Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: 453 Real Stories
453 stories match breast cancer and chemotherapy. 392 of them mention surgery.
Stage III Breast Cancer: Diana’s Patient Story
Diana, 44, is from Colombia, has 2 children, and works in accounting as a financial technologist. She was being monitored for a lump in her left breast that was first biopsied and considered benign. Two years later, the lump worsened, and she also developed…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Lan’s Patient Story
Lan sought medical care after finding a hard, painful breast lump and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Her doctor discussed a 90% five-year survival estimate. The diagnosis brought fear, grief, confusion, and a sense of vulnerability. Lan underwent…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Margaret’s Patient Story
Margaret, a mother of two from Ireland, noticed a large breast lump that appeared almost overnight, together with itching. She was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. Although the news was difficult, she tried to remain optimistic and hopeful. Her…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne, 53, learned she had Stage II breast cancer in September 2023 after a mammogram showed an abnormality that needed more testing. She was already working in Taoyuan, so she completed additional tests at another hospital. After researching her diagnosis…
Read this storyStage I Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Emma’s Patient Story
Emma, a 46-year-old mother of 5 in Ireland, checked her breasts after a conversation with her partner about male breast cancer made her realize she had never done it. She found a lump and then noticed changes in breast shape, pain, nipple discharge…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Annie’s Patient Story
Annie, 48, was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in July 2023 after finding a lump in her breast. Her doctor told her the estimated 5-year survival rate was 98%, but the diagnosis still brought worry, fear, grief, vulnerability, and resentment. She…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Sarah’s Patient Story
Sarah found a lump in her right breast along with swelling in her right armpit and was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. She initially felt vulnerable and powerless, although she also held onto some optimism about treatment. Her first treatment plan…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Adriana’s Patient Story
Adriana was 39 when a lump under her left armpit made her feel that something was wrong. On October 19, 2023, she learned that she had stage 4 breast cancer. Following her doctors' recommendation, Adriana underwent a mastectomy and then intensive chemotherapy…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda was 71 when a black spot noticed during a routine check led to further investigation. A mammogram confirmed stage 2 breast cancer. The diagnosis brought fear, helplessness and worry, but she trusted her medical team and followed the recommended…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Becki’s Patient Story
Becki, 43, sought a second opinion after feeling that her previous doctor had not given her enough information. Mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy confirmed Stage II triple-positive breast cancer: ER-positive, PR-positive, and HER2-positive. The diagnosis was…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Grace’s Patient Story
Grace, 67, discovered her breast cancer through a routine mammogram in July 2023. She had been going for mammograms every 2 years, and this one revealed something unexpected. The diagnosis was Stage II breast cancer. Grace felt empty, confused, disillusioned…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Maeve’s Patient Story
Maeve felt a lump at the top of her breast and was referred from her general practitioner to another hospital for evaluation. After the diagnosis, she began eating more healthfully, increased her exercise, and stopped drinking alcohol. Following medical…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Hu’s Patient Story
Hu Jia, from Taiwan, discovered she had breast cancer in June 2023 after an unusual sequence of events. Her cat kept sniffing her, and about a month later a lump appeared in the swollen area. The diagnosis was confirmed at the hospital and was found at Stage…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Bethany’s Patient Story
Bethany was 34 when breast cancer was first found in both breasts and a lymph node. Earlier, she had felt breast and underarm lumps but pursued thermography and other nonstandard approaches before ultimately getting a mammogram and ultrasound that showed…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Loriana’s Survivor Story
Loriana Hernandez-Aldama was an Emmy Award-winning broadcast anchor and trying to have a second baby when symptoms she had dismissed led to an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis. She says she was misdiagnosed twice before connections helped her get to Johns…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Mary’s Survivor Story
Mary Richichi was 79 at the time of the story and had been treated for breast cancer years earlier. A routine mammogram found a tumor in the duct of her left breast in July 2009, during a stressful period when she and her husband were preparing to move closer…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie Rifici Thorkelson noticed a breast lump while nursing her first son and initially thought it was another clogged milk duct. When the lump did not go away after about 1 month, she saw her Ob/Gyn. Mammogram and biopsy showed breast cancer shortly…
Read this storyStage IV PIK3CA Breast Cancer: Abigail’s Patient Story
Abigail was 38, running a law firm, raising 2 young children, and breastfeeding when she felt a lump in her left breast in January 2017. She first thought it was a clogged duct. In April 2017, she was diagnosed with strongly hormone-positive breast cancer and…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sharon’s Survivor Story
Sharon Kovach grew up with breast cancer in her family: her grandmother and mother had both been diagnosed, and her mother died from the disease at age 56. An abnormal mammogram led to Sharon’s own diagnosis in October 1999, 1 month after her 40th birthday…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lianne’s Patient Story
Lianne Kraemer was 37 when a small painful area in her left breast led to imaging and a biopsy in late 2013. She was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer involving lymph nodes. In 2014, she underwent a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, reconstruction, and…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Feyama’s Survivor Story
Feyama Ashby, a quality and compliance coordinator in MD Anderson’s diagnostic labs, noticed pain in her sternum that extended into her right breast. She initially thought she had pulled a muscle while working out, but the timing lined up with her annual…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Julie’s Patient Story
Julie Campbell was living with chronic myelogenous leukemia when a second cancer changed her course. In October 2020, tests showed no leukemia in her blood and her leukemia chemotherapy was stopped. One month later, she was diagnosed with Stage IV…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Anabel’s Patient Story
Anabel’s breast cancer story was shaped by family loss. Her sister and mother had both died from cancer, and Anabel had cared for them before facing her own diagnosis. About 1.5 years after losing her mother, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Christal’s Survivor Story
Christal Love was 39 when she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer, described as aggressive hormone-positive, HER2-negative disease that had spread to her lymph nodes. She began treatment locally with chemotherapy. The first cycle used Taxol. During a…
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