A 30-year-old woman battling breast cancer has been chosen as the fourth Cancer Freeze recipient.

“At the beginning of this year, I unintentionally found a lump in my right breast while getting out of the shower,” said Yan Negron of Ft. Walton. “It has been one of the scariest feelings ever. Right away, I felt chills going down my spine and my grandmother came to mind.”

Negron said her grandmother had been fighting cancer for a couple of years and her discovery made her feel closer to her grandmother.

“It was kind of like I knew right away,” she said. “I called my gynecologist the very next morning, but it took almost a month to be seen. Because of my age, I never had a mammogram before and the doctor thought it was just some tissue that turned into a cyst. He ordered an ultrasound to keep me at ease, which came back as suspicious results.”

Next, Negron would have a bioposy done which confirmed her fears.

“I was diagnosed with grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma triple positive,” she said. “My whole world got shaken. Immediately, I started looking into options and it might sound silly, but my biggest concern was not being able to afford a situation like this. What do you do when your stability gets changed and your health is not what you thought?”

Negron said genetic testing confirmed that she carried a rate gene mutation (TP53) known as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.

“That means that I can develop more than one tumor at a time,” she said. “A lot of mixed feelings came to me but the plan was to be proactive and start fighting right away.”

In June, she had a bilateral mastectomy with a DIEP flap reconstruction at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

“A couple of little complications came along, like having a hematoma post surgery and requiring a couple of blood transfusions, but I was determined to put this behind me,” she said. “I started chemotherapy on July 18, and I’ve been fighting since then. Recovery has been a long road and after four months of being unable to work, I’m finally getting back to normal. I want to thank my family, my friends and my work family for everything they’ve done for me since day one. When you are challenged with a cancer diagnosis, it almost feels like you’re staring death on the face, but there’s no other option than to fight.”

Negron said she was thankful that Cancer Freeze is letting her be a part of their wonderful organization.

“I want to dedicate my journey to my grandmother, Nellie, who passed away on Oct. 30, being a great warrior she taught me to be,” she said.