At just 31, Kristi Halpin, a nurse and a mother of one-year-old from New Jersey received a devastating diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer. The news was a shocking blow to Halpin, especially since a mammogram just weeks earlier had no signs of the disease.
Now, two years later, Halpin is using her platform on TikTok to raise awareness about breast cancer symptoms that are easy to overlook, symptoms she herself had dismissed when they first appeared in 2023.
Halpin recalls how it all began shortly after giving birth to her son. She started losing weight rapidly without trying, which she initially saw as “getting lucky” with losing baby weight earlier than expected. She also began feeling fatigued to the point where she could barely function, but she dismissed it as exhaustion from caring for her newborn.
However, the warning signs did not stop there. Despite her overwhelming tiredness, Halpin struggled with insomnia and felt constant nausea and bloating at night. She lost her appetite, experienced back pain, noticed strange bruises on her arms and legs that took unusually long to heal, and felt a persistent, “annoying” sensation in her armpit.
When Halpin’s symptoms worsened, she collapsed on the bathroom floor during her son’s first birthday and was rushed to the ER. Blood tests revealed abnormalities, but doctors initially suspected gallbladder issues. Her concerns deepened when she noticed her nipple had become inverted and felt a lump underneath prompting her to take a mammogram. Even when the mammogram came out clear, she knew something was not right and took a biopsy test which ultimately confirmed the devastating diagnosis.
“I couldn’t hear anything, it felt like time stopped, I couldn’t see, I was gone for a couple of moments,” Halpin said in a video on TikTok. “I can’t leave my boys [her husband and son] and have my baby grow up without me,” she said.
While mammograms are effective in detecting breast cancers, sometimes tumors go undetected, particularly in women with dense breast tissue.
Currently, Halpin’s cancer is under control following a rigorous treatment plan that includes chemotherapy and radiotherapy to shrink the tumors and prevent them from spreading further.
Halpin shares her story to urge women to trust their instincts and pay attention to their bodies, even if tests show no issues. Her experience indicates how noticing the signs and pushing for answers could save lives.
However, Halpin cautions that the symptoms need not necessarily indicate cancer. “If you have these symptoms it does not automatically mean that you have cancer — everyone please be mindful of your own body & if you feel that something is wrong, go get checked,” Halpin said.
