Breast Cancer: 732 Real Stories
732 stories match breast cancer. 559 of them mention surgery.
Stage II Breast Cancer: Nicole’s Survivor Story
Nicole Grogan was 44 when a mammogram and biopsy in September 2017 showed Stage II breast cancer. Because she had 2 tumors in the same breast, MSK surgeon Andrea Barrio recommended mastectomy. Nicole chose to remove both breasts and have reconstruction, and…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Jim’s Patient Story
Jim Keegan learned he could have breast cancer only after his wife felt a suspicious lump on his chest in May 2013. Their family doctor ordered a mammogram, which was inconclusive, so Jim had a biopsy the same day. The result was early-stage breast cancer. He…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Michelle’s Survivor Story
Michelle Kang was 27 and thriving in a cancer-care administration career when she felt a lump in her right breast during a trip to South Korea. Doctors there seemed unconcerned, but Michelle trusted her instincts and arranged testing back in New York. Imaging…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany Andrews was 35 when a lump in her right breast led to a diagnosis of Stage II breast cancer. Testing showed HER2-positive disease. She began treatment with 6 rounds of chemotherapy combined with HER2-targeted therapy, then underwent a mastectomy…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Betsy’s Patient Story
Betsy’s breast cancer experience began with dense breast tissue and small calcifications seen on mammography. After repeated surveillance, a large left-breast lump became noticeable in 2016, but two rounds of mammography and ultrasound did not show a clear…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Naomi’s Patient Story
In May 2006, an unnamed patient was 26 weeks pregnant with her younger son when she was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. The diagnosis brought immediate fears about both her own survival and her baby, but a treatment plan helped reduce some of the…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Famke’s Survivor Story
Famke was 39 when she noticed that an area in her right breast felt firmer and had a defined edge. It was not a distinct lump, and she nearly dismissed the accompanying pain after reading that breast pain usually was not a cancer symptom. Her gynecologist…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Tamara’s Patient Story
Tamara Mitchell had already faced other cancers when a routine mammogram in 2019 led to a diagnosis of Stage I breast cancer. She underwent a partial lumpectomy and then received radiation to her left breast. Her breast cancer diagnosis became part of a…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stefanie’s Survivor Story
Stefanie first noticed a breast lump when she was 5 months pregnant and assumed it was a clogged milk duct. The night she delivered her second child by scheduled C-section, a postpartum nurse raised concern about the lump. An ultrasound was inconclusive, so a…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shari’s Patient Story
Shari found a breast lump in December 2015. A mammogram several months later led to a surgical lumpectomy because she had saline implants. The lump was breast cancer, and further staging showed that the triple-positive disease was already metastatic, making…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Renée’s Survivor Story
Renée had already survived acute myeloid leukemia and a bone marrow transplant when she noticed a change in the shape of her left breast at age 35. A dimple appeared, her nipple flattened, and urgent imaging and biopsies found stage 2 breast cancer involving…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy’s Survivor Story
Lucy found a breast lump at 23, months after learning that she carried a germline BRCA1 mutation. Several clinicians thought the area felt like fibrous tissue, but because of her inherited risk she continued with imaging and biopsy. Three days after her 24th…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Survivor Story
Melissa found a growing, painless lump in her left breast while breastfeeding her 1-year-old daughter. Testing confirmed stage 2B triple-negative breast cancer, and she soon learned that she was pregnant with her second child. She was in her late 20s and had…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Alison’s Survivor Story
Alison was 34 and breastfeeding when she found a lump under her right arm. Biopsies confirmed triple-positive breast cancer in the breast and axillary lymph nodes. After HER2 testing returned equivocal 3 times, the final result guided a TCHP regimen…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Wendi’s Survivor Story
During a September bicycling trip, an unnamed patient felt a sudden stabbing pain in the right breast. A biopsy of the painful lump showed Stage II, high-grade, triple-positive breast cancer. The diagnosis was unexpected despite annual mammograms and a…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Jen’s Survivor Story
Jen was 55 when an annual mammogram found calcifications in her right breast. Because she had dense breasts, follow-up included a contrast mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. The first diagnosis was ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. Based on that result, Jen…
Read this storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Rhonda’s Patient Story
In September 2001, Pastor Rhonda Holbert went to a routine medical appointment and underwent a needle biopsy. She was then told she had Stage III inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. She was alone when she received the…
Read this storyInvasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shelby’s Patient Story
Shelby was 34 and 15 weeks pregnant as a first-time surrogate when she felt a sudden lump in her armpit. At first, she thought it might be related to IVF hormones or pregnancy changes. An ultrasound and biopsy instead showed invasive ductal carcinoma, forcing…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Betty’s Patient Story
Betty Jean had survived breast cancer in 2019, but a later episode of back pain changed the course of her life again. While on vacation, she developed pain that seemed like a bad back problem. Imaging instead revealed Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, with…
Read this storyStage I HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Dina’s Patient Story
Dina was preparing for her wedding to Caleb when she felt a lump in her breast and contacted her doctor. The workup moved quickly through several tests, and biopsy confirmed Stage I ER/PR-positive breast cancer. Dina learned the diagnosis on the same day as…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kim’s Survivor Story
Kim Rumpf's triple-negative breast cancer story moved her from nurse and military veteran into the role of patient. Her diagnosis brought both medical urgency and deeply personal decisions, especially around fertility and family planning. Treatment included…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Abigail’s Patient Story
Abigail was 38, running a law firm, and parenting 2 young boys when she found a breast lump while tandem breastfeeding. She also looked back on back and leg pain that she later understood as bone metastases. Because her mother had a history of breast cancer…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Bethany’s Patient Story
Bethany was 33 when a breast lump she had watched for months became impossible to dismiss. Earlier breast lumps in her 20s had turned out to be cysts or swollen lymph nodes, and she had dense breast tissue, so she first assumed this one was benign too. The…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tina’s Patient Story
Tina was 37 when she noticed that her right nipple had become sunken. Because her mother had breast cancer twice, she took the change seriously and saw her OB-GYN. A mammogram first seemed routine, but a call-back led to more imaging, ultrasound, and biopsy…
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