Stage 3: 247 Real Stories
247 stories match stage 3. 209 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Martha’s Survivor Story
Martha had a dense area in her right breast that worried her throughout her 40s. Multiple mammograms over about 10 years were read as benign. At 49, another mammogram and an ultrasound were also considered benign, but Martha consulted a surgeon who agreed the…
Read this storyStage III Lung Cancer: Heidi’s Patient Story
This White Ribbon Project segment focuses mainly on Pierre Onda as a caregiver after his wife and high school sweetheart, Heidi Nafman-Onda, was diagnosed with Stage IIIA primary lung cancer at age 55. Pierre had been a primary care physician, but that did…
Read this storyStage III Lung Adenocarcinoma: Heidi’s Patient Story
Heidi Nafman-Onda was 55 when a phone call changed her life. She was told she had Stage IIIA adenocarcinoma of the lung, that her prognosis was not good, and that she should get her affairs in order. Her husband, Pierre, was with her and began to cry, which…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Angie’s Patient Story
Angie is a nurse and RN case manager in Louisiana. Because of earlier microcalcifications, she had been getting annual mammograms. She postponed a February 2017 mammogram until May because she had started a new job and expected another negative result. This…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Jeanine’s Patient Story
Jeanine had annual mammograms for 10 years because of a family history of breast cancer. In 2016, after years of watching microcalcifications, she noticed that a cyst-like area in her right breast would not go away and that the same breast had slight…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Brandon’s Survivor Story
Brandon Dale was 53 when he shared how symptoms he thought were hemorrhoids turned out to be Stage III rectal cancer. For years, he had burning and discomfort that would flare up, settle down with cream, and then return. He did not realize the problem was…
Read this storyStage III KRAS Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Terri’s Survivor Story
Terri Conneran was 55 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIIA KRAS-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms first looked like asthma, allergies, bronchitis, or pneumonia, but breathing problems kept getting worse. An X-ray done after she developed…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Angie’s Patient Story
Angie was 40 when shooting pain in her breast and persistent fatigue led to a stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis. She was told that her estimated 5-year survival rate was 70%, a number that added to feelings of fear, worry and being overwhelmed. Chemotherapy…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Alexandra’s Patient Story
Alexandra, 48, was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer after noticing a lump. She also saw a change in breast shape, skin irritation, thickening, and swelling. The diagnosis made her worried, frightened, overwhelmed, and nervous, but she trusted her doctor…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Aurora’s Patient Story
Aurora, 41, was pregnant in 2021 when half of her breast became hard. She was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer, a frightening and overwhelming experience that left her worried and powerless. She changed her diet after diagnosis and began eating…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Hilmi’s Patient Story
Hilmi was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer after a company health screening returned a positive FIT result and colonoscopy found several polyps and a tumor in his colon. He underwent a partial colectomy and has been living with a stoma. Chemotherapy…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Beth’s Survivor Story
Beth, 41, followed her intuition after persistent breast pain continued beyond her menstrual cycle. She scheduled a mammogram, and by that evening she learned she had Stage III breast cancer. She had no other symptoms, so acting on that pain became a key part…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Blanca’s Patient Story
Blanca, 58, found a lump under her right breast during a shower while doing her usual self-exam. She called her doctor the next day, then had a mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy. The biopsy was positive, and she was eventually diagnosed with Stage III breast…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Anna’s Survivor Story
Anna’s colorectal cancer was found through routine bowel screening even though there were no symptoms. A colonoscopy identified a tumor, and the diagnosis was Stage III colorectal cancer. The news was especially difficult because Anna had already lost a…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Patient Story
Kelly was 41 when she shared her Stage III breast cancer experience. She had first noticed redness spreading across her right breast and was diagnosed in her mid-30s, around 2021. Her doctor discussed an estimated 5-year survival rate of 80%. The diagnosis…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Onagh’s Survivor Story
Onagh found a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. The news brought fear, grief, resentment, isolation, and a sense of vulnerability. After diagnosis, she increased her exercise and reduced her alcohol intake from 8 drinks to 2…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Cleo’s Survivor Story
Cleo was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in February 2021 after weight loss, persistent stomach pain, and blood in her stool led to a colonoscopy. The tumor had begun to spread locally but was still described as contained within the colon. The…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Barb’s Survivor Story
Barb’s invasive lobular breast cancer was found after a routine mammogram in November 2016. She had no symptoms and no family history of cancer, so she did not expect the call-back to become serious. Second-look imaging led to ultrasound and biopsy, which…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Shelley’s Survivor Story
Shelley Brown was diagnosed with Stage IIIB sigmoid colon cancer in October 2015 after a colonoscopy found cancer in the sigmoid/left colon. She had not expected a cancer diagnosis. The colonoscopy was added while she was already planning an endoscopy for…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Ben’s Survivor Story
Ben Simcox had his first colonoscopy at 28 after his sister, Heather, pushed family members to get screened because she had rectal bleeding and colon polyps. That first colonoscopy in 2009 found only non-cancerous polyps. Years later, in 2017, Ben developed…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Allison’s Survivor Story
Allison was 32 and already familiar with bowel symptoms because of Crohn’s disease, so subtle changes caught her attention. She noticed weight loss, severe fatigue, more blood in her stool, and a feeling that food was getting stuck. Her gastroenterologist…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Brooks’s Survivor Story
Brooks Bell was in follow-up after Stage III colorectal cancer and chemotherapy. Her July 2020 story follows a surveillance colonoscopy, a key part of monitoring after colorectal cancer treatment. She describes arriving at the endoscopy center, going through…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Patient Story
At age 32, this patient was diagnosed in 2018 with an aggressive Stage IIIA breast cancer. The diagnosis was grade 3 invasive lobular carcinoma of the pleomorphic type. Testing showed that the cancer was estrogen-receptor negative, progesterone-receptor…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Barbara’s Survivor Story
Barbara Majeski was 42 when colon cancer was finally diagnosed after a long period of symptoms and dismissal. She had trouble processing food, felt that things were sitting in her gut, and did not feel like herself despite being active and health-conscious…
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