Stage 3: 247 Real Stories
247 stories match stage 3. 209 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Katrece’s Patient Story
Katrece Nolen was diagnosed with Stage III inflammatory breast cancer in February 2013. Her first sign was that one breast looked slightly larger than the other. A doctor found swelling and warmth but no lump and initially treated her for possible mastitis. A…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Andrea’s Survivor Story
Andrea was 32 and working as a nurse practitioner when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. Her first symptoms started while she was pregnant: blood in her stool, low back pain, pelvic pressure, and the constant feeling that she needed to use the…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Michael’s Survivor Story
Michael Holtz was diagnosed with Stage IIIB rectal cancer on March 27, 2012, 5 days after his 43rd birthday. He had experienced rectal bleeding, changes in bowel habits, and constipation or obstruction. After the colonoscopy, he and his wife were taken into…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Harvey’s Patient Story
Aileen tells the story of her husband Harvey, who was 59 when he was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. Harvey first noticed a lump in summer 2022 but thought it was probably another lipoma. In early 2023, he hit the right side of his…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Courtney’s Survivor Story
Courtney Hare, a teacher, first noticed blood in her stool in August 2020 and immediately felt something serious was wrong. Blood work later showed she was very anemic. Even so, multiple doctors in different cities dismissed her symptoms because she was…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie LaPira was 46 when worsening bowel symptoms finally led to a colonoscopy. She had spent about 2 years feeling unwell and later developed blood in her stool and an increasing need to stay close to a bathroom. Access to colonoscopy had been delayed…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jena’s Patient Story
Jena Sica was 25 when rectal bleeding and fatigue led to a colonoscopy and a diagnosis of Stage IIIC colon cancer in 2020. Her care included biomarker testing, chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy, and surgery. Jena used her experience to emphasize…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jelena’s Survivor Story
Jelena was 34, healthy, and running half marathons when she began noticing unusual digestive changes. Her gas smelled different, then she saw blood in her stool. Because colorectal cancer did not run in her family and she felt otherwise well, she first…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Stacy’s Survivor Story
Stacy Hughes was 38 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIIB colon cancer in April 2023. She had noticed persistent changes in bowel habits, narrow stools, stomach cramping, bloating, fullness, and pain in the left lower abdomen. Her primary-care clinician felt…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Debra’s Patient Story
Debra was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in June 2024 after symptoms that included blood in her stool, incomplete bowel movements, weight loss, fatigue, fecal incontinence, and increasing groin pain. Her diagnosis came during an emergency visit…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Susana’s Patient Story
Susana’s breast cancer was found after a mammogram was moved forward when she raised concerns about changes while breastfeeding her 2-year-old child. Imaging revealed a 4.5 cm breast mass and 3 affected lymph nodes, leading to a Stage III breast cancer…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Elaine’s Survivor Story
Elaine’s colorectal cancer was discovered after a fecal immunochemical test led to a colonoscopy in November 2024. The colonoscopy showed Stage III colon adenocarcinoma. Elaine approached the diagnosis with optimism and felt encouraged by the confidence of…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Gail’s Patient Story
Gail, 65, is a mother of 2 from the United Kingdom who works in administration. In August 2024, she was diagnosed with Stage III luminal A breast cancer after feeling a lump in her breast that did not go away after a few weeks. She was surprised by the…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie was 32 when years of stomach pain, bloating, feeling run down, and low iron finally led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis. She did not have blood in her stool, which made colon cancer feel unlikely to her at first. Doctors initially attributed…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Barbara’s Survivor Story
Barbara was an active, health-conscious woman who did not fit the stereotype many people imagine for colon cancer. Her first symptoms were digestive: food felt like it was just sitting in her gut, she had trouble processing meals, and she became extremely…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Patient Story
Jessica Bishop spent 2 years dealing with severe intermittent abdominal pain and blood in her stool. Repeated tests had been normal, and she had been told that irritable bowel syndrome was the likely explanation. On June 26, 2023, worsening symptoms led her…
Read this storyStage III MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 28 when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. She had a 5 cm ulcerated tumor, and the standard path discussed at first would have included chemotherapy, chemoradiation, and surgery. That plan carried major concerns for her, including…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda Peters first noticed rectal bleeding after the birth of her son in 2014. She was told it was a fissure, then later that bleeding after childbirth was likely hemorrhoids. Over the next several years, the bleeding kept returning and eventually worsened…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer Survivor Story
J. Mark Brown was working as a research scientist when a colonoscopy in 2013 found a large, fast-growing tumor in his colon. He also had ulcerative colitis. Surgery removed his colon and the tumor, and pathology established Stage III colorectal cancer. Mark…
Read this storyStage III Ovarian Cancer: Jaclyn’s Patient Story
Jackie VanRaaphorst’s ovarian cancer journey began with stomach pain in March 2015. Ultrasound and CT imaging led to a diagnosis of Stage III ovarian cancer. She underwent a complete hysterectomy that removed the uterus, cervix, ovaries and fallopian tubes…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Thomas was 33 when she felt a lump in her left breast. She had no breast cancer history in her family and had checked her breasts regularly, so the finding was frightening. Imaging and biopsy confirmed breast cancer, and her breast surgeon told her…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Spill’s symptoms began when she was 8 months pregnant: constipation, blood in her stool, appetite changes, fatigue, weight loss, cramping, and a strong feeling that something was wrong. For months, she was repeatedly told the symptoms were likely…
Read this storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Nikki’s Patient Story
Nikki, a 47-year-old mother and teacher, had already survived a rare cancer before her breast cancer diagnosis. In 2016, while breastfeeding her long-awaited son, a doctor reviewed years of bowel and IBS-like complaints and investigated further. That workup…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Nikki’s Patient Story
Nikki first noticed sharp pain around her right nipple in August 2022. Because there was no lump and she had been told that cancer usually did not hurt, she attributed it to menopause. By late November, her nipple had become completely inverted. A biopsy and…
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