Breast Cancer: 732 Real Stories
732 stories match breast cancer. 559 of them mention surgery.
Breast Cancer: Michael’s Patient Story
Michael Johnston was diagnosed with male breast cancer in 2009. His treatment included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, all within a single calendar year. After going through that intensive period of care, he made a personal commitment to increase…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Tonya’s Survivor Story
Tonya, a radiographer and mother of two, was living in Ireland when a routine mammogram led to a same-day biopsy. She received the biopsy result 3 days later and learned that she had breast cancer. Tonya first chose lumpectomy after her doctor recommended…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Yanzi’s Patient Story
At age 45, Yanzi received a text notification offering a free mammogram and decided to schedule the screening. She had no symptoms, but the mammogram was abnormal. Further evaluation at a nearby hospital led to a diagnosis of Stage I breast cancer. The…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Ana’s Survivor Story
Ana, 51, was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer after an unexpected workup. She had no family history of cancer and wanted a second opinion because she felt her first doctor had not given her enough information. She also described noticing blood from the…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Jacquelyn’s Patient Story
Jacquelyn noticed a suspicious change during a breast self-examination and sought medical care. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Her doctors recommended mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, and she followed the plan. Although she felt…
Read this storyBreast Cancer Patient Story
This healthcare advocate became a breast cancer patient after finding a tiny lump during a self-exam. Two mammograms three months apart showed the lump, but an outside surgeon initially felt it was too small to be cancer and planned another mammogram. A…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lindsey’s Patient Story
Lindsey Ballas was balancing work, family and cancer care after being diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. She owned a hair salon and wanted treatment to disrupt her life as little as possible. Her main goal was to keep life close to normal while…
Read this storyStage II BRCA1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Roxana’s Patient Story
Roxana Lopez was 25 when she was diagnosed with Stage II invasive ductal carcinoma in her left breast in August 2015. Breast and ovarian cancer had affected several women in her family, including her mother, who died of breast cancer when Roxana and her twin…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Monica’s Patient Story
Monica Wright was 44 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2015. She underwent a lumpectomy in December, with an old friend beside her during that first treatment. When Monica later began weekly chemotherapy infusions in Boston, friends…
Read this storyBreast Cancer Patient Story
At 36, six months after giving birth to her second daughter, this patient was diagnosed with hormone-sensitive breast cancer. The diagnosis echoed a striking family history: her mother had developed breast cancer at the same age, her aunt had also had breast…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Trish’s Patient Story
Trish Vickery learned in 2013 that she had inflammatory breast cancer, a diagnosis that carried particular weight because her mother had died from the same disease. At age 58, Trish described coming to Dana-Farber as one of the luckiest decisions of her life…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Patient Story
Melissa Angiolillo was 35 when she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. Alongside fear about the disease, she felt pressure to handle cancer with constant positivity. During chemotherapy, when treatment was taking a physical toll, that expectation…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Michelle’s Survivor Story
Michelle Hines was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2015 and received 6 rounds of chemotherapy followed by 17 rounds of targeted therapy. Treatment could be difficult even with strong anti-nausea medication, and some days she felt too sick to move…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marianne’s Survivor Story
Marianne Gongos was 60 when a lump appeared in her left breast in 2011. She was already living with chronic myeloid leukemia, diagnosed in 1999, and had reached remission through a clinical drug trial. Surgery confirmed breast cancer, leading to removal of…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Sarah’s Patient Story
Sarah was 37 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer had affected several women in her family: her grandmother was a 40-year survivor, her aunt a 20-year survivor, and her mother had also been diagnosed. Sarah said her family did not…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Debora’s Patient Story
Debora, 65, lives in the United Kingdom and was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2017 after noticing a dimple across her left breast. The diagnosis brought anger, fear, sadness, numbness, and vulnerability. Her initial treatment plan included…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Elizabeth’s Survivor Story
Elizabeth was 45 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer after first finding a problem in November 2017. Her mother had developed breast cancer at 51, so the family had already been encouraged to remain alert. When an initial appointment was delayed…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Natalia’s Survivor Story
Natalia, from Colombia, had a hard, growing lump in her left breast. An early ultrasound found nothing, and three months passed before a mastologist removed the lump and confirmed cancer. Dissatisfied with the information and manner of her first doctor, she…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Tasha’s Patient Story
Tasha’s breast cancer was detected through a mammography study that invited people aged 47-49 to explore whether screening should begin before age 50. The mammogram revealed Stage II breast cancer in July 2017. Doctors recommended breast-conserving surgery…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda knew that a CDH1 gene mutation ran in the family and increased the risk of both breast cancer and hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. Amanda’s mother had breast cancer, while a sister and brother had gastric cancer. After testing positive for the…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dorothy’s Survivor Story
Dorothy Paterson found a lump in her right breast while showering in 1998, even though her mammogram the year before had been clear. Testing first showed invasive ductal carcinoma, and additional evaluation at MD Anderson revealed HER2-positive breast cancer…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie Spiesz was 50 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2013. She had noticed lumps in her left breast but was not especially worried until her husband urged her to see a doctor. Within days, she had a checkup, mammogram and biopsy, and…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Mauriel’s Survivor Story
Mauriel Davis sought a mammogram after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had felt a small lump months earlier but had ignored it until her mother urged her to get checked. At a Cleveland Clinic OB/GYN visit, the area was first thought to be a…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Shirley’s Survivor Story
Shirley, from Canada, was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer in 2016 after finding a hard lump in her left breast. The news brought anger, fear and sadness, although she also held onto a sense of hope. Her doctors recommended breast-conserving surgery with…
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