Stage 3 Breast Cancer: 97 Real Stories
97 stories match breast cancer and stage 3. 82 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Stacy’s Survivor Story
Stacy had received regular mammograms since age 40 and was repeatedly told the results were clear. Dense breast tissue was noted, and automated whole-breast ultrasound was recommended only once. During a 2023 examination, her gynecologist felt that one breast…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Maria’s Patient Story
Maria first noticed a painful breast lump and thought it might be a cyst related to a previous surgery. Over time, the symptoms became harder to ignore. She described dimpling, darkening, burning sensations, redness, and a lump large enough to show through a…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Paula’s Survivor Story
Paula Jones was 43 when a routine mammogram in February 2010 found a small spot in her left breast that she could not feel and her doctor could not detect by exam. Because she had lost her mother to breast cancer at age 7, Paula had started screening in her…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lynn’s Survivor Story
Lynn Leiro was 36 when back pain, fatigue and then a lump in her armpit led to a Stage IIIC triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2022. Imaging showed five breast tumors and a swollen lymph node; a later CT scan found more cancerous lymph nodes in her…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Courtney’s Patient Story
Courtney was 37 and pregnant with her 3rd child when she first found a lump in her left breast in February 2022. Ultrasound showed a 5 mm hypoechoic mass that was considered probably benign, and mammogram did not show it because of dense breast tissue. She…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tanya’s Patient Story
Tanya was 44 when she was diagnosed in 2016 with Stage IIIA invasive lobular carcinoma in her left breast. She had noticed a painful lump for about 1 year, but her first concern was dismissed because she had no family history and was told breast cancer was…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Christine’s Survivor Story
Christine was 31 when she noticed a visible divot and a large, hard, immovable lump in her breast. Imaging and biopsy confirmed stage 3 triple-positive breast cancer. MRI measured the tumor at nearly 8 cm and showed at least 2 involved lymph nodes, with 4…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie, a nurse in Cleveland, was 38 when she was diagnosed with Stage III invasive lobular carcinoma in March 2024. She had been referred to a high-risk breast clinic because her mother and 2 sisters had developed breast cancer, but her first mammogram and…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 33 when she folded her arms and felt a golf ball-sized lump near her left armpit. She had no family history of breast cancer and did not test positive for an inherited gene mutation, but imaging and biopsy confirmed triple-negative breast cancer…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Liz’s Patient Story
Dr. Liz O'Riordan, a breast surgeon, was diagnosed at 40 in 2015 with Stage III mixed ductal and lobular breast cancer. Her cancer was not seen on mammogram; it was found on ultrasound and MRI. She received chemotherapy first, and her final MRI appeared…
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 storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Harvey’s Patient Story
Aileen tells the story of her husband Harvey, who was 59 when he was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. Harvey first noticed a lump in summer 2022 but thought it was probably another lipoma. In early 2023, he hit the right side of his…
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 III Breast Cancer: Susana’s Patient Story
Susana’s breast cancer was found after a mammogram was moved forward when she raised concerns about changes while breastfeeding her 2-year-old child. Imaging revealed a 4.5 cm breast mass and 3 affected lymph nodes, leading to a Stage III breast cancer…
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 storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Nikki’s Patient Story
Nikki, a 47-year-old mother and teacher, had already survived a rare cancer before her breast cancer diagnosis. In 2016, while breastfeeding her long-awaited son, a doctor reviewed years of bowel and IBS-like complaints and investigated further. That workup…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Nikki’s Patient Story
Nikki first noticed sharp pain around her right nipple in August 2022. Because there was no lump and she had been told that cancer usually did not hurt, she attributed it to menopause. By late November, her nipple had become completely inverted. A biopsy and…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Neda’s Survivor Story
Neda was 48 and living in Seattle when her breast cancer journey began. In April 2020, she felt a large lump in her left breast. Mammography and ultrasound did not show cancer, and she received a letter noting dense breast tissue and recommending another…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Sarah’s Patient Story
Sarah McDonald was 44 and pursuing fertility treatment with her husband when she received 2 unrelated cancer diagnoses within 2 months. The first was incurable salivary gland cancer, found after she noticed a lump in the floor of her mouth after a deep teeth…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sarah’s Survivor Story
Sarah McDonald was 44 when she was diagnosed with 2 unrelated cancers within 2 months. Surgery for a rare salivary gland cancer prompted her to re-examine a breast lump first noticed 6 years earlier. Annual mammograms had not shown a clear problem because she…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Christine’s Survivor Story
Christine Elliott was 31 when she noticed a large, hard, fixed breast lump while lying in bed. She had also felt tired, pale, stressed, and increasingly anxious, but the visible divot and the lump made her seek care. Imaging, biopsy, and MRI showed Stage III…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Jodi’s Patient Story
Jodi found a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in September 2023. The news left her feeling empty and vulnerable, especially because she had already lost her mother to cancer, but she also felt determined. Jodi underwent a…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Diana’s Patient Story
Diana, 44, is from Colombia, has 2 children, and works in accounting as a financial technologist. She was being monitored for a lump in her left breast that was first biopsied and considered benign. Two years later, the lump worsened, and she also developed…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Margaret’s Patient Story
Margaret, a mother of two from Ireland, noticed a large breast lump that appeared almost overnight, together with itching. She was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. Although the news was difficult, she tried to remain optimistic and hopeful. Her…
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