Mom of 8 influencer shares breast cancer journey: 'You lace up your bootstraps and you fight'

RICHMOND, Va. — Social media influencer Troy Michel is used to sharing her life with her followers. But this time, the mother of eight is sharing something deeply personal.

"I built this platform on transparency, and I always referred to myself as an open book, but as soon as I got this diagnosis, I closed the book," Michel said.

In June of 2025, at 38 weeks pregnant, Michel discovered a lump in her breast. During a routine visit, her doctor sent her straight to imaging — just in case.

"I'm so grateful that he did that because I think how many women brush it off and say, ' Oh well, he doesn't think there's anything wrong. They think there was no need for imaging, so I'm fine; they're the expert,'" Michel said.

The breast imaging led to a biopsy immediately.

"I just broke down crying. I was like, 'That's scary." You know that's terrifying and that's when your mind starts to really spiral and I'm pregnant what does that mean for me?" Michel said.

The stress triggered Michel's blood pressure to shoot up, causing the 40-year-old mom to go into labor. At the same time, she got news she didn't want to hear — breast cancer.

"She says, 'Unfortunately.' And of course, when you hear that word, my heart just sank and I was like, 'OK.' I just kind of went numb in that moment," Michel said.

Also in that moment, her baby girl was born.

"I got one week of postpartum recovery and had to jump right into the world of breast cancer," Michel said.

Michel would battle stage two breast cancer, undergo six rounds of chemo, and eventually have a double mastectomy. Making her journey even harder was telling her children and not breastfeeding.

"That's just the reality of it... Cancer takes a lot of things away from you. It's ugly, it's mean, and it doesn't care how you feel about it, and that was just one of the harsh realities that we had to face in dealing with it," Michel said.

Toward the end of her treatment, she got more news she didn't want to hear.

"I had 7 glorious months of remission. And then it came back," Michel said.

Another lump. A recurrence, and aggressive.

"You cry, yes. You cry and then again, you lace up your bootstraps and you know and you fight," Michel said.

The first time around with cancer, Michel didn't publicly share her story on social media. But this time it's different.

"For some reason, my mind told me no one cares, plenty of people are going through this, that's what you get for having all those kids you did it to yourself. You tell yourself the worst stories. The comments were very reassuring and encouraging," Michel said.

Michel says she needs the encouragement as she goes through chemo again. She also must have radiation this time to treat the recurrence.

She also wrote about her journey with her husband — to get both perspectives. The book is called ‘Tell my daughter I love her.’ Click here to preorder the memoir: Noon + Co.