as much awareness around that there needs to be,” she said.

“I wish I did go and get gene testing done and then I could have made some decisions that could reduce the risk of me developing that cancer in the first place.”

She says she’s been blown away by the advances in breast reconstruction surgery, and women who carry the genetic mutation, should consider undergoing a mastectomy with reconstruction, for prevention.

“It’s actually amazing what they can do with instant reconstruction these days — even down to 3D printing nipples if they need to,” she said.

“If you carry a gene mutation, you should definitely consider it.”

A GoFundMe has been launched to help cover Tianah’s living and medical costs as she focuses on her recovery.

Originally published as Brisbane model’s shock cancer diagnosis at 28