Breast Cancer: 732 Real Stories
732 stories match breast cancer. 559 of them mention surgery.
Breast Cancer: Waltraud’s Survivor Story
Waltraud Amann was a single mother of a 15-year-old son when breast cancer was diagnosed in 1995. She had felt a lump in her right breast and immediately suspected something malignant. Her gynecologist confirmed the concern, and Waltraud went into the…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Pilar’s Patient Story
Pilar was 43 and living with metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer. Before cancer, she had trained as a special-education and early-childhood teacher, spent 14 years in Nicaragua, worked with young people and families affected by…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Susanne’s Survivor Story
Susanne Ricke was 61 when breast cancer was found during routine mammography screening in 2022. She had kept up with screening because breast cancer had affected both her mother and sister, and because she had already gone through treatment for a malignant…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ana’s Patient Story
Ana was 45 when breast cancer was found during her annual gynecology review. A small lump appeared on ultrasound even though mammography had missed it. Further palpation and biopsy showed breast cancer described to her as aggressive. An extension study found…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Baerbel’s Survivor Story
Baerbel Grafenbach was 60 when early-stage breast cancer was found in late 2011 through mammography and biopsy. Her doctor described it as a non-aggressive cancer at an early stage and called it a good diagnosis. Because of that, Baerbel was able to take time…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Nurguel’s Patient Story
Nurguel Dogan was 40, married, and the mother of 2 sons when she described breast cancer diagnosed in 2009. A lump was found during regular early-detection care, and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Her first worry was for her sons, who were 10 and 11…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Greta’s Survivor Story
Greta Tietze-Stein was 52 when she described breast cancer diagnosed in 2006. A breast inflammation led her to notice a palpable change and see her gynecologist. Ultrasound showed an unclear finding, followed by mammography and biopsy. Because the diagnosis…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marion’s Survivor Story
Marion Pfulding was 54 at the time of her interview. Because her mother had died of breast cancer more than 35 years earlier, regular early-detection care mattered to her. After moving to a new city, there was a break while she found new doctors. Once she…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Andrea’s Patient Story
Andrea Jesse was 48 when breast cancer entered her life in 2012. Her first symptom felt like muscle soreness in the right breast. Four weeks later, examination, mammography, and biopsy led to the diagnosis. Surgery happened fast: she had breast-conserving…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Rosemarie’s Survivor Story
Rosemarie Berthel was 74 at the time of her interview and had received her breast cancer diagnosis at 71. She was widowed, the mother of 4, and already a grandmother and great-grandmother. Mammography had shown scattered abnormal cells in 2007, but she…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Bianca’s Patient Story
Bianca Winkler was 38, self-employed, and raising 2 young daughters when a routine gynecologic exam found an abnormality in her breast. Mammography followed, but the biopsy still did not give a clear answer. At the end of 2012, breast-conserving surgery…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Nicole’s Survivor Story
Nicole Bissinger was 44 when she described Paget carcinoma of the breast diagnosed in 2009. The first sign was a small wound on her right nipple. For about 1.5 years, it was treated as eczema with cortisone before a biopsy finally showed Paget carcinoma…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Gerda’s Patient Story
Gerda Martin was 73 when she reflected on breast cancer diagnosed in 2008. She first noticed a change during a sauna visit: her nipple was pulling inward. She went to her gynecologist, and further testing led to the diagnosis. Surgery removed her right…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Iris’s Survivor Story
Iris Ludwig was 30 when breast cancer was diagnosed in 2001. Because she worked in a medical field, she already knew what many cancer treatments could involve, yet the diagnosis still left her feeling unable to react. Chemotherapy began before…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Manuela’s Patient Story
Manuela Weber was 63 when she described living with metastatic breast cancer. Her first breast cancer was diagnosed in 2000 after a lump led to mammography and biopsy. Cancer was found in both breasts, but no lymph node involvement was described. Both breasts…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Eva’s Patient Story
Eva Manz was 39 and living with her partner when she looked back on 2 breast cancer diagnoses. She was first diagnosed at 31. At that time, her left breast was removed and reconstructed at the same operation. The loss of the breast affected her deeply, even…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Alina’s Survivor Story
Alina Schiller was 30 when she shared life after early-stage breast cancer. She found a lump while changing clothes and went to a gynecologist, who referred her to a breast center. Biopsy confirmed breast cancer in 2018, and BRCA1 testing found a mutation at…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Julia’s Patient Story
Julia Bring was 28 when she described breast cancer that began just 2 months after her wedding. She and her husband had been planning for a child when mammography and biopsy led to the diagnosis in August 2010. Because she was only 25, her doctors…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Dagmar’s Patient Story
Dagmar Schiffer was 51 when she found a lump in her breast in 2011. Because her mother had also had breast cancer, she quickly saw her gynecologist. Breast cancer was diagnosed, and Dagmar had breast-conserving surgery with removal of affected lymph nodes…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Doris’s Survivor Story
Doris Teller was 58, divorced, and living on her own when she described treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. Her mammogram had been normal, but about 3 months later she felt a hard area in her breast. When the lump grew, her gynecologist ordered a…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Kirsten’s Survivor Story
Kirsten Seifert was 52, married, and working as a freelance sports trainer when breast cancer was diagnosed. She had 3 adult children and received the diagnosis about 1 year before rehabilitation. Her gynecologist first advised immediate surgery, but Kirsten…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ute’s Survivor Story
Ute Schuhmacher was 63 when she looked back on 17 years with breast cancer and recurrence. Her first diagnosis came in 1996, when her children were still young. Fear for them was one of her greatest worries. Several operations were needed from the beginning…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sonja’s Patient Story
Sonja Zeiss-Wengler was 51 when she described breast cancer diagnosed at the end of 2006. She had been under regular gynecologic monitoring because of a hard area in the breast. When her gynecologist noticed that something had changed, she was referred for…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Elke’s Survivor Story
Elke Ferch was 66 at the time of her interview and had first been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991. The diagnosis came as a shock, especially because she was still a young woman and had to face losing a breast. Surgery removed her right breast and about…
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