Jess Pearce: You're never too young to know your normal

After a good friend was diagnosed with breast cancer Jess became more vigilant about her breast health.

She had a mammogram and an ultrasound in 2022 when she felt her breast thickening but was told it was clear and not to worry because “You’re too young”. She felt dismissed because of her age; however, 13 months later, when she was 33, she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

She said she found it really hard to process, “We always get told you’re too young, so I think, you know, it was crazy.”

Jess is a nurse and mum to an 11-year-old boy and step mum to 12- and 8-year-old boys. She delayed cancer treatment to freeze her eggs, which she says helped her regain some sort of control through the experience.

Jess is a carrier of the BRCA2 gene mutation. She said, “I didn't know about the BRCA2 genetic mutation until I was diagnosed. It is from my dad’s side. My pop, who we don't really know, had died from cancer in 2020 which we only just found out about. My uncle and cousin on my dad’s side passed of cancer also really young. Now others are finding out that they are carriers too, such as one of my brothers and one of my cousins.” On the other side of the family, Jess also lost an aunt to brain cancer in her 60s, after first being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Jess underwent a double mastectomy and reconstruction, choosing not to have nipples, a decision that’s been emotionally challenging. One of her nipples had cancer in it and was removed, she opted to remove the other. She said, “I make a joke about not having nipples, but you know that's just me covering up something deeper within myself. I really struggled with that part.  I breast fed my son with them, like it became more sentimental. They were part of me so although a lot of people go ‘Oh yeah, get rid of nipples, who cares’, it's still an amputation and still a piece of me.”

Jess still has treatments and procedures ahead and the impact of breast cancer on her children and partner has been deeply challenging. For her, as for many others, cancer is not something that will simply go away; it’s a disease she will likely manage for life.

She said, “I get told ‘you're lucky you’re young’ or ‘you're lucky they found it early’, but it’s not finished once treatment is finished. I'm still on hormone blockers …[and] I've got to have more surgeries because I'm high risk of other cancers. It's never really over because you have always got to be more vigilant.  It’s not as easy as it seems, like hey, I'm living. Yes, that's amazing but there's still a lot of healing to do even when you catch it early.”

Over the past few months, Jess has found strength and support through BCNA’s resources, particularly My Journey and BCNA’s podcasts, which have helped her navigate both the emotional and practical sides of her diagnosis.

Driven by a desire to support others facing similar challenges and to use her pain for purpose and power, Jess became the face of BCNA’s Know Yourself. Feel Yourself. awareness campaign in October 2025. The campaign is aimed at young women, encouraging them to get to know what’s normal for their bodies so they can recognise when something’s not. She and other women affected by breast cancer feature in a step-by-step educational video showing viewers how to self-check. Jess wants people to take breast checks seriously, “You're not too young to get breast cancer.”