YouTube Star Grace Helbig Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis in Emotional Video

YouTube star Grace Helbig revealed in an emotional video that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 37-year-old personality shared in the eight-minute video, posted on her YouTube and Instagram pages, that she received the diagnosis -- triple-positive breast cancer -- "about a month ago." She called the news "shocking" and "surreal."

"It doesn't sound real, but it's real," said Helbig, who has more than 2.6 million subscribers to her YouTube channel. "I've had a decent amount of time to process and start the process, so I'm finally ready to share with you."

She went on to say her breast cancer is "super treatable" and "highly beatable," citing her doctors and experts familiar with the diagnosis. "We're going for cure, not remission here, which is exciting, encouraging, helpful, good," Helbig continued, adding that her doctors believe it is stage 2A but cautioned they "are not entirely sure just yet."

Helbig shared the treatment plan, which consists of six rounds of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and hormonal therapy. She acknowledged that going through the beginning stages of her treatment made everything "much more real." 

"This whole thing has been a lot, to say the least," Helbig said. "I am feeling every feeling all day long. But I am so incredibly thankful to have an amazing husband [Elliott Morgan] and... you're really confronted with having to put yourself first. And you need to let people help you."

Helbig detailed how she found out she had cancer, revealing she first noticed a "weird lump in my left breast" at her annual gynecologist appointment a few months back and was, at first, reluctant to bring it up to her doctor.

"I really had to, like, talk myself into bringing it up to her in the appointment because I thought I was just a stupid little girl that didn't know how girl bodies worked," she said. "Thank God I listened to that little voice inside of me that finally got the courage to bring it up to her because she also thought it was abnormal."

The YouTube star, who gained popularity for her reaction videos and viral challenges, urged others to have "those lumps checked."

Helbig's breast cancer diagnosis comes less than two months after author and popular YouTube personality Hank Green revealed he had cancer. She shared in her video that she's been "texting" with Green and said "his videos [detailing his journey] have been incredibly helpful," adding that she's looking forward to reading his cancer stand-up.

"Comedy, jokes, laughing, that all really helps me process very difficult things -- and not from a place of denial or deflection about the reality, but rather from a place of aiding me through the hard sh*t," she said. "Laughing feels like it make me breathe within a situation that I feel like I'm holding my breath. Like, this is a very serious situation, I know that. But there's also some humor to be found here."

"The joke's not lost on me that I've spent 15 years not using my boobs to get attention on the internet and yet here we are. And that I'm announcing this during Cancer season," Helbig added.

Helbig said her cancer treatment is "[her] job now. I'm going to fight this little b*tch of a thing in my left breast as best and as strongly and as gracefully as I can." 

She began to get visibly emotional as she explained that the diagnosis came just as she felt she found her "confidence" and felt "like myself again, but evolved," after stepping back from content creation for a period of time following extreme burnout. "I was really excited about the idea of starting to make content again from this healthier, more grounded place. And then I got breast cancer," Helbig said.

Helbig promised to continue with her weekly podcast with Mamrie Hart, "This Might Get Weird," "as long as I can."

"The other immediate thing that you kind of learn in this process is that you cannot plan for the future. You have to take it one step at a time. And this was the next step for me," she said. "I'm doing OK. It was a hard few weeks after I found out, but I have the most amazing and supportive husband and family and friends, and I'm doing well and I'm ready to take this on. And I know I can take this on. I just have to take it one step at a time."

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