mastectomy for Breast Cancer: 355 Real Stories
355 stories match breast cancer and mastectomy. 338 of them mention surgery.
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Brenda’s Survivor Story
Brenda first found a breast lump in 2017, when she was in her early 40s. She was told it was a cyst, while an area of calcification seen on mammography was monitored every 6 months for the next 5 years. During a mammogram in May 2022, the area believed to be…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Olivia’s Survivor Story
Olivia Franz was 27 and breastfeeding her 4-month-old son when she noticed a painless lump in her left breast in mid-October 2020. An initial ultrasound suggested mastitis, but the lump and swelling grew during a week of antibiotics. A second ultrasound and…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: April’s Patient Story
April Donaldson was 40 when she found 4 lumps along the side of her left breast in January 2020, only months after a normal mammogram. Around the same time, she received genetic testing results showing she was BRCA1 positive. Biopsy confirmed triple-negative…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Susan’s Patient Story
Susan was 72 when she shared a long history with breast cancer. Her first diagnosis began in 2000, when her husband, a physician, felt a small hard lump in her left breast. A fine needle aspiration missed the cancer 3 times, but surgical removal showed the…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Thomas was 33 when she felt a lump in her left breast. She had no breast cancer history in her family and had checked her breasts regularly, so the finding was frightening. Imaging and biopsy confirmed breast cancer, and her breast surgeon told her…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Susan’s Survivor Story
Susan was 72 when she shared a breast cancer history spanning more than 20 years. Her first diagnosis began when she was 50 and her husband, a physician, felt a hard pea-sized lump in her left breast. A fine needle aspiration incorrectly came back negative…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Britney’s Patient Story
Britney Beadle was 18 and still in high school when she found a breast lump in February 2015. An ultrasound and mammogram were arranged, but she was told 18-year-olds do not get breast cancer. A few months later, the lump had grown and her nipple inverted…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Brittney’s Patient Story
Brittney Beadle was 18 and still in high school when she found a lump in her right breast in February 2015. An ultrasound and mammogram showed a mass, but she was told that 18-year-olds did not get breast cancer. Three months later, the lump had grown and her…
Read this storyStage I Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Survivor Story
Melissa Berry was 42 when routine high-risk screening found Stage I triple-negative breast cancer. Breast cancer ran strongly on her mother’s side, and Melissa had learned she carried a BRCA mutation. Because of that, she was being followed closely with MRI…
Read this storyStage I Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Survivor Story
Melissa Berry learned she carried a BRCA gene alteration at age 32 after several women on her mother’s side of the family developed breast cancer. The result initially frightened her, but it also led to intensive screening with MRI, mammography and ultrasound…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie was 50 when she found a lump in her right breast on July 2, 2018. Mammogram and ultrasound confirmed the lump, and it was removed in early August. The lump itself was benign, but the pathology also found lobular carcinoma in situ, which raised her…
Read this storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Nikki’s Patient Story
Nikki, a 47-year-old mother and teacher, had already survived a rare cancer before her breast cancer diagnosis. In 2016, while breastfeeding her long-awaited son, a doctor reviewed years of bowel and IBS-like complaints and investigated further. That workup…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Nikki’s Patient Story
Nikki first noticed sharp pain around her right nipple in August 2022. Because there was no lump and she had been told that cancer usually did not hurt, she attributed it to menopause. By late November, her nipple had become completely inverted. A biopsy and…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lucinda’s Patient Story
Lucinda Rudolph was 68 when an annual breast cancer screening in April 2020 led to a frightening local assessment. She had been treated for breast cancer 10 years earlier with lumpectomy and radiation, and this new cancer was initially described as…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Cynthia’s Survivor Story
Cynthia Jordan had normal mammograms for 13 years and no symptoms, even while a walnut-sized tumor was growing in her breast. She had dense breasts but had not been educated about what that meant or why supplemental screening could matter. In 2018, a…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Neda’s Survivor Story
Neda was 48 and living in Seattle when her breast cancer journey began. In April 2020, she felt a large lump in her left breast. Mammography and ultrasound did not show cancer, and she received a letter noting dense breast tissue and recommending another…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Carol’s Survivor Story
In 2018, this patient was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer after years of monitoring suspicious areas in the right breast. Genetic testing later showed a BRCA1 mutation, which influenced both breast cancer planning and future ovarian cancer risk…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Abigail’s Patient Story
Abigail Myers was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2014, just over a year after the birth of her son. Testing showed triple-positive disease, with estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Her initial treatment included a double mastectomy, radiation…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tara’s Survivor Story
Tara was 50 when routine breast imaging found invasive lobular carcinoma. She had dense breast tissue and a history of many mammogram call-backs, so screening had often been difficult to interpret. Shortly after her 50th birthday in August 2022, a routine…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Debbie’s Survivor Story
Debbie Bliss MBE is best known as a knitwear designer, but her cancer story adds another layer to a life built around creativity, resilience, and self-definition. She has had both thymus cancer and breast cancer, and her breast cancer treatment included a…
Read this storyBRCA2 Breast Cancer: Sue’s Survivor Story
Sue Friedman was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33 despite being proactive about her health and having no known family history of breast cancer. After initial treatment, she read about hereditary cancer and BRCA1/2 testing. The warning signs fit her…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Renée’s Patient Story
Renée first had cancer at 18, when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Treatment had to move too quickly for fertility preservation, and she was told it would likely cause infertility. She received intensive chemotherapy, total-body radiation, and…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Langley’s Patient Story
Langley Perer was 35 when she was diagnosed in 2017 with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. Genetic testing showed that she had inherited a BRCA mutation, and she underwent a double mastectomy in Los Angeles. In 2020, Langley began feeling generally unwell…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy’s Survivor Story
Lucy E. was diagnosed with grade 3 triple-negative breast cancer 3 days after her 24th birthday. She had found a breast lump and pushed for biopsy even after being told it was likely fibrous tissue. She already knew she carried a BRCA1 mutation, which made…
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