Stage 4: 492 Real Stories
492 stories match stage 4. 319 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Andria’s Patient Story
Andria was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer after chronic constipation and intermittent bright red blood in her stool led to a colonoscopy. The diagnosis came more than 3 years before she shared her story. Early in treatment, Andria felt discouraged…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Joanne’s Patient Story
Joanne Sabol was 65 when a lump in her neck led to imaging and a biopsy in July 2005. She was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and was initially told that palliative care was her only option. Joanne sought a second opinion at Memorial Sloan Kettering…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA1 Ovarian Cancer: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren Corduck learned on December 31, 2016, that she carried a BRCA1 mutation inherited from her father. She had been preparing to consider risk-reducing surgery, but an MRI ordered for severe back pain revealed an unexpected finding. Further evaluation…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Leslie’s Patient Story
Leslie was active and teaching fitness classes when a persistent cough and worsening shortness of breath began to interfere with daily life. After repeated visits and treatments that did not help, swollen lymph nodes and increasing breathing difficulty led…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Nathalie’s Patient Story
Nathalie, a homemaker and mother of two from Colombia, had been living with stage 4 breast cancer for more than three years. A strong family history prompted her to seek evaluation after noticing changes in breast shape and areas of thickening. Several…
Read this storyStage IV Ovarian Cancer: Manisha’s Survivor Story
Manisha Koirala was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer in 2012 after persistent sickness and abdominal bloating. The cancer had spread beyond the ovaries. After a second opinion confirmed the diagnosis, Manisha traveled from Nepal to New York for…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer Patient Story
An anonymized 35-year-old was living with Stage IV lung cancer 6 years after the cancer had spread to the liver, brain and bone. The illness had required repeated treatment, and the patient was receiving a 10th line of therapy. The specific medicines and…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Katherine’s Patient Story
Katherine “Kat” Adelufosi initially dismissed a lingering illness, but symptoms persisted for weeks and led to tests and scans. On October 24, she learned that she had Stage IV lung cancer. The diagnosis was especially unexpected because she had never smoked…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient Story
In the winter of 2018, a 31-year-old woman developed a lingering cough shortly after celebrating her first wedding anniversary with her husband, Jack. She was healthy, active, and had no major risk factors, but testing led to a diagnosis of Stage IV…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Mary’s Patient Story
Mary Lynn Moser lived through 15 years of cancer, including 5 years with breast cancer and nearly 10 years with lung cancer. A radiologist noticed a lung spot while reading a mammogram, allowing the lung cancer to be detected at Stage III rather than after…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Sharon’s Patient Story
Sharon Schneider was diagnosed with a rare ALK-positive lung cancer in April 2017. She had previously completed 7 half marathons along with several 15K and 5K races, but cancer treatment and blood clots in her brain forced her to stop running. Later that…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael Malmberg was an Olympic athlete, an active-duty service member, and otherwise healthy when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Because she did not match the profile she expected, she began researching possible causes and learned about radon. Within 2…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient Story
In 2015, a close-knit family learned that their mother had Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer that had spread to her brain. She had been a deacon’s wife, a church piano player, a 30-year state employee, and the person who tirelessly cared for others. Her…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Angie’s Patient Story
Angie Brice Hessbruegge was 37 and raising 2 young children when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in May 2019. She had never smoked. Her daughter was 6 and her son was 4, and Angie quickly learned that cancer affected the whole household. She spoke…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer Patient Story
At age 30, while completing an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency, the patient developed worsening back pain, muscle spasms, difficulty walking, and numbness in the legs. An emergency MRI showed lesions throughout the spine and a compression fracture at…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Frank’s Survivor Story
Frank Sierawski was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in his 30s, when his three children were six, four, and two. The diagnosis affected the entire family. His children were young enough to remember little of the treatment, while his wife Kathryn carried…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle had been living with ALK-positive lung cancer since 2018 when she developed persistent headaches, vomiting, ear popping, and a whooshing sound in her head. Remembering another patient who had developed leptomeningeal disease, she pressed for an…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Michael’s Patient Story
Michael O’Donnell is a Vietnam War veteran who receives his lung-cancer testing and treatment through the Dallas VA, with access to a lung-cancer specialist from UT Southwestern when needed. His cancer was Stage IV at diagnosis. He had smoked until two weeks…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
Laura was 38 when a persistent cough, fatigue, congestion, and occasional coughing of blood led to imaging during a routine Veterans Administration visit in April 2023. A chest X-ray appeared to show a 6 mm nodule in her right lung, but a CT scan showed that…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Marnie’s Patient Story
Marnie Clark first noticed that one leg felt unusual. The problem became impossible to dismiss when the leg became paralyzed. Early tests focused on the leg and found nothing, so Marnie and her husband paid for additional examinations rather than continue…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Carla’s Patient Story
Carla lived with lung cancer that repeatedly developed resistance to treatment. For long periods, her symptoms were limited mainly to coughing and manageable fatigue. In January 2015, while taking third-line afatinib, she married Bud and moved to Manila to…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Yara’s Patient Story
Yara was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 after years of fearing the disease following an earlier benign lump. The diagnosis pushed her to make decisions she had postponed and to live more boldly, but daily life remained shaped by fear of recurrence, scan…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Kattysmith’s Patient Story
Kattysmith was first diagnosed with borderline Stage I/II breast cancer in 2003, shortly before turning 51. She underwent lumpectomy with sentinel-node biopsy, which showed no spread, followed by radiation and tamoxifen. After years of follow-up, breast…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Rhonda’s Patient Story
Rhonda Schaller was living with metastatic breast cancer and the reality that progression could bring another treatment line. She described allowing herself to feel worry, tears, tiredness, confusion, and moments of laughter rather than trying to suppress any…
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