The report pointed out five nodules, in addition to altered lymph nodes in the armpit region
The cancer diagnosis of Bruna Furlan de Nóbrega, granddaughter of comedian Carlos Alberto de Nóbrega, aged 24, had repercussions on social media last week. Bruna decided to speak openly about the disease to inspire other young women in the same situation and, since then, around 200,000 people have started to follow her profile on Instagram.
The influencer shared more details about the diagnosis and treatment in an interview with Marie Claire magazine. “It was a huge commotion. Then I stopped to realize how shocking the diagnosis in a very young girl is. I was already more reconciled by the time I posted the video”, she said about the scale of the news.
Bruna was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer between the end of December and the beginning of January. She says that, when she got out of the shower on Christmas Eve, she noticed a hard lump in her right breast, a discomfort accompanied by a feeling of heaviness.
Upon arriving at her grandfather Carlos Alberto’s house for the celebration, she was quickly examined by his wife, nutritionist Renata Domingues, who raised the possibility of a rupture in the silicone prosthesis, placed by Bruna in 2020. On the 27th, she underwent an MRI.
The report pointed out five nodules, in addition to altered lymph nodes in the armpit region. The classification, she tells the magazine, was BI-RADS 5, used in cases of high suspicion of malignant cancer. Bruna’s gynecologist, who was monitoring the case, informed that a biopsy would be necessary.
In tears, Bruna called Renata. “I just wanted someone to tell me that that report was wrong. But she said it was unlikely to be wrong”, recalled the influencer. The grandfather’s wife appointed a specialist doctor to monitor the case. The next day, she had a biopsy.
Bruna spent New Year’s Eve at a party with her family, her boyfriend and friends. Without knowing the result yet, he asked: ‘I told them that I wanted to pass the turnaround as if none of this was happening. Eat whatever I wanted, drink whatever I wanted, dance. I didn’t want to hear the word cancer or biopsy for at least a day’, Bruna told Marie Claire. At midnight, however, she burst into tears.
The diagnosis was confirmed on January 2, when Bruna received a request for an advanced tomography exam (PET Scan) from her doctor with the description ‘malignant breast neoplasm’. She turned to Renata to understand what it meant, and it was her grandfather’s wife who broke the news to her. And, of all people, he was the best to have done it. She is family, she knows me, she knows my way.
Other tests followed and the final diagnosis received was non-special type invasive breast carcinoma, HER2 negative and with positive hormone receptors, with bone metastasis in the lumbar spine.
The influencer says that the treatment, which should begin next week, will include eight sessions of chemotherapy, breast surgery, radiotherapy to the spine because of the metastasis and, later, hormonal treatment. Bruna also decided to freeze her eggs, to preserve her fertility before starting chemotherapy.
“Thank God, I came from a very privileged place, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of contacts. My grandfather’s name opens many doors. My doctor is also very connected and, from the moment he entered the picture, all my tests had practically immediate results. All of this made this whole process a lot faster”, she said.
Bruna describes a mix of feelings, between optimism and sadness, anger. “My biggest concern is my mental health. I know that if my hair falls out, it will affect me. If I gain weight, it will affect me. These are normal things for a 24-year-old girl. I’m a preppy from head to toe,” she added.
“I don’t know if it’s a crazy optimism in my head, but I’m sure the treatment will work. At no point was I afraid of dying,” the young woman concluded to Marie Claire.
Bruna revealed the diagnosis publicly on the 7th, with a video on Instagram. “I’m not making this public out of empathy, for likes or for any other reason that people might think. I’m doing this because I discovered that breast cancer has increased in younger women, and that shocked me a lot”, explained Bruna at the beginning of the video.
The young woman intends to document the stages of treatment and continue showing her “normal life” on social media, so that other young women in the same situation can identify with it. “I’m in the prime of my youth and I don’t want to let my treatment get in the way of my youth, in the same way that I don’t want to let my youth get in the way of my treatment,” he reflected.
*Estadão Content
