CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A young Charlotte mom, who is also a popular influencer, is in the fight of her life and using her social media platform to spread awareness to her 600,000-plus followers.
Katy Harrell has triple-negative breast cancer – which she discovered on her own. Now she wants other young moms to learn from her story.
Harrell said she was living her best life. She had two adorable kids and a loving husband. Her business as a fashion and wellness influencer with more than 600,000 followers was thriving.
“I was so happy, in just such a good spot with work, being a mom, and life in general, and then bam," Harrell told WCNC Charlotte.
It was last fall and Harrell was just 33 years old.
“I was laying in bed one night and I randomly had an itch right here, I had my arm up ... and I felt like what felt like a marble glass ball and immediately my heart dropped.”
Within days, Harrell's worst fears were confirmed.
“Your whole world comes crashing down," she said.
Doctors diagnosed her with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of cancer that tends to show up in younger women, can only be treated with chemo and has a high rate of recurrence.
“I just want to help other women," Harrell said. "I was so shocked that I was 33 and diagnosed and have no family history of cancer. They tested me for every gene and came back negative for all of them so I have no idea how or why I got this.”
She underwent 16 grueling rounds of chemo. Her husband has been by her side through it all.
“It’s been tough, definitely tough," Harrell's husband said. "It's something you never thought you’d have to go through. She has been an absolute rocks tar, present mom, wife and friend, and it has been really inspiring."
Now, Harrell is hoping to inspire other women through mumu and macaroons
“I know so many girls now who are young and have [breast cancer] and that’s why I want to spread awareness," she said. "Before this, I wasn’t doing my monthly checks. I wasn’t even thinking about cancer and if I hadn’t felt that that night, it would have been so bad.”
In addition to using her platform to spread awareness, Harrell says there’s a new level of realness.
Harrell is putting it all out there, showing videos without her wig and talking about all the challenges that go along with chemo and cancer in general.
“It’s hard, but I want to show girls that ... a lot of girls are impressed by you. You look beautiful and I want them to see it's not always like this, there are a lot of days where I don’t want to get out of bed and it's hard seeing myself in the mirror," Harrell said. "Right now, I have a wig on but I lost all my hair and it's tough.”
With chemo now behind her, Harrell is cherishing this time with her two little ones and will undergo a double mastectomy later this month in hopes of preventing a recurrence.
She is determined to be here for her kids.
“I think it’s every mom’s worst nightmare to think that something could happen to you where you wouldn’t be here anymore," Harrell said.
But she doesn’t allow herself to dwell on those thoughts. Instead, she puts her energy into feeling good and doing good.
“I want to save lives. I just want to tell women my story and tell them you’re not too young to get breast cancer, do your checks, mammograms, get gene tested, the more you know the better.”
Triple-negative cancer accounts for 10%-15% of breast cancers and is more common in women under 40 and in Black women.
If you want to follow Harell’s journey, you can find her on Instagram: @mumuandmacaroons.
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Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.