Breast Cancer: 732 Real Stories
732 stories match breast cancer. 559 of them mention surgery.
Breast Cancer Patient Story
Shortly after registering her marriage, this woman was diagnosed with breast cancer. She and her husband had been visiting travel salons while planning a small overseas wedding and honeymoon, so the diagnosis arrived at what should have been one of the…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer Patient Story
A woman was 38 in June 2007 when her partner felt a large lump in her breast and encouraged her to make a hospital appointment. A mammogram did not show a problem, and the first doctor sounded reassuring, but ultrasound clearly showed the mass. Further…
Read this storyBreast Cancer Patient Story
A woman had already completed chemotherapy and surgery for breast cancer and had returned to work when a 1-year postoperative checkup brought upsetting news: the cancer had spread to lymph nodes. The recurrence did not shock her in the same way as the…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Alba’s Patient Story
Alba, 58, first went to the doctor because of unexplained weight loss. During breast cancer screening, doctors found a painless lump in her right breast, and a biopsy confirmed Stage II breast cancer. She also described physical fatigue during the process…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Amy’s Survivor Story
Amy, 38, was scheduled for a mammogram because of her age when doctors found a tumor in her left breast. She was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer and was told her 5-year survival rate was 90%. The news surprised and confused her, and she felt nervous…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Belsy’s Survivor Story
Belsy, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer more than 3 years after she noticed what felt like a small ball while bathing. She was told the tumor was among the most severe and aggressive forms possible, and the diagnosis made her feel isolated, lonely…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: CL’s Survivor Story
CL, 58, is from Singapore and was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer after noticing suspicious symptoms during a self-examination. She consulted a doctor, then sought a second opinion because she wanted advice from a more experienced doctor. Based on her…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Clara’s Survivor Story
Clara, 48, noticed a small lump on her nipple along with flaky skin on her breast. Those changes led her to seek medical evaluation, and she was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer. The news was frightening and confusing, especially because the diagnosis…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Claritza’s Patient Story
Claritza, 51, is from Colombia and has been living with Stage III breast cancer for more than 3 years. Her early symptoms included frequent fevers, constant headaches, and significant weight loss. After diagnosis, she was told her estimated 5-year survival…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Emilcen’s Patient Story
Emilcen, 58, is from Colombia and was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer after finding a lump in her left breast. She went through mammogram, biopsy, and histochemistry testing before receiving the diagnosis. The news brought fear and worry, and she…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tanya’s Patient Story
Tanya was 47 when a routine mammogram in November 2020 led to a callback for a 3D mammogram. Small calcifications were seen, and biopsy first showed ductal carcinoma. While waiting to meet a surgeon, Tanya followed a friend’s advice and saw a high-risk cancer…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Nikoo’s Patient Story
Nikoo’s first experience with invasive lobular carcinoma began in 2003, when her general practitioner felt hard tissue in her right breast even though she had recently had a clear mammogram. Ultrasound and biopsy found a 0.9 cm lobular breast cancer. She had…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Jeri’s Patient Story
Jeri was a retired oncology registered nurse living near West Chester, Pennsylvania, when an annual mammogram found part of an abnormal-looking lymph node. She had just turned 60 and felt active and well. Biopsy of the lymph node showed invasive lobular…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lisa’s Patient Story
Lisa was living in Kentucky with her husband, 3 sons, and 7 grandchildren when she learned that her invasive lobular carcinoma had returned as metastatic disease. Her first signs had appeared in 2017: an inverted nipple, followed about 6 weeks later by…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kris’s Patient Story
Kris lives in West Central Florida and is a retired closed captioner. Years before her diagnosis, back injuries from a 2013 motor vehicle accident led to lumbar spine MRI imaging. The radiology report raised the possibility of metastatic cancer in the spine…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Leanne’s Patient Story
Leanne was 55 and living on a horse farm in Nova Scotia when she described living with metastatic lobular breast cancer. She had one daughter, one grandson, and a life centered around writing and horses. Her brain metastasis changed that life, making it…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Shay’s Survivor Story
Shay was a few months into age 40 when her focus shifted from planning the next decade to learning how to survive breast cancer. In late September 2019, she felt that something was wrong in her body and went to see her doctor. The diagnosis was lobular breast…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Evelyn’s Patient Story
Evelyn, a 34-year-old Mexican American graduate student in marine biology from Los Angeles, first sensed something unusual in September 2019 when she felt a hard area on the underside of her right breast. It did not feel like the kind of breast lump she had…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kristel’s Survivor Story
Kristel was 38, married with 3 children, and working as a communications director in Wisconsin when she found a breast lump just before Christmas 2018. At her yearly check-up in January, she was sent for a mammogram and ultrasound, but both were read as…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie was 56 and living south of London when she shared her experience with invasive lobular carcinoma. Her primary breast cancer had been diagnosed at 50 after mild pain in her right breast. A mammogram did not show the cancer, and the diagnosis was…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kerri’s Survivor Story
Kerri was 49, living on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, and used to regular mammograms because of a family history of breast cancer. In March 2018, shortly after her yearly mammogram, she received a letter saying the mammogram was clear. Five months…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Chickie’s Patient Story
Chickie was 76, married to her high school sweetheart for 54 years, and living an active retirement-community life in Reno, Nevada, when an annual screening changed everything. In March 2023, she was called back for diagnostic screening and ultrasound, then…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kathy’s Patient Story
Kathy, a recently retired physician with a career in women’s health and pharmaceutical safety research, was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma in 2019. After years of regular mammograms, she had her first 3-D mammogram in August of that year. An…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Beth’s Patient Story
Beth had recently turned 63 when she shared her experience with pleomorphic invasive lobular carcinoma. Her first diagnosis came in 2005, when she was in her early 40s and working in oncology drug sales. The cancer was Stage II pleomorphic ILC with lymph node…
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