Stage 3: 247 Real Stories
247 stories match stage 3. 209 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Colorectal Cancer: Pete’s Survivor Story
Pete Di Stefano had a recommended screening colonoscopy at age 45 and learned he had a 3 cm mass in his transverse colon. Looking back, he realized he had missed anemia as a possible warning sign. His treatment plan began with surgery. After pathology came…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Karina’s Survivor Story
Karina Bandera had just turned 40 when she was told she had Stage IIIC rectal cancer. She had always considered herself healthy and kept up with yearly primary-care visits, but then noticed streaks of blood in her stool. A gastroenterologist referred her for…
Read this storyStage III ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle Bos-Lun, a Vermont state representative, was hospitalized after returning from Nepal with what turned out to be scrub typhus. During that workup, doctors ordered a chest X-ray and saw something they could not explain. About 3 weeks of additional…
Read this storyStage III EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren was 38 and celebrating her first year as a mother when she began training for a half marathon and noticed what felt like a pulled muscle in her neck. An initial X-ray was explained as a possible old injury, but Lauren did not feel that answer fit, so…
Read this storyStage III ROS1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Wendy’s Survivor Story
Wendy’s lung cancer was found after she pushed for imaging that her doctor initially thought was unnecessary. Months earlier, she had noticed odd sensations in her lungs when she laughed, but reflux was suspected. A benign breast lump later scared her enough…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kevin’s Survivor Story
Kevin was 54 when his second colonoscopy led to a colorectal cancer diagnosis. Doctors had tried to complete an earlier colonoscopy, but coughing interrupted the procedure and he was asked to return in 1 year. Because 2020 disrupted care and he had no…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Cher’s Survivor Story
Cher first noticed a sore lump under her arm after recovering from COVID and thought it might be a swollen lymph node. When it grew larger and more painful, she went for evaluation. Ultrasound and lymph-node biopsy showed breast cancer, but imaging still…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Gabriel’s Survivor Story
Gabriel Leblanc was 36 when worsening health problems finally led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis. His symptoms began with trouble breathing and becoming winded during simple activity, but early concerns were dismissed as asthma. Two years later, he was…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Nick’s Survivor Story
Nick Cleworth, a 48-year-old train driver and father, went to his GP in late 2024 after seeing significant blood in his stool. Colonoscopy, CT, and MRI found a 4 cm rectal tumor, and the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes. His father had died from bowel…
Read this storyStage III Lung Adenocarcinoma: Becky’s Survivor Story
Becky Manning was a 47-year-old active working mother who had never smoked when months of chest pain, cough and abnormal imaging finally led to a lung cancer diagnosis. Her symptoms were first treated as pneumonia, then other causes were considered, but she…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Betsy’s Patient Story
Betsy’s breast cancer experience began with dense breast tissue and small calcifications seen on mammography. After repeated surveillance, a large left-breast lump became noticeable in 2016, but two rounds of mammography and ultrasound did not show a clear…
Read this storyStage III MSI-High Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Briana’s Survivor Story
Briana Ghbein was 34 when genetic testing in 2021 identified MSH2, associated with Lynch syndrome, and a CHEK2 mutation. Because of those findings, she underwent a colonoscopy that found an early rectal adenocarcinoma. She had surgery to remove the cancer and…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Famke’s Survivor Story
Famke was 39 when she noticed that an area in her right breast felt firmer and had a defined edge. It was not a distinct lump, and she nearly dismissed the accompanying pain after reading that breast pain usually was not a cancer symptom. Her gynecologist…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Michael’s Survivor Story
Michael Ettinger was 18 when months of abdominal pain and extreme fatigue eventually led to a diagnosis of Stage III colon cancer in May 2021. Because he was young and otherwise healthy, Michael and his parents spent months advocating for additional testing…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stefanie’s Survivor Story
Stefanie first noticed a breast lump when she was 5 months pregnant and assumed it was a clogged milk duct. The night she delivered her second child by scheduled C-section, a postpartum nurse raised concern about the lump. An ultrasound was inconclusive, so a…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Paul’s Patient Story
Paul Weigel was 43 when he was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in 2013. His tumor, located at the junction of the rectum and colon, was about the size of a lemon. Imaging also showed suspicious lesions in his liver and lungs, but his story did not…
Read this storyStage III Lung Adenocarcinoma: Heidi’s Survivor Story
Heidi Nafman-Onda was 55, active, and devoted to fitness when lung cancer was found unexpectedly. A scan done for what turned out to be a benign ovarian cyst revealed Stage III adenocarcinoma of the lung. The diagnosis was devastating, especially because…
Read this storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Rhonda’s Patient Story
In September 2001, Pastor Rhonda Holbert went to a routine medical appointment and underwent a needle biopsy. She was then told she had Stage III inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. She was alone when she received the…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Zed’s Survivor Story
Zed was 35 when blood in his stool continued for about 1.5 months and fatigue began affecting sports he usually handled well. A FIT test confirmed blood in the stool, and colonoscopy found a large bleeding tumor blocking the colon so completely that the scope…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Laura’s Survivor Story
Laura Behnke noticed blood in her stool a few days before embryo implantation, but the bleeding stopped and she focused on pregnancy after IVF. It returned in her 2nd trimester, and she assumed it was hemorrhoids because pregnancy and postpartum hemorrhoids…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Andrea’s Survivor Story
Andrea was pregnant and around 30 weeks along when she mentioned a divot in her breast at an OB-GYN visit. A same-day breast center evaluation led to biopsy of both the breast and lymph nodes, and she soon learned she had breast cancer. Her story describes…
Read this storyStage III Lung Cancer: Bonnie’s Patient Story
Bonnie Ulrich was 45 when pain shooting down her arm led her to see her doctor. Because she had a smoking history, her doctor routinely ordered chest X-rays, and this time the imaging showed something concerning. After 2 scans and a biopsy, Bonnie learned she…
Read this storyStage III Lung Cancer: Heidi’s Patient Story
Heidi Onda’s lung cancer diagnosis is told through the experience of her husband, Pierre. A few years before the story was published, Heidi had a CT scan for an ovarian cyst. The cyst was benign, but the scan also showed findings that looked like advanced…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Genoa’s Survivor Story
Genoa was living the life she wanted when a subtle but persistent feeling of nausea made her think something was wrong. She was already due for a mammogram, and her OB-GYN also ordered a breast MRI because of her family history of breast cancer. The MRI…
Read this story