Surgery for Breast Cancer: 559 Real Stories
559 stories match breast cancer and surgery. 392 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Nicole’s Patient Story
Nicole was 42 and working as a fine jewelry designer when a sharp seatbelt-like pain across her chest led her to feel a new breast change. Because she had dense, fibrous breast tissue and a history of cysts, a cyst seemed possible, but her gynecologist was…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Josephine’s Survivor Story
Josephine faced 2 cancer diagnoses before age 40. In 2015, at age 28, she was diagnosed with melanoma. Two years later, breast cancer disrupted the life she and her partner were building around marriage, family plans, and ordinary young-adult freedom. Breast…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Njathi’s breast cancer was found after her delayed 40th-birthday mammogram led to extra imaging in early 2023. At first, she thought the callback was routine for a first mammogram. When the repeat screening focused on one breast and the lymph nodes…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tammy’s Survivor Story
Tammy McDevitt had years of normal mammograms, even though repeated letters warned that dense breast tissue could make cancer harder to detect. In September 2024, her annual screening mammogram at Cleveland Clinic found a subtle abnormality. Follow-up…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Rancik was 31 when chest pain she thought was a pulled muscle led to a Stage II triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis. Her doctor initially dismissed her request for mammography, but she insisted. Three days after biopsy, she was told to gather her…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Basma’s Patient Story
Basma, a 44-year-old mother of 2, learned she had breast cancer after a mammogram showed concerning changes and a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Her name was changed for privacy. She had no family history of breast cancer, and the news affected not only her…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Nikoo’s Patient Story
Nikoo was 42 in 2003 when a normal mammogram missed the cancer her doctor felt during a breast exam. A biopsy confirmed invasive lobular breast cancer, a type that can be difficult to see on standard imaging. The tumor was small, about 0.9 cm, and she was…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Theresa’s Survivor Story
Theresa first faced cancer in 2008, when a painful spot on her lip was biopsied and diagnosed as lip cancer. It was treated with Mohs surgery. Five years later, in 2013, she noticed her left breast looked larger and felt painful. Instead of a typical lump…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Karin’s Patient Story
Karin was first diagnosed with breast cancer on December 4, 2014, after mentioning a swollen breast gland during a visit for a persistent cough. Everything moved quickly. She initially hoped the tumor could simply be removed, but treatment also included…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Angela’s Patient Story
Angela George was 42 when family history led her to take a closer look at her cancer risk. Her father had recently been diagnosed with colon cancer, and several relatives had also had cancer, including her mother and grandmother with breast cancer. In July…
Read this storyInvasive Ductal Carcinoma: Meghan’s Patient Story
Meghan McLyman learned she had ductal carcinoma in situ after her first annual mammogram, shortly after turning 41. A lifelong professional dancer and mother, she was surprised by the diagnosis because health and wellbeing had always been central to her life…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Maria’s Patient Story
Maria first went through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and targeted/endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Surgery showed more lymph-node involvement than expected on PET imaging, and up to 20 lymph nodes were removed. Pathology later showed more cancer in…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Charlotte’s Survivor Story
Charlotte was preparing to retire to a quiet cabin in northwestern Minnesota when breast cancer interrupted the plan. About 2 weeks before her 2024 annual mammogram, she felt pain in her right breast. She had long had an inflamed duct on the left side, so at…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Iris’s Patient Story
Iris Lopez-Mendez first faced breast cancer in 2010 after feeling a lump in her right breast. Mammogram and biopsy confirmed Stage IIA breast cancer, and she was treated with lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. For years afterward, she kept up with…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marissa’s Survivor Story
Marissa Coreno was 27 when she felt a breast lump in June 2021. She was young, healthy, living independently, and had no family history of breast cancer, so she did not expect the lump to be serious. Diagnostic imaging at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Linda’s Patient Story
Linda Norman was approaching her 60th birthday in January 2019 when a routine mammogram found a small mass in her left breast. Biopsy confirmed breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy, then 10 radiation treatments over 2 weeks. Anastrozole caused extreme joint…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Suzy’s Survivor Story
Suzy was a respiratory therapist with 17 years of experience when her own symptoms were dismissed. In late 2022, she noticed a lump under her collarbone and frequent pain in her left breast. A clear mammogram the year before made clinicians less concerned…
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 storyBreast Cancer: Dolly’s Survivor Story
Dolly Chua was living in Makati, Philippines, when she felt a breast lump in the shower in 2019. Mammogram and ultrasound confirmed breast cancer, and she wanted the best treatment she could find even if it meant traveling. Her daughters independently found…
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 storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sara’s Patient Story
Sara Glenn was 38 when she felt a peanut-sized breast lump during a self-exam in summer 2024, while her family was moving from North Carolina to Southern California. Mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy showed a 2 cm grade 1A-1B ER-positive, HER2-negative breast…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Kathy’s Survivor Story
Kathy Baker's cancer story became closely tied to genetic testing after breast cancer and later ovarian cancer changed how she understood family risk. Her family history included a sister diagnosed with breast cancer at 32. Kathy was later diagnosed with…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Queen’s Patient Story
Queen was 31 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer after growing up with a strong family history of the disease. Her mother and aunt had both faced breast cancer, so the diagnosis carried personal and family weight from the beginning. Queen’s story later…
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