Stage 4: 492 Real Stories
492 stories match stage 4. 319 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Ann’s Patient Story
Ann was diagnosed in February 2017 with two large ER-positive, HER2-negative invasive lobular cancers in her right breast. The tumors had not been felt and had not appeared on mammograms, and cancer was found in 17 lymph nodes. She underwent right mastectomy…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy was 48 when she noticed that her left nipple had become inverted. She had also been unusually tired, had sore breasts, and was experiencing severe back pain, but the nipple change was what prompted her to seek care. Her first mammogram was followed by…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Goodie16’s Survivor Story
Goodie16 found a lump in the left breast in April 2014. Mammography did not show the lump, but ultrasound and biopsy confirmed invasive ductal carcinoma. They underwent mastectomy, and the lymph nodes were clear. The cancer was staged as IA, the Oncotype DX…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Valerie’s Patient Story
Valerie Brown had symptoms for several months before a CT scan found an abnormality in her lung. A needle biopsy confirmed lung cancer, and she underwent a lobectomy in March 2012. Recovery was painful, but she reached five years with no evidence of disease…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Helen’s Patient Story
Helen was diagnosed with advanced metastatic breast cancer after working for 14 years as a clinical research nurse at The Christie. Because of her professional background, she understood more than most what cancer treatment could involve, but the diagnosis…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Rachel’s Patient Story
Rachel has been connected with The Christie since 2011, when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She considered herself fortunate because her treatment did not require surgery. Instead, she managed the disease with hormone treatment and oral…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Sebastian’s Patient Story
Sebastian Clegg, a 54-year-old barrister from Northwich and father of 3, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in April 2022. By summer 2023, the cancer had spread and was considered inoperable. He was receiving chemotherapy every 2 weeks at The Christie to shrink…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lie’s Patient Story
Lie Huang, a 66-year-old woman from Indonesia, found an egg-sized breast lump in August 2014. She already lived with heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, so another major illness felt especially frightening. Hoping the lump would disappear, she first…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patient Story
This patient had regular breast screening every year, alternating mammography and ultrasound. One screening found a 1.5 cm breast tumor. She had not thought of herself as high risk: she exercised, felt healthy, and did not match the common risk factors she…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Regina’s Patient Story
Regina Ritter was 51 at the time of her interview and a mother of 4. Her breast cancer began in May 2008, when she was 47 and felt something painful and very large in her right breast. Further examinations found a tumor, and CT also showed a liver metastasis…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Carolina’s Patient Story
Carolina, originally from Bogotá, moved alone to Spain in 2002 to study. Years later, she faced breast cancer in a difficult and physically demanding way. Her cancer was metastatic from the start, and she was found to carry a BRCA gene mutation. Because of…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Leftfootforward’s Survivor Story
Leftfootforward was 37 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer in December 2010. Her treatment began with A/C chemotherapy and then Herceptin. She had a bilateral mastectomy, followed by 36 rounds of radiation. Herceptin continued for about 8…
Read this storyStage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient Story
This story was shared by a pharmacist caring for her uncle after he was diagnosed in July 2020 with inoperable small cell lung cancer. Doctors estimated a life expectancy of 7 months with chemotherapy. Alongside chemotherapy, his caregiver introduced…
Read this storyStage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Sylvane’s Patient Story
Sylvane was 71 when a persistent dry cough in May 2020 led to a new cancer diagnosis. She had survived breast cancer 27 years earlier, in 1993, after chemotherapy, radiation, removal of the left breast, and removal of the lymph-node chain. This time, COVID…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer Patient Story
This story was shared by the sister of a woman with aggressive lung cancer and bone metastases. The cancer involved the skull and spine and had caused a clavicle fracture. Around the same time, doctors also found a localized 4 cm breast cancer. She received…
Read this storyStage IV Kidney/Renal Cancer: Cécile’s Patient Story
Cécile was 57, a nurse, married, and the mother of 2 adult children when bloodwork for ENT problems showed kidney abnormalities. A CT scan found that one kidney was diseased, and within a week she had surgery to remove it. Further testing then found many…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Agnès’s Patient Story
Agnès was 59 when lung cancer was diagnosed after a trip with her husband Daniel in summer 2016. She began coughing heavily and first thought she had caught a cold from traveling with air conditioning. Her family doctor became concerned because the lower part…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Thierry’s Survivor Story
Thierry was 55 when unusual neurologic symptoms led to his lung cancer diagnosis in May 2014. He had headaches for a week, seemed “strange” to people around him, struggled to handle objects, felt numbness around his mouth, and behaved unusually while driving…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Pilar’s Patient Story
Pilar was 43 and living with metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer. Before cancer, she had trained as a special-education and early-childhood teacher, spent 14 years in Nicaragua, worked with young people and families affected by…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Pedro’s Patient Story
Pedro was 83 when he wrote about living with colon cancer that had spread to his liver. He learned about the diagnosis in February 2020, just as COVID restrictions were beginning, and he had to wait about 3 months before treatment could start. That delay gave…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Silvia’s Patient Story
Silvia Litsching was 61, married, and the mother of 2 adult children when she described more than 20 years with breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in 1990 at age 38 after insisting that a breast lump be checked, even though earlier examinations had seemed…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Uwe’s Patient Story
Uwe Dierks was 63 when he shared the long-term effects of rectal cancer diagnosed in 2011. For about 1 year before diagnosis, he had worsening bowel problems, nighttime toilet trips, bleeding, and weight loss. Colonoscopy found a tumor, and his doctor was…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Tim’s Patient Story
Tim Meier was 31 when he described living with rectal cancer that had repeatedly spread to the liver. In late 2020, depression, constant fatigue, fever episodes, and side pain led to medical testing. Ultrasound showed suspicious findings in the liver, and…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lorenz’s Patient Story
Lorenz Kraus was 61 when he described sigmoid colon cancer diagnosed 3 years earlier. During a hiking holiday, he noticed unusual exhaustion and frequent bowel movements after meals. After returning home, he sought medical advice. Colonoscopy in hospital…
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