Surgery for Breast Cancer: 559 Real Stories

559 stories match breast cancer and surgery. 392 of them mention chemotherapy.

  1. Stage II Breast Cancer: CL’s Survivor Story

    Stage 2 · Chemotherapy · mastectomy

    CL, 58, is from Singapore and was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer after noticing suspicious symptoms during a self-examination. She consulted a doctor, then sought a second opinion because she wanted advice from a more experienced doctor. Based on her…

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  2. Stage I Breast Cancer: Clara’s Survivor Story

    Stage 1 · Chemotherapy · lumpectomy

    Clara, 48, noticed a small lump on her nipple along with flaky skin on her breast. Those changes led her to seek medical evaluation, and she was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer. The news was frightening and confusing, especially because the diagnosis…

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  3. Stage III Breast Cancer: Claritza’s Patient Story

    Stage 3 · Chemotherapy · Immunotherapy

    Claritza, 51, is from Colombia and has been living with Stage III breast cancer for more than 3 years. Her early symptoms included frequent fevers, constant headaches, and significant weight loss. After diagnosis, she was told her estimated 5-year survival…

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  4. Stage III Breast Cancer: Emilcen’s Patient Story

    Stage 3 · Chemotherapy · Immunotherapy

    Emilcen, 58, is from Colombia and was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer after finding a lump in her left breast. She went through mammogram, biopsy, and histochemistry testing before receiving the diagnosis. The news brought fear and worry, and she…

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  5. Stage II Breast Cancer: Alba’s Patient Story

    Stage 2 · Chemotherapy · Hormone Therapy

    Alba, 58, first went to the doctor because of unexplained weight loss. During breast cancer screening, doctors found a painless lump in her right breast, and a biopsy confirmed Stage II breast cancer. She also described physical fatigue during the process…

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  6. Stage I Breast Cancer: Amy’s Survivor Story

    Stage 1 · lumpectomy · Surgery

    Amy, 38, was scheduled for a mammogram because of her age when doctors found a tumor in her left breast. She was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer and was told her 5-year survival rate was 90%. The news surprised and confused her, and she felt nervous…

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  7. Breast Cancer: Belsy’s Survivor Story

    Chemotherapy · lumpectomy

    Belsy, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer more than 3 years after she noticed what felt like a small ball while bathing. She was told the tumor was among the most severe and aggressive forms possible, and the diagnosis made her feel isolated, lonely…

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  8. Stage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Tanya’s Patient Story

    Stage 2 · ER Positive · Chemotherapy · Hormone Therapy

    Tanya was 47 when a routine mammogram in November 2020 led to a callback for a 3D mammogram. Small calcifications were seen, and biopsy first showed ductal carcinoma. While waiting to meet a surgeon, Tanya followed a friend’s advice and saw a high-risk cancer…

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  9. Stage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Nikoo’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ER Positive · Hormone Therapy · lumpectomy

    Nikoo’s first experience with invasive lobular carcinoma began in 2003, when her general practitioner felt hard tissue in her right breast even though she had recently had a clear mammogram. Ultrasound and biopsy found a 0.9 cm lobular breast cancer. She had…

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  10. Stage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Jeri’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ER Positive · Hormone Therapy · Surgery

    Jeri was a retired oncology registered nurse living near West Chester, Pennsylvania, when an annual mammogram found part of an abnormal-looking lymph node. She had just turned 60 and felt active and well. Biopsy of the lymph node showed invasive lobular…

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  11. Stage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lisa’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Hormone Therapy · mastectomy

    Lisa was living in Kentucky with her husband, 3 sons, and 7 grandchildren when she learned that her invasive lobular carcinoma had returned as metastatic disease. Her first signs had appeared in 2017: an inverted nipple, followed about 6 weeks later by…

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  12. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Shay’s Survivor Story

    Surgery

    Shay was a few months into age 40 when her focus shifted from planning the next decade to learning how to survive breast cancer. In late September 2019, she felt that something was wrong in her body and went to see her doctor. The diagnosis was lobular breast…

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  13. Stage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kristel’s Survivor Story

    Stage 2 · mastectomy · Radiation

    Kristel was 38, married with 3 children, and working as a communications director in Wisconsin when she found a breast lump just before Christmas 2018. At her yearly check-up in January, she was sent for a mammogram and ultrasound, but both were read as…

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  14. Stage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · Chemotherapy · Hormone Therapy

    Katie was 56 and living south of London when she shared her experience with invasive lobular carcinoma. Her primary breast cancer had been diagnosed at 50 after mild pain in her right breast. A mammogram did not show the cancer, and the diagnosis was…

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  15. Stage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kerri’s Survivor Story

    Stage 3 · lumpectomy · mastectomy

    Kerri was 49, living on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, and used to regular mammograms because of a family history of breast cancer. In March 2018, shortly after her yearly mammogram, she received a letter saying the mammogram was clear. Five months…

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  16. Stage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Chickie’s Patient Story

    Stage 1 · lumpectomy · Radiation

    Chickie was 76, married to her high school sweetheart for 54 years, and living an active retirement-community life in Reno, Nevada, when an annual screening changed everything. In March 2023, she was called back for diagnostic screening and ultrasound, then…

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  17. Stage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lucy’s Survivor Story

    Stage 3 · Chemotherapy · mastectomy

    Lucy was 47 when she found a pea-sized lump in the outer quadrant of her right breast during a self-exam in 2003. A mammogram and ultrasound did not show cancer, and she was told the lump was a fluid-filled cyst. Over the next 15 months, the area grew to the…

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  18. Stage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Alma’s Patient Story

    Stage 2 · Chemotherapy · Hormone Therapy

    Alma had always been vigilant about breast self-checks and annual mammograms because her mother had been treated for breast cancer. After moving from St. Louis to Australia with her husband and 2 sons, she began having recurring pain on her left side and…

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  19. Stage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Robbie’s Patient Story

    Stage 4 · ER Positive · Chemotherapy · Hormone Therapy

    Robbie first faced breast cancer in early 2012 with Stage 0 DCIS. She then received a second, more serious diagnosis in mid-2013: Stage II estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer on the left side, with a very large tumor. Treatment included major surgery…

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  20. Stage I Breast Cancer: Kevin’s Patient Story

    Stage 1 · Chemotherapy · Genetic Testing

    Kevin Jarvis found 2 small, hard lumps under his left nipple while showering in April 2013. After seeing “male breast cancer” during an online search, he made an appointment with his GP when he returned from a family trip. Ultrasound and biopsy confirmed…

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  21. Stage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Patty’s Patient Story

    Stage 1 · Hormone Therapy · mastectomy

    Patty Schone was 63 when a routine mammogram found an abnormality in her left breast. At first, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, in that breast and was scheduled for a mastectomy. Because Patty had dense breast tissue, her surgeon…

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  22. Stage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Survivor Story

    Stage 4 · capecitabine · Chemotherapy

    An unnamed mother of 4 was 37 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer in December 2010. Her initial treatment included A/C followed by T/Herceptin, then a bilateral mastectomy and 36 radiation treatments. She stayed on Herceptin for about 8…

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  23. Breast Cancer: Genevieve’s Survivor Story

    anastrozole · Chemotherapy

    Genevieve first found breast cancer in 1987, at age 40, after noticing a small hard lump in her right breast. Surgery removed the tumor and lymph nodes while preserving the breast, and pathology showed an aggressive non-hormone-receptive cancer. She received…

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  24. Stage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dwan’s Survivor Story

    Stage 2 · Estrogen Positive · Chemotherapy · lumpectomy

    Dwan Thomas, a chemical engineer, was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in 2017 after noticing something different in her left breast. At her OB/GYN appointment in March, she had a mammogram, ultrasound and breast biopsy. The diagnosis was HER2-negative…

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