Breast Cancer: 732 Real Stories
732 stories match breast cancer. 559 of them mention surgery.
Stage 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 II Breast Cancer: Lesley’s Patient Story
Lesley, a physical therapist from Colombia and a mother, discovered a mass in her right breast. She had undergone surgery for a fibroadenoma in her left breast at age 17 in 2004 and initially thought the new mass might be the same condition. She had no other…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Nia’s Patient Story
Nia noticed a lump in her left breast and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The lump was her only symptom. The diagnosis brought fear, nervousness, and a strong sense of being overwhelmed. Nia had not yet started treatment and had not chosen a…
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 storyBreast Cancer: Teri’s Survivor Story
Teri’s breast cancer was found during a routine mammogram in May 2023. Follow-up ultrasound and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis after the screening study detected something suspicious. Teri had not noticed major symptoms, although nipple discharge occurred…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Angelina’s Patient Story
Angelina, 56, sought medical help after a lump in her breast kept growing. She was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer and was told her 5-year survival rate was 95%. Her doctors recommended a treatment regimen that included DIEP mastectomy, chemotherapy…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Lilly’s Patient Story
Lilly from Hong Kong found a breast lump in 2023 and visited a general practitioner. An ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration biopsy were inconclusive, leaving uncertainty about whether the lump was benign or malignant. After six months of observation…
Read this storyStage 0 Breast Cancer: Jane’s Patient Story
Jane noticed a change in the size and shape of her breast, and a routine mammogram led to a diagnosis of stage 0 breast cancer in July 2023. The news brought fear, vulnerability, anxiety, and powerlessness, although she also tried to remain hopeful and…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Thamires’s Patient Story
Thamires, from Brazil, was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2023 while in her 30s. The first signs were unusual irritation of the breast skin followed about two weeks later by a small lump. The diagnosis brought nervousness, grief, confusion and a…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Anna’s Patient Story
Anna, 67, went for a checkup after noticing a lump growing in her armpit and was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. She did not seek a second opinion, choosing instead to follow her doctor’s recommendation. The diagnosis made her feel disappointed…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Char’s Patient Story
Char, 42, was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer after feeling a lump in her breast and noticing yellowish fluid from her nipple. Her doctor told her the estimated 5-year survival rate was likely 100%, but the diagnosis still pushed her to make major…
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 II Breast Cancer: Jamie’s Patient Story
Jamie was 41 when a company health screening changed the course of her life. She had felt mild breast pain but thought it might be related to her menstrual period. During a routine mammogram, doctors found a growth in her right breast, and follow-up testing…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Jodi’s Patient Story
Jodi found a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in September 2023. The news left her feeling empty and vulnerable, especially because she had already lost her mother to cancer, but she also felt determined. Jodi underwent a…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Shinjini’s Survivor Story
Shinjini initially thought breast pain during her periods was normal, but one night the pain became severe enough that she went to her doctor. Her doctor suspected something was wrong and sent her for a mammogram, and a few days later she learned that she had…
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 storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Nancy’s Patient Story
Nancy’s story is told by her husband, Brian. The two were high school sweethearts who reunited after 14 years apart and married in 1992. Their life changed on May 26, 2017, when numbness in Nancy’s arm and hand did not go away. She had experienced the…
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…
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