lumpectomy for Breast Cancer: 156 Real Stories
156 stories match breast cancer and lumpectomy. 150 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV Breast Cancer: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha was 22 when she noticed a breast lump in 2019. Because she was so young, doctors first considered causes such as a cyst or infection, but biopsy eventually confirmed breast cancer. Further testing found cancer in her rib and lymph nodes, making it…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Jacqueline’s Patient Story
Jacqueline Bennett first noticed a breast lump months before diagnosis, but several doctors dismissed it as mastitis. In June 2017, shortly after learning she was pregnant again, a new OB/GYN sent her for ultrasound and biopsy. The biopsy confirmed breast…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tamra’s Patient Story
Tamra, a registered nurse and care coordinator in Cleveland, was diagnosed with Stage II invasive lobular breast cancer on September 24, 2024, after her yearly mammogram. She did not have the usual warning signs such as a lump, breast thickening, or dimpling…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lea’s Patient Story
Lea was 37 when she first felt a small, hard breast lump in 2017. She pushed for a mammogram because breast cancer had affected an aunt, even though her doctor initially thought the lump might be an ingrown hair. After abnormal mammograms and biopsy, Lea was…
Read this storyStage I HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Erica’s Survivor Story
Erica was 46 when a routine mammogram changed the course of her life. She had delayed screening in her early 40s because of procedural anxiety, but after encouragement from her doctor and a close friend, she began annual mammograms. Her 2022, 2023, and 2024…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Janella’s Survivor Story
Janella Bustamante was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in June 2021. Her cancer was described as fueled by estrogen, progesterone and the HER2 protein. She returned to Lima, Peru, for the first part of treatment and spent the following months…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Basma’s Patient Story
Basma, a 44-year-old mother of 2, learned she had breast cancer after a mammogram showed concerning changes and a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Her name was changed for privacy. She had no family history of breast cancer, and the news affected not only her…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Theresa’s Survivor Story
Theresa first faced cancer in 2008, when a painful spot on her lip was biopsied and diagnosed as lip cancer. It was treated with Mohs surgery. Five years later, in 2013, she noticed her left breast looked larger and felt painful. Instead of a typical lump…
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 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 storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sara’s Patient Story
Sara Glenn was 38 when she felt a peanut-sized breast lump during a self-exam in summer 2024, while her family was moving from North Carolina to Southern California. Mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy showed a 2 cm grade 1A-1B ER-positive, HER2-negative breast…
Read this storyStage II BRCA2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Onjalai’s Survivor Story
Onjalai Brown was 36 when she felt pain behind one nipple and then a lump about the size of a ping-pong ball. Her family history made the fear especially real: on her mother’s side, eight women had breast cancer and four men had prostate cancer, likely…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha was 22 when a breast lump, initially treated as an infection, was confirmed as cancer. Further imaging found a small rib lesion that shrank with chemotherapy, showing that the disease had already spread and making the diagnosis stage 4. She received…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Christine’s Survivor Story
Christine was 31 when she noticed a visible divot and a large, hard, immovable lump in her breast. Imaging and biopsy confirmed stage 3 triple-positive breast cancer. MRI measured the tumor at nearly 8 cm and showed at least 2 involved lymph nodes, with 4…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Juliette’s Survivor Story
Juliette Landgrave was 38, healthy and years away from routine mammography when she felt a breast lump in the shower. Imaging found two tumors: the one she could feel and another deeper tumor seen only on MRI. She was diagnosed with triple-negative breast…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Nina’s Survivor Story
Nina was 34 when she noticed hardening under her left armpit. About 1 year later, the lump had grown and her breast began to show dimpling. A mammogram and ultrasound found an abnormal lump, and a biopsy confirmed Stage III breast cancer. Soon afterward…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Nina’s Survivor Story
Nina was 34 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Her first sign was a hard strip under her left armpit, not the small pea-like lump she had been told to watch for. At first, she was reassured because she was young, had dense breast…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren found a lump in her right breast during a self-exam and quickly contacted her doctor. She was referred to radiology for an ultrasound and biopsy, which led to a diagnosis of invasive ductal breast cancer. Her cancer was Stage II. At first, a sentinel…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Anna’s Survivor Story
Anna found a breast lump on her 37th birthday. Her gynecologist initially did not consider it urgent, but Anna pushed for further testing. Because she had dense breast tissue, ultrasound was important in identifying the tumor, and a biopsy confirmed…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Anna’s Survivor Story
Anna Rathkopf was 37 when she found a lump in her breast on her birthday. She was living in Brooklyn with her husband and their 2.5-year-old son, and they had just started thinking about a second child. A prior doctor had told her she did not need a mammogram…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Francina’s Survivor Story
Francina had no breast cancer symptoms when her routine mammogram the day after Christmas found something suspicious. A few days later, her doctor called her back for another mammogram and an ultrasound because a mass had been seen. The ultrasound confirmed…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Erica’s Survivor Story
Erica Watson was 51 when pain and a breast lump led to a diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer. She had stayed current with mammograms and had breast cancer in her family, so the diagnosis still came as a shock. A formal stage was not shared, but her…
Read this storyInvasive Ductal Carcinoma: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren O’Connell, a beauty editor and mother of 2 living in Dubai, found her breast cancer during a self-exam in December 2023. She felt a large lump in the 12 o’clock area of her right breast and quickly had imaging and a biopsy. The diagnosis was invasive…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lori’s Survivor Story
Lori was 64 and living in Fairbanks, Alaska, when her lobular breast cancer was found through routine screening. A yearly mammogram in 2021 showed architectural distortion, and follow-up ultrasound in January 2022 found jagged edges on imaging. A February…
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