Herrem: The hardest days and an unbelievable dream coming true at once

As Herrem says, that was not something she expected at the start of the summer — not only was she diagnosed with breast cancer, but Sola did not even have a place in the EHF Champions League at that point. For Herrem, that means a dream that felt so far off she did not even dare have it coming together with her biggest personal challenge yet. 

“In August, when I saw that I could handle all the trainings and my body responded very good to it, then it was like normal. But in June and July, it was more questions than answers with everything that was going on, so that was more like a challenge for my head,” says Herrem. 

“You get the news that it's breast cancer and they need to take many tests, and it's like a waiting game for everything. You take a test and you have to wait for the answer to figure out this and then you take another test, so it was so many things going on and you didn't have all the answers right away, so that was the thing,” says Herrem, who has just finished the strongest part of her treatment and will now start a milder one. 

Herrem recalls that it was a Friday when she was told of her diagnosis, but that not all the details were clear until the following Wednesday.  

“Those five days there were probably the hardest five days I ever been through. You automatically think the worst because you don't know anything, and it was a difficult time mentally, those days. But then we get to the doctor on Wednesday, and we got the results of everything and then I felt like I could breathe a bit more.”

Once she had all the information, Herrem found she could switch to a more practical focus. With 11 major titles under her belt, Herrem knows what it means to do whatever needs to be done to achieve the thing you want. What she wants now is to feel herself in the current reality.  

“Now it's been just a part of my day. I think for me, it's better not to have so much focus on it. I just want to focus on my normal things — my family, my friends, handball and just being me. If this steals too much of my focus, I think my boys will probably notice and for me, I just want to be the normal and best mum for them also — to do everything with them as I normally do,” says Herrem. 

“It was a bit of a shock for my oldest one — he's seven — when I needed to shave my head, but now the weeks have gone and he is not even thinking about it at all anymore. Now it's just like, OK, it's mum with short hair. 

“That's also why I decided to show myself without anything on my head — just to show also other people in the same situation that this is what we're going through right now. This is me right now, but hair will grow, and the most important thing is that everything's going to be OK. There's a lot of people facing the same situation, so I think maybe it's good for me also to just show this is me and just stay in this situation as I am now.” 

In the Sola team photo for the season and her player portrait for 2025/26, seeing Herrem’s happy face on a hair-free head is a powerful image. The familiar smile we have seen so many times above a golden trophy or when she is running back to the defensive line with a fist raised after scoring a fast break together with the recognisable result of chemotherapy causes a catch in the breath, bringing together everything we know about her — the determination, the skills and ability on the court, the love of the game, the sunny personality — with immediate knowledge that she is facing something that has touched almost every person’s life. 

The photos freeze the moment in time, and that is why it is powerful — the photos reflect only that exact moment. As with every team photo or player portrait at the start of a season, one day it will be only a memory. 

“I was back and forward with this photo of myself and also with the team, like, should I wear the wig? Should I have something on? I talked with my sister about it, and she was like, ‘but this is now. This is for this period of time. This is the photo, and I think you should just take the picture as you are, and so you can look back on this and see this is how it was right now,’” says Herrem. “I feel like it's a strong photo. You know everything that's going on and I know, and I think also I needed to stay in it for myself and be like, confident in it.” 

As she says, Herrem wants to feel herself and that means staying the multi-faceted person she is away from a cancer diagnosis — but there are two important messages to share before we get to the handball: The importance of monitoring your personal health closely and of staying fit and healthy in general, as both have served Herrem in being able to handle where she is now. 

“I found out very randomly,” recalls Herrem. “I was just scratching or something, and then I was like, what is this bump? And it was just like tiny as a pea, but I just felt like, this is something that I never felt before and that's why I wanted to check it out. I’d have never thought it was like this, but I'm very glad that I checked it out and trusted my instinct.

“I'm 38, so I'm not at the average of the women who get this, but so many people under the age of 50 get this also, so I think it's so important just to check out everything. If you find something just go and check it out no matter what. Don't wait or think like, ‘ah, I can take it another time.’ I think just the most important message that I have is to just check your breasts one more time than one less time. If my message or everything that's going on with me can help some more people checking themselves out, it's perfect.”

Herrem’s base as an elite athlete has naturally helped with handling the treatments and being able to return to the court so unexpectedly soon. 

“No matter diagnosis or not, no matter what age you are, I think it's just, like, the importance of training and keeping your body in shape. It’s good no matter what, because it's just good for your health,” she says, before commenting on how helpful it is to have the physical outlet right now as well. 

“For me, it's just good to have a free place for my head — playing handball and just being 100 per cent me.”

So to handball, Sola HK and their EHF Champions League debut. 

“Everyone has been so excited for a month now, since we figured out that we got the place in Champions League,” says Herrem. “This is such a big experience for, not just the club, but for so many of the girls that never played in the Champions League as well.

“I would never in my wildest dreams think that I would play handball in the Champions League with Sola. That was not even a question when I came back. But now it's a dream come true for me because this is where I grew up, in this hall — where I spent all my time playing handball when I was young, so it's just an amazing feeling.”

Sola will open the season away against HC Podravka, then host Brest Bretagne at home, with the rare chance to play an international match in their own arena.  

“Since the first match is going to be in our home arena, it's going to be special, because we never played European [cup] there because the hall is not big enough. But to play against Brest in Åsenhallen is going to be amazing. I think many teams in Norway don’t like playing in our arena because the audience, they are like quite near to the field and it's quite an intimate hall. But for us, we just love to play there,” says Herrem. 

While Sola have played the European League the last four seasons and prior to that had only one other international season, in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 2005/06, Herrem is experienced enough to know the challenge that awaits in the EHF Champions League. Along with all the high-level matches played with Norway, she has featured in the premiere club competition with Byasen, Baia Mare and Vardar. 

“I hope that we can surprise in some games — that some teams probably can underestimate us. I feel like our tactic is always very good, but it's how everyone can handle just playing in the Champions League, and since it's the first time for so many people, it can be a bit of a challenge, but they played also European League for many years now. We have a bigger team now than last year, so that's good, that we can change players a bit, because it's going to be so many games now and we need to have everyone in shape,” says Herrem. 

“My job will be mostly to just calm everyone a bit down before we start the game because it's going to be a lot of adrenaline. It's going to be the first time they play Champions League and just to make them remember to enjoy it. Take their shoulders down and just enjoy playing it. 

“I feel like they need to just enjoy playing on the field and playing against the teams we are playing against and have fun, because it is fun!” 

Photos: Catalin Margarit / PinPhoto; Jone Lilleby; Sola HK; Neptunes Nantes; kolektiff images/Uros Hocevar/Anze Malovrh/Axel Heimken/Eva Manhart