By Amira Kim
At 25, the only lump Tiana Warner expected to encounter was the rock on her new engagement ring.
But a passing moment of joy joking with her fiancé turned memorably sour with the discovery of a mass.
“When I laughed, I put my hand on my chest to laugh, and then I just remember feeling this lump,” said Warner. “I just knew it was cancer.”
On the 12th of September, 2024, Tiana and 57 other Australians would be diagnosed with breast cancer. It was just six days from her 26th birthday.
Meetings with wedding planners were quickly replaced with oncology appointments and within three weeks she’d begun treatment. Ovary stimulation was first, to preserve healthy eggs for any future children she may desire. Natural conception would now be an uncertain option for Tiana.
The future she had envisioned was rapidly changing by the minute.
Less than a week after her preservation procedure, chemotherapy began to treat her stage 3, grade 3 diagnosis. A stage 4 diagnosis is terminal.
Once every two weeks for six hours Tiana would endure venom flowing through her veins. Hand syringed by nurses dressed in full hazmat gear while confined to a chair, the experience is near one of a torture scene in a spy movie.
“You have to make small talk while they [the nurses] literally poison you,” said Warner.
And for the first 48 hours after, when you need it most, a hug is out of the question.
“You can’t have any contact, your skin is toxic.”
To adapt is to survive, but surviving is not living. Existing with cancer can feel like entering a tunnel, the further you progress the darker it gets.
One of the darkest adaptations most women face during this time is the loss of their hair and its links with their identities.
“I was trying so hard to keep my hair for the wedding,” said Warner. She cites the loss of her hair as one of the lowest points throughout her treatment. “It got so bad to the point that James [fiancé] had to take the bathroom mirrors down.” Every clump that fell was a physical reminder of how her body was changing against her will. “I couldn’t shower without crying.”
In February 2025 the mass had diminished enough to allow surgery, and so Tiana underwent a mastectomy.
“No one talks about it like an amputation, but that’s what it is, you lose apart of yourself.”
The mirrors stayed down while Tiana adapted, yet again, to her new body. The emotional journey rippled through everyone near her. “I was just in a very unhappy place, and everyone around me was there with me,” she said.
Watching a loved one go through treatment can be emotionally taxing, and that can be difficult to hide.
“Nobody wanted to tell me that they were scared, but I could tell,” said Warner.
In 2020 breast cancer was the second most-diagnosed cancer in Australia, but that diagnosis impacts more than just the patient.
“I didn’t want anyone to feel like that because of me.” People close by often end up frustrated, angry, and depressed with the situation, especially if they’ve suddenly been thrust into a caregiver role while still trying to look after themselves. “I do feel a bit of that guilt.”
After a few weeks of recovery Tiana faced the ultimate hurdle of radiation therapy.
Every day for three weeks, she would have concentrated X-ray beams focused on her breast to destroy any remaining cancer cells. With the lump now removed, the task was to destroy any lingering cells that may have escaped before they could take root again. Upon completing this, and with follow up blood and sample testing showing all clear, Tiana could start to exit survival mode.
With the end of the tunnel finally coming into view, Tiana wanted to make her time in there meaningful as she approached the light.
“I needed to prove to myself that I could still do hard things [with my body] because I wanted to, not because I had to.”
On August 10th 2025, on the anniversary of discovering that despised lump on her chest, Tiana Warner ran the City2Surf marathon on behalf of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, raising $3148, only a week after finishing treatment.
“It was nice to choose my own challenge, instead of being challenged constantly.”
Tiana recently celebrated her 27th birthday and is looking forward to finally planning her wedding for next year.
She’ll need to take daily medication and have frequent check-ups for the next five years before she can officially be declared cancer free.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, to learn more about conducting self-checks, research, and how you can contribute towards zero deaths from breast cancer, please head to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Featured image: A modern take on the birth of Venus featuring Tiana. Photo: Tiana Warner
