Stage 4: 492 Real Stories
492 stories match stage 4. 319 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shawn’s Patient Story
Shawn was 48 and living in Springfield, Michigan, when severe abdominal pain led him to seek urgent care. A CT scan showed a large blockage, and doctors quickly diagnosed Stage IV colorectal cancer. The diagnosis was unexpected and frightening, but treatment…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shawn’s Patient Story
Shawn Michael was 48 when Stage IV colorectal cancer was found after what felt like severe constipation. He had postponed a scheduled colonoscopy in January 2024 during a stressful period. By late October, he felt impacted and tried urgent-care…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shayla’s Patient Story
Shayla was 33 when she was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer. For years, she had unexplained digestive issues, exhaustion, food intolerance, and stomach sensitivity. She saw gastroenterologists and was diagnosed with celiac disease, but cutting out…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lindy’s Patient Story
Lindy was 34 and 2 months postpartum when she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. During pregnancy, she had severe abdominal pain, bowel changes, blood in her stool, and major discomfort, but she thought the symptoms were part of pregnancy. The cancer…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Eugenia’s Patient Story
Eugenia Horan was 46 when she was diagnosed with poorly differentiated non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms began after what seemed like a cold or flu in late 2018, followed by chest tightness, coughing blood, weight loss, and a racing pulse. Her concerns…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Nicola’s Survivor Story
Nicola, a mother and anesthetic technician, first noticed rectal bleeding. Doctors initially thought it was hemorrhoids, but a colonoscopy found a 4-cm colorectal tumor. She had surgery just before Christmas, and pathology showed that 4 lymph nodes contained…
Read this storyStage IV Gastric Cancer: Mark’s Patient Story
Mark Scragg knew cancer risk ran in his family after he and several relatives learned they had Lynch syndrome. In May 2021, persistent fatigue and stomach pain led him to move up his yearly endoscopy and colonoscopy. Doctors found a stomach tumor, and…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Colorectal Cancer: Emily’s Patient Story
Emily King was 27 when stomach pain and blood in her stool led to an ER visit. A CT scan showed a large tumor in her transverse colon. Surgeons removed about 1 foot of colon and 23 lymph nodes; 13 nodes contained cancer. Her early recovery was complicated by…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Nicola’s Survivor Story
Nicola was first diagnosed with bowel cancer near the end of 2021 after years of rectal bleeding, stomach problems, and worsening anemia. A colonoscopy found a tumor, and staging scans followed. Five days before Christmas, she had bowel surgery that removed a…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael Marie was 34 and raising 3 children when sudden worsening symptoms led her to the ER. She had bloating, severe abdominal pain, fatigue, trouble drinking water, and a swollen stomach. A CT scan led doctors to tell her she had Stage IV colon cancer with…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael, a 34-year-old mother of 3, was diagnosed with Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer after severe stomach pain sent her to the emergency room. A CT scan unexpectedly showed cancer, and further workup showed spread to her ovaries and liver. Before diagnosis…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer was 23 when a blood test showed extremely low iron and led to a colonoscopy. The scope found a tumor that blocked the camera, and she was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2017. Surgery on December 29 used an open approach because doctors were…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Roshonda’s Patient Story
Roshonda was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2022 after symptoms that began with blood in her stool and a feeling that bowel movements were incomplete. As symptoms worsened, including blood after sexual activity and increasing discomfort, she changed…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Roshonda’s Survivor Story
Roshonda Clark was 40 when she was diagnosed with rectal cancer in March 2022. Doctors first thought it was Stage III, but she later learned it was Stage IV. Her symptoms had started earlier with blood in her stool and a feeling that bowel movements were…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate first felt a breast lump while breastfeeding. An ultrasound found a 4 mm mass, but she was told she was too young for a mammogram or biopsy and that it was likely a cyst. In November 2023, the lump had grown to 2-3 cm, but she was again told not to…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate first found a breast lump while breastfeeding her daughter in 2022. She was told it was probably a cyst and that she was too young for mammography or biopsy. The lump continued to grow, but repeated assessments still did not lead to tissue testing. In…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Shirley’s Patient Story
Shirley was 34, working as a translator in Southern California, when a persistent cough during the COVID-19 pandemic became something much more serious. She went through multiple rounds of antibiotics and testing, but the cough continued and severe back pain…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient Story
This anonymized patient reflected on more than 10.5 years of living with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. She was diagnosed in 2014 after a local clinic completed about 2 weeks of testing and told her she had Stage IV cancer. At first, her local doctor…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Shirley’s Patient Story
Shirley was 34 when a cough and severe back pain were first treated as possible long COVID or pneumonia. Two bronchoscopies did not give answers. A wedge resection was then done to obtain tissue, and pathology showed adenocarcinoma. PET and MRI scans did not…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shayla’s Patient Story
Shayla was 33 when years of stomach problems turned into a Stage IV colorectal cancer diagnosis. She had dealt with a sensitive stomach since high school, later received an uncertain celiac diagnosis, and continued to feel unwell despite cutting out gluten…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Deltra’s Patient Story
Deltra James was diagnosed at 33 with de novo Stage IV triple-negative metastatic breast cancer. Her advocacy has focused not only on living with advanced cancer, but also on quality-of-life issues that many patients are embarrassed to raise. In this 2024…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Lindy’s Patient Story
Lindy Avalos was 34 and 2.5 months postpartum when she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon adenocarcinoma. During her first pregnancy, she had severe abdominal pain, changes in bowel movements, blood in her stool, poor appetite and worsening pain. Because…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips never smoked, so a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in December 2019 felt impossible. She was 43, with children ages 14, 13, and 9, and had been dealing with a persistent cough, unintentional weight loss, chest heaviness, and coughing up blood…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate was 36 when a bowel obstruction led to her Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis in July 2024. For about a year before that, she had bloating, severe fatigue, constipation and cramping that she attributed to diet changes, work stress, young children and…
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