Radiation for Breast Cancer: 373 Real Stories
373 stories match breast cancer and radiation. 346 of them mention surgery.
Stage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Jessica’s Patient Story
Jessica, a pediatrician in Houston, was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma at 43. In early 2024, she had menstrual changes and left nipple pain, and her primary care doctor ordered blood work, a mammogram, and diagnostic ultrasound. A March 25…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer at 22 in March 2019 after pain in her left breast led her to feel a lump. Initial reassurance and antibiotics did not help. A biopsy confirmed breast cancer, and her surgeon also biopsied a suspicious lymph…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Kelsey’s Patient Story
Kelsey Harrison was diagnosed with Stage II estrogen-positive breast cancer at age 27 after noticing a tender lump during a yoga session. Imaging showed a large tumor, about 5 cm, and abnormal lymph nodes. She had no known family history or genetic…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lizzie’s Survivor Story
In October 2020, Lizzie noticed an area in her right breast that felt similar to the dense tissue she had felt before, but this time it did not change with her monthly cycle. Her routine screening had been delayed during COVID, leaving 19 months between…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Melissa’s Patient Story
Melissa Adams noticed a persistent abnormal area in her right breast in 2017 while finishing a graduate degree in planetary geology. Ultrasound, mammography, and biopsy led to a diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma. Because the tumor was large, she…
Read this storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Katrece’s Patient Story
Katrece Nolen was diagnosed with Stage III inflammatory breast cancer in February 2013. Her first sign was that one breast looked slightly larger than the other. A doctor found swelling and warmth but no lump and initially treated her for possible mastitis. A…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Samantha’s Survivor Story
Samantha Salway was 34 and 14 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in January 2023. She already had 2 young children and had recently completed a 10K and a half marathon. The first questions she and her husband asked were…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Catherine’s Survivor Story
Catherine was 45 when she shared her experience of living after metastatic breast cancer. She first had breast cancer in 2016. In 2019, she had a recurrence with a tumor located near the cerebellum, placing her story in the metastatic breast cancer setting…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dorian’s Survivor Story
Dorian de Salvo was active, working out 5 to 6 times a week, when she began gaining weight without a clear reason. One doctor dismissed her concerns, but another ran blood work that suggested something could be wrong. While traveling for work, Dorian found a…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Loriana’s Survivor Story
Loriana was a high-profile news anchor in Austin, Texas, doing national fitness and medical stories when her own health changed. While trying to have a second baby, she dismissed warning signs and was misdiagnosed twice before using professional connections…
Read this storyStage I Breast Adenocarcinoma: Debbie’s Survivor Story
Debbie Wade had abnormal nipple discharge for almost 4 years before her Stage I breast cancer diagnosis. Starting in 2017, she noticed blood-tinged fluid from her left breast. Biopsy showed intraductal papillomas, and a surgeon removed them, but discharge…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Dena’s Patient Story
Dena Ofengeim was 28 in December 2021 when worsening back pain and leg weakness sent her to the emergency room. Imaging found a mass pressing on the nerves of her spine. Surgery removed the mass, and a biopsy showed that it was breast cancer that had spread…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Sally’s Survivor Story
In 2013, Sally Johnston was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer after her primary care provider found a lump near her clavicle. A biopsy confirmed breast cancer involving lymph nodes. The cancer was estrogen receptor-positive. Sally began treatment with an…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Gail’s Patient Story
Gail, 65, is a mother of 2 from the United Kingdom who works in administration. In August 2024, she was diagnosed with Stage III luminal A breast cancer after feeling a lump in her breast that did not go away after a few weeks. She was surprised by the…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Chantal’s Survivor Story
Chantal was 24 and already knew she carried a BRCA1 mutation when she felt a sudden painful lump during a beach trip. Just 1 month earlier, her preventive MRI had looked normal. Because the lump was visible and clearly new, she sought testing quickly. Biopsy…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Brenda’s Survivor Story
Brenda first found a breast lump in 2017, when she was in her early 40s. She was told it was a cyst, while an area of calcification seen on mammography was monitored every 6 months for the next 5 years. During a mammogram in May 2022, the area believed to be…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Olivia’s Survivor Story
Olivia Franz was 27 and breastfeeding her 4-month-old son when she noticed a painless lump in her left breast in mid-October 2020. An initial ultrasound suggested mastitis, but the lump and swelling grew during a week of antibiotics. A second ultrasound and…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Leigh’s Patient Story
Leigh was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma in 2011. She was shocked to learn that the cancer could be difficult to see on mammograms and biologically different from the more common ductal subtype, yet did not have a separate treatment approach. With…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: April’s Patient Story
April Donaldson was 40 when she found 4 lumps along the side of her left breast in January 2020, only months after a normal mammogram. Around the same time, she received genetic testing results showing she was BRCA1 positive. Biopsy confirmed triple-negative…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Thomas was 33 when she felt a lump in her left breast. She had no breast cancer history in her family and had checked her breasts regularly, so the finding was frightening. Imaging and biopsy confirmed breast cancer, and her breast surgeon told her…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Susan’s Patient Story
Susan was 72 when she shared a long history with breast cancer. Her first diagnosis began in 2000, when her husband, a physician, felt a small hard lump in her left breast. A fine needle aspiration missed the cancer 3 times, but surgical removal showed the…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Susan’s Survivor Story
Susan was 72 when she shared a breast cancer history spanning more than 20 years. Her first diagnosis began when she was 50 and her husband, a physician, felt a hard pea-sized lump in her left breast. A fine needle aspiration incorrectly came back negative…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Megan’s Survivor Story
Megan-Claire Chase was diagnosed with Stage II invasive lobular breast cancer after symptoms such as green bruises, brittle hair, sudden weight gain, and a left-breast mass. Her doctors later believed the cancer may have been growing for 8 to 10 years and had…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Megan-Claire’s Survivor Story
Megan-Claire Chase was 39 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIA invasive lobular breast cancer. Years before diagnosis, she had a strong family history of cancer and was already watching her body closely. A preventive mammogram at 35 was read as clear, but…
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