Triple-Negative: 87 Real Stories
87 stories match triple-negative. 73 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sian’s Survivor Story
Before a routine mammogram in July 2012, Sian Bevans noticed a lump in her left breast. Ultrasound and biopsy confirmed that the lump was related to fibrocystic breast changes, but the mammogram also showed calcifications in her right breast. Sian delayed the…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Chelsey’s Patient Story
Chelsey Pickthorn is a patient advocate living with Stage IV triple-negative breast cancer. Her advocacy focuses less on a treatment timeline and more on the parts of cancer care that are often overlooked: sexuality, relationships, identity, and the need for…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Janella’s Survivor Story
Janella Bustamante was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in June 2021. Her cancer was described as fueled by estrogen, progesterone and the HER2 protein. She returned to Lima, Peru, for the first part of treatment and spent the following months…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Paul’s Patient Story
Paul Forgette was 68 when arthritis-related preoperative blood work unexpectedly revealed low-grade prostate cancer that only needed observation. Soon after, he bumped his chest and felt a lump. A mammogram first suggested male breast cancer, and further PET…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Nicole’s Patient Story
Nicole was 42 and working as a fine jewelry designer when a sharp seatbelt-like pain across her chest led her to feel a new breast change. Because she had dense, fibrous breast tissue and a history of cysts, a cyst seemed possible, but her gynecologist was…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Njathi’s breast cancer was found after her delayed 40th-birthday mammogram led to extra imaging in early 2023. At first, she thought the callback was routine for a first mammogram. When the repeat screening focused on one breast and the lymph nodes…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Deltra’s Patient Story
Deltra is a mother of 5 living with triple-negative metastatic breast cancer. Her advocacy centers on a part of cancer care that many patients experience but do not always feel comfortable raising: sexual health, intimacy, and the way metastatic disease can…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Rancik was 31 when chest pain she thought was a pulled muscle led to a Stage II triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis. Her doctor initially dismissed her request for mammography, but she insisted. Three days after biopsy, she was told to gather her…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Patient Story
Melissa Fouts was diagnosed with Stage IV triple-negative breast cancer in 2019 after previously being treated for triple-negative breast cancer twice before: Stage I in 2004 and Stage II in 2016. At the Stage IV diagnosis, she believed time was short and…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Paula’s Survivor Story
Paula Jones was 43 when a routine mammogram in February 2010 found a small spot in her left breast that she could not feel and her doctor could not detect by exam. Because she had lost her mother to breast cancer at age 7, Paula had started screening in her…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lynn’s Survivor Story
Lynn Leiro was 36 when back pain, fatigue and then a lump in her armpit led to a Stage IIIC triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2022. Imaging showed five breast tumors and a swollen lymph node; a later CT scan found more cancerous lymph nodes in her…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: LaToya’s Survivor Story
LaToya Bolds-Johnson is a triple-negative breast cancer survivor whose work connects personal experience with clinical-trials advocacy. As a Physician Associate and patient advocate, she brings 2 perspectives to the conversation: what it feels like to face…
Read this storyStage I Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Survivor Story
Melissa Eppard is a Stage I triple-negative breast cancer survivor whose story focuses on reclaiming comfort, pleasure, and confidence after cancer. As a cancer thriver, coach, and co-founder of Upstate Mary, she speaks openly about intimacy concerns that…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren Yerkes turned her experience with triple-negative breast cancer into a practical mission for people trying to feel comfortable in swimwear after surgery. She was diagnosed at 38 and later founded POST SWIM after facing the gap between ordinary swimwear…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Christine’s Survivor Story
Christine was 31 when she noticed a visible divot and a large, hard, immovable lump in her breast. Imaging and biopsy confirmed stage 3 triple-positive breast cancer. MRI measured the tumor at nearly 8 cm and showed at least 2 involved lymph nodes, with 4…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Maggie’s Survivor Story
Maggie was applying for a U.S. green card when she was diagnosed in 2022 with de novo Stage IV triple-negative breast cancer. She is from the Netherlands and had planned to move to the United States because her wife is American. Before the diagnosis, she…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Chance’s Survivor Story
Chance was 24 and already knew she carried a BRCA1 mutation when she saw a lump protruding from her chest during a beach trip. A January 2021 MRI had looked normal, so the sudden change felt alarming. Her care team moved quickly: ultrasound, mammogram, MRI…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 33 when she folded her arms and felt a golf ball-sized lump near her left armpit. She had no family history of breast cancer and did not test positive for an inherited gene mutation, but imaging and biopsy confirmed triple-negative breast cancer…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Marissa’s Survivor Story
Marissa Sweitzer’s breast cancer was found just after she gave birth to her daughter, Melody, in February 2024. Late in pregnancy, she had noticed a breast lump while applying lotion. Because breast changes are common during pregnancy, her doctor arranged for…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Deltra’s Patient Story
Deltra James was diagnosed at 33 with de novo Stage IV triple-negative metastatic breast cancer. Her advocacy has focused not only on living with advanced cancer, but also on quality-of-life issues that many patients are embarrassed to raise. In this 2024…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Juliette’s Survivor Story
Juliette Landgrave was 38, healthy and years away from routine mammography when she felt a breast lump in the shower. Imaging found two tumors: the one she could feel and another deeper tumor seen only on MRI. She was diagnosed with triple-negative breast…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Deltra’s Patient Story
Deltra James was diagnosed at 33 with de novo Stage IV triple-negative metastatic breast cancer and later became a voice for people navigating love, identity, and confidence while living with advanced disease. In this part of the Empowered Intimacy series…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Anna’s Survivor Story
Anna Rathkopf was 37 when she found a lump in her breast on her birthday. She was living in Brooklyn with her husband and their 2.5-year-old son, and they had just started thinking about a second child. A prior doctor had told her she did not need a mammogram…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Anna’s Survivor Story
Anna found a breast lump on her 37th birthday. Her gynecologist initially did not consider it urgent, but Anna pushed for further testing. Because she had dense breast tissue, ultrasound was important in identifying the tumor, and a biopsy confirmed…
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