Stage 4: 492 Real Stories
492 stories match stage 4. 319 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
In November 2024, Laura VanBrocklin was making dinner for her 2 children when sudden nausea, urgency, and a feeling that she might pass out sent her to the emergency room. A CT scan within 30 minutes showed a bowel blockage caused by a tumor and lesions in…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Heather’s Patient Story
Heather Candrilli was 35 when severe bloating and later rectal bleeding led her to a gastroenterologist. An abdominal ultrasound found lesions throughout her liver, and colonoscopy later found the colon mass. She was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Maria’s Patient Story
Maria first went through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and targeted/endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Surgery showed more lymph-node involvement than expected on PET imaging, and up to 20 lymph nodes were removed. Pathology later showed more cancer in…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Steven’s Patient Story
Steven Huff was 29, newly engaged, and starting a teaching career when shortness of breath, a daily cough, and a lump near his collarbone led to a lung cancer diagnosis. Doctors told him he had Stage IV non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma, with cancer in both…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Claire’s Patient Story
Claire Firrell was 46 when abdominal pain led to a Stage III colorectal cancer diagnosis in November 2015. The cancer had spread to lymph nodes. Her first treatment included surgery to remove the tumor, part of her colon, and lymph nodes, followed by 12…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Iris’s Patient Story
Iris Lopez-Mendez first faced breast cancer in 2010 after feeling a lump in her right breast. Mammogram and biopsy confirmed Stage IIA breast cancer, and she was treated with lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. For years afterward, she kept up with…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Allison’s Patient Story
Allison was an active 45-year-old mother of 2 when back pain that seemed muscular turned into a much larger warning sign. A CT report mentioned possible metastatic lesions in her spine. More testing followed, including chest imaging, MRI, brain imaging, PET…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Linda’s Patient Story
Linda Norman was approaching her 60th birthday in January 2019 when a routine mammogram found a small mass in her left breast. Biopsy confirmed breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy, then 10 radiation treatments over 2 weeks. Anastrozole caused extreme joint…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Clara’s Patient Story
Clara was 24 when symptoms that seemed unrelated slowly pointed to something serious. Hip and back pain were first explained as an L5-S1 herniated disc from running, but the pain around that area later made more sense after doctors found cancer had spread to…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Devon’s Survivor Story
Devon was 30 when rectal cancer symptoms appeared quickly. She first noticed more frequent bathroom urges, then mucus instead of stool, pain, and very narrow stools. She did not have blood in her stool, but the symptoms kept worsening. A gastroenterologist…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Suzy’s Survivor Story
Suzy was a respiratory therapist with 17 years of experience when her own symptoms were dismissed. In late 2022, she noticed a lump under her collarbone and frequent pain in her left breast. A clear mammogram the year before made clinicians less concerned…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Dan’s Survivor Story
Dan Trombley was 37, a Navy chief warrant officer, when unusual fatigue and low blood counts led to a colonoscopy in 2020. At first, doctors thought the colon tumor would be straightforward to treat. A CT scan 2 weeks later changed that: he had Stage IV colon…
Read this storyStage IV KRAS Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Wyatt’s Patient Story
Wyatt was 33 when worsening migraines led to an unexpected Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. He had been born with hydrocephalus and had a shunt, so the early symptoms were treated as a neurologic problem. The headaches became debilitating, lasting 1 to 2 weeks…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren was 42 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma of the colon in 2025. The diagnosis was a shock: colon cancer had not been on her radar, and she struggled with how to tell her parents, siblings, cousins, husband, and 2 young…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Elissa’s Patient Story
Elissa was 34 and only a few months postpartum when numbness in her feet began interfering with daily life. She could not keep shoes on comfortably and could barely play tennis for 20 to 30 minutes. Because she had recently given birth, the symptoms were easy…
Read this storyStage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Kristen’s Patient Story
Kristen was an active nurse in her 40s who loved tennis when shortness of breath and right-sided pain led to a small cell lung cancer diagnosis in January 2025. Because she had a long-standing heart condition and a pacemaker, she first wondered whether the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate Joyal was training for a 10K when severe abdominal pain appeared suddenly. She initially wondered whether she had appendicitis or severe constipation, but urgent-care evaluation showed a bowel obstruction caused by several masses in her intestines. She…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Kathrin’s Patient Story
Kathrin was a fitness professional living in Munich when fatigue and foot pain began to interrupt an active life. At first, the foot pain seemed like a sports injury from yoga or exercise. Imaging of the left foot showed a tumor, and biopsy revealed that it…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren was 41 when an urgent bathroom problem became the first sign of Stage IV signet-ring cell colon cancer. In mid-February 2025, she began feeling constant pressure to use the bathroom. By March 6, she counted 27 bathroom trips in 1 day. Her primary care…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jenny’s Patient Story
Jenny Apple was a healthy nonsmoker, wife, and mother whose first major symptom was persistent pain on the left side of her ribs. During the COVID period, getting care was difficult, and the pain was initially dismissed as strain from lifting her young child…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in 2013 after noticing blood in his stool and pushing for testing. A CT scan and urgent colonoscopy showed a mass, and surgery was scheduled quickly. His surgeon was able to remove the primary tumor without leaving…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Queen’s Patient Story
Queen was 31 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer after growing up with a strong family history of the disease. Her mother and aunt had both faced breast cancer, so the diagnosis carried personal and family weight from the beginning. Queen’s story later…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Kathleen’s Patient Story
Kathleen McEvoy-Schufreider was first diagnosed in 2011 with early-stage HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. She joined a clinical trial and received 16 weeks of paclitaxel with trastuzumab. After surgery, she received 4 doses of AC…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Masters was 63 when she described the long road through Stage IV HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. She first noticed a lump in her left breast in February 2016 but waited several months before seeing a doctor. After a diagnosis of HER2-positive…
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