Fashion influencer Bridget Bahl cries as she announces breast cancer diagnosis - discovered while trying for baby
Fashion influencer Bridget Bahl cried as she announced to her followers that she has breast cancer - which was found while she was trying for a baby.
The 40-year-old took to her Instagram page on Sunday night (September 22) to share her sad health update with her more than one million fans. She began the video by admitting she had been “avoiding” making it as she’s been having “a really hard time”.
She went on: “I found out that I have breast cancer”, and then said that it had spread to her lymph nodes. She then gave a plea to her fans, asking them to go to their doctor if they have any health concerns at all as soon as possible. “If you feel something, you have to say something and you have to get it checked out and do not wait. Do not wait,” she said.
Bahl then gave a further heartbreaking admission - she and her husband, Texas-based plastic surgeon Doctor Michael Chiodo, were trying to have a baby when they received the news.
She said she was “maybe one or two days” in to her fertility treatment, and had a routine sonogram and blood work with her doctor, when she told him she felt something in her breast.
Bahl then began to cry as she recalled that her doctor then told her they had to stop with the fertility treatment so that the lump in her breast could be looked out. At first, she said she did not think it was anything serious, believing that the lump was a cyst that may have been caused by the hormones. She added that she “felt great” so could not imagine there was anything wrong.
But, under her doctor’s orders, she went for imaging. She said the doctor then told her “I do not like what I see” and referred her for a biopsy on the mass later the same day. It was the following day that she was given her breast cancer diagnosis.
Bahl then spoke further out her treatment, saying she will undergo chemotherapy, surgery and possibly radiation to treat the cancer. She went on to explain that she decided to share the news of her diagnosis because it “feels like way too huge of an opportunity to not share,” as she said that Instagram users are 90% women.
In the caption of the video she wrote: “I know that by sharing this I will help someone else catch it sooner, and that is reason enough for me.”
In 2022, 11.6% of all cancers diagnosed were female breast cancer, making it the second most common cancer worldwide. In the same year, there were also around 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 666,000 deaths globally, making it the leading cause of cancer deaths among women, according to figures from Breast Cancer UK.
Bahl said that the type of cancer she has is “very responsive to targeted treatment”. She added: “I know that I am going to be OK, and I just also know there's a really scary road ahead and I don't want to do it, but I believe through the grace of God I can do it.”
She went on to say that “the last few weeks have been nothing short of a nightmare” as there have been so many medical appointments. She then began to cry again, and went on: “I am obviously scared of what is to come, but I know that God makes beauty from ashes. I know that He is here with me. That he hasn't left my side and that I am going to be OK.”
She concluded: “I am not looking forward to the next few months, but I know it will be a chapter in my life and not the whole book. While it's hard to see it right now, I believe that God will transform this struggle into something beautiful.”
Her husband on the video to show his support. He said: “Love you. We're gonna be ok.” He then said that he was “proud” of his wife for her honesty.