Radiation for Breast Cancer: 373 Real Stories
373 stories match breast cancer and radiation. 346 of them mention surgery.
Stage II HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Doreen’s Patient Story
Doreen was diagnosed with Stage IIA triple-positive invasive ductal breast cancer after finding a lump in her left breast during a work trip. Getting the right imaging took persistence: after several calls and one wrong order, she finally had the correct…
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…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Margaret’s Survivor Story
Margaret’s Stage II breast cancer involved both invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ. She first noticed left-breast pain and an inverted nipple. Mammogram and biopsy led to diagnosis, followed by rapid decisions about surgery, scans…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Monica’s Survivor Story
Monica was 36 when she felt a firm knot in her breast while working on shoulder strength after unrelated injuries. Imaging quickly raised concern, and a surgical biopsy led to a Stage IIB breast cancer diagnosis on November 2. Her doctors wanted chemotherapy…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Genoa’s Survivor Story
Genoa was living the life she wanted when a subtle but persistent feeling of nausea made her think something was wrong. She was already due for a mammogram, and her OB-GYN also ordered a breast MRI because of her family history of breast cancer. The MRI…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Renee’s Patient Story
Renee first found a hard, painful breast area after playing with her children. Her family doctor quickly suspected breast cancer, and testing showed Stage III disease. The first plan was chemotherapy before surgery, with the hope that she might be able to…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Andrea’s Survivor Story
Andrea was pregnant and around 30 weeks along when she mentioned a divot in her breast at an OB-GYN visit. A same-day breast center evaluation led to biopsy of both the breast and lymph nodes, and she soon learned she had breast cancer. Her story describes…
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 IV Breast Cancer Patient Story
The patient was 41, active in bodybuilding, and up to date on mammograms when she first noticed blood from her nipple rather than a breast lump. After the bleeding stopped, she was initially sent home. About 1 month later, she developed a large breast lump…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Gynna’s Patient Story
Gynna, who lives in Colombia, first noticed a small breast lump in 2017, but doctors were not initially worried. After she recovered from COVID-19 in January 2021, the lump felt different and much larger. Her doctor sent her for a biopsy, and 7 tissue samples…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha was 22 when she noticed a breast lump in 2019. Because she was so young, doctors first considered causes such as a cyst or infection, but biopsy eventually confirmed breast cancer. Further testing found cancer in her rib and lymph nodes, making it…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Maralee’s Survivor Story
Maralee Lellio was 28 when she noticed a breast lump in 2018. A first evaluation called it a benign fibroadenoma, but the lump grew and became painful. Further mammogram and biopsy showed Stage II breast cancer. Before treatment, Maralee and her husband froze…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Joelle’s Patient Story
Joelle was 36 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV hormone-positive breast cancer. Some warning signs appeared around pregnancy and postpartum life: severe nausea during pregnancy, milk never coming in from the right breast, intermittent right nipple…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Erica’s Patient Story
Erica was 41, active, and working as a P.E. teacher when breast cancer became part of her daily life again. Her first diagnosis was Stage I hormone-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. She completed chemotherapy in February 2025 and had a double mastectomy…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Liz’s Survivor Story
Dr. Liz O’Riordan had spent 20 years treating breast cancer patients, but at 40 she became a patient herself. After a shower, she noticed a lump in her left cleavage and assumed it was a cyst. Her mammogram was normal, but ultrasound showed cancer. The…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Marina’s Survivor Story
Marina was 31 and had just qualified for the Boston Marathon when she noticed a daily ache in her breast. Her mother had survived breast cancer twice and was known to carry a BRCA1 mutation, so Marina already understood that breast cancer could run in her…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Christina’s Patient Story
Christina spent months feeling that something was wrong. In January 2024, she felt as if she had a cold, with swelling around her neck and head. The problem worsened, and she repeatedly told her doctor she felt seriously ill. She later learned that the…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Jacqueline’s Patient Story
Jacqueline Bennett first noticed a breast lump months before diagnosis, but several doctors dismissed it as mastitis. In June 2017, shortly after learning she was pregnant again, a new OB/GYN sent her for ultrasound and biopsy. The biopsy confirmed breast…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Caroline’s Patient Story
Caroline McNally was 30 when a lump under her arm and breast changed quickly enough to make her push for urgent evaluation. Within 3 days, the skin around the lump looked grey and bruised, and she knew it was more than something harmless. Her gynecologist…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Chase’s Survivor Story
Chase Johnson was 36 when her dog, Cato, helped draw attention to a breast lump. In 2021, after Cato repeatedly acted anxious around her and pressed his snout against the side of her breast, Chase checked the area and found the lump that led to a Stage IIB…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tamra’s Patient Story
Tamra, a registered nurse and care coordinator in Cleveland, was diagnosed with Stage II invasive lobular breast cancer on September 24, 2024, after her yearly mammogram. She did not have the usual warning signs such as a lump, breast thickening, or dimpling…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Sonja’s Patient Story
Sonja Rideout was diagnosed on October 19, 2022, with Stage II HER2-positive breast cancer after ultrasound and biopsy of a 2-inch breast mass. Her treatment began with 4 months of chemotherapy, followed by a total mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sian’s Survivor Story
Before a routine mammogram in July 2012, Sian Bevans noticed a lump in her left breast. Ultrasound and biopsy confirmed that the lump was related to fibrocystic breast changes, but the mammogram also showed calcifications in her right breast. Sian delayed the…
Read this storyStage I HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Erica’s Survivor Story
Erica was 46 when a routine mammogram changed the course of her life. She had delayed screening in her early 40s because of procedural anxiety, but after encouragement from her doctor and a close friend, she began annual mammograms. Her 2022, 2023, and 2024…
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