From Margaritas to Mammograms: My Unplanned Journey Through Spring Break and Breast Cancer

Khira Haley
Apr 27
3 min read

Updated: May 12

Spring break was supposed to be for margaritas, naps, and bad decisions—not for finding out I had breast cancer.

But here we are.

It All Started with a Pebble

March 10, 2025.

The first official day of spring break for this tired teacher. I’m in my room, vibing, minding my business—and for some reason (maybe intuition, maybe God, maybe the spirit of a Black auntie whispering “Check yo' self”), I decided to do a quick self-exam.

At first, it felt normal.

Then, I felt it.

A tiny lump. About the size of a pebble you'd skip across a lake...Except this pebble wasn’t going anywhere.

Cue immediate internal panic: "This is it. I'm dying. I need cancer insurance. Should I write my will? Should I call Beyoncé? Will i Live long enough to make it to the Cowboy Carter Concert in Atlanta I already paid for?"

Naturally, I did what any sane person would do: I Googled myself into a meltdown.

The Calm After the Storm (Kind of)

When I finally came out of my WebMD rabbit hole, I called my mom. Being the rational queen she is, she talked me down.

"Khira, you're young. You're healthy. It's probably nothing. Let's just get it checked out."

Fine. Cool. Logical. Whatever, Mom.

March 13, 2025

By Thursday of that same week, I had an appointment with my Primary Care Physician (PCP). And just like my mom, the doctor hit me with the "You’re young and healthy, it’s probably nothing" speech.

But here’s the thing: Even when the world tells you not to worry, sometimes you just know something isn’t right.

Ultrasounds, Mammograms, Biopsies, and… Birthdays?

March 17, 2025

So we did the ultrasound. Then the mammogram.(Yes, they squish your boob like a grilled cheese sandwich. Yes, it’s weird.)

Both scans came back like,

"Yeah, there's a little mass... but it’s probably nothing!"

(At this point, if I had a dollar for every "it's probably nothing" I heard, I could’ve paid off a student loan.)

March 26, 2025

Just to be sure, they scheduled a biopsy. Which, surprise, you are wide awake for. (They numb you, but you’re still very aware that a stranger is mining for gold inside your boob.)

March 27, 2025

My mom's birthday. I thought, "Cool, we’ll have cake, good vibes, normalcy."

Life had other plans.

The Call That Changed Everything

March 28, 9:00 a.m.

Ring, ring.I pick up the phone, groggy, still halfway dreaming about beach vacations.

And just like that:

"Hi Khira, we’re surprised too... but the biopsy results came back. It is cancer."

Surprise!

The Moral of the Story: Feel on Yourself

If I hadn’t done that random self-exam, who knows how long the lump would’ve gone unnoticed?

Because here’s the thing nobody tells you:

Cancer doesn't care how young you are.
Cancer doesn't care if you’re healthy and glowing.
And sometimes, cancer feels like a harmless little pebble hiding in plain sight.

Self-exams are not optional.They are life-saving.

You don't have to be a doctor.You don't have to be perfect.You just have to know your body — because you are the only one living inside it.