Surgery for Breast Cancer: 559 Real Stories
559 stories match breast cancer and surgery. 392 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Roxanne’s Survivor Story
Roxanne, from Anchorage, Alaska, was 36 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma in April 2024. The first clue came the previous summer, when her boyfriend noticed a bump in the right breast. She saw her primary care doctor in…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Vanessa’s Survivor Story
Vanessa Cuccurullo’s Stage I breast cancer story is centered on the long stretch between diagnosis, surgery, reconstruction, and the first clear follow-up. Her age, biomarker status, and exact surgery type were not shared, but her experience was shaped by…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer Survivor Story
This unnamed woman describes life after an early breast cancer diagnosis treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The cancer was identified as Stage I breast cancer, but biomarkers, surgery type, chemotherapy drugs, and radiation details were not…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Michele’s Survivor Story
Michele Adams, a Breastcancer.org community member from Tabernacle, New Jersey, describes breast cancer as an experience that unexpectedly changed the direction of her life. Her age, stage, biomarkers, and whether she received chemotherapy, radiation, or…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Karen’s Survivor Story
Karen Powell is an oncology nurse practitioner and menopause specialist who became a breast cancer patient at 39. She was also a mother of 4, with children ages 9, 8-year-old twins, and 3. Karen found the lump by chance when she brushed her hand across it…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Cher’s Survivor Story
Cher first noticed a sore lump under her arm after recovering from COVID and thought it might be a swollen lymph node. When it grew larger and more painful, she went for evaluation. Ultrasound and lymph-node biopsy showed breast cancer, but imaging still…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Amy’s Survivor Story
Amy Mannarino was first diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer in November 2014 after a routine mammogram. She had a lumpectomy at MSK Commack, then started tamoxifen because chemotherapy was not expected to work well for her type and stage of cancer. Tamoxifen…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Nicole’s Survivor Story
Nicole Grogan was 44 when a mammogram and biopsy in September 2017 showed Stage II breast cancer. Because she had 2 tumors in the same breast, MSK surgeon Andrea Barrio recommended mastectomy. Nicole chose to remove both breasts and have reconstruction, and…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Jim’s Patient Story
Jim Keegan learned he could have breast cancer only after his wife felt a suspicious lump on his chest in May 2013. Their family doctor ordered a mammogram, which was inconclusive, so Jim had a biopsy the same day. The result was early-stage breast cancer. He…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Michelle’s Survivor Story
Michelle Kang was 27 and thriving in a cancer-care administration career when she felt a lump in her right breast during a trip to South Korea. Doctors there seemed unconcerned, but Michelle trusted her instincts and arranged testing back in New York. Imaging…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Valerie’s Survivor Story
Valerie Hamilton was 56 when she was diagnosed with locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer. The tumor was large, and doctors outside MSK had told her she would need a mastectomy. That possibility felt overwhelming: Valerie loved her body and worried…
Read this storyStage II BRCA2 Breast Cancer: Rachel’s Patient Story
Rachel Zitofsky was 38 when she noticed a lump and was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. She went to MSK Commack and met with a breast surgeon to plan treatment. MRI showed additional suspicious areas in her…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Jill’s Survivor Story
Jill was diagnosed with Stage I invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast in spring 2016. After more than 20 years working on Wall Street, she approached treatment by gathering information and making decisions quickly. Her MSK breast surgeon reviewed her…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Eutha’s Survivor Story
Eutha Prince was diagnosed with Stage II invasive ductal and lobular breast carcinoma in 2012 after a suspicious finding on her yearly mammogram led to ultrasound and biopsy. Her tumor was estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-positive and…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Rosanna’s Survivor Story
Rosanna Silber was 31, finishing a doctorate in nursing and planning her wedding, when she noticed a pea-sized lump in her left breast. A local doctor thought it was likely a benign cyst, but Rosanna knew her body and pushed for more testing after returning…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany Andrews was 35 when a lump in her right breast led to a diagnosis of Stage II breast cancer. Testing showed HER2-positive disease. She began treatment with 6 rounds of chemotherapy combined with HER2-targeted therapy, then underwent a mastectomy…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Betsy’s Patient Story
Betsy’s breast cancer experience began with dense breast tissue and small calcifications seen on mammography. After repeated surveillance, a large left-breast lump became noticeable in 2016, but two rounds of mammography and ultrasound did not show a clear…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Naomi’s Patient Story
In May 2006, an unnamed patient was 26 weeks pregnant with her younger son when she was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. The diagnosis brought immediate fears about both her own survival and her baby, but a treatment plan helped reduce some of the…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Famke’s Survivor Story
Famke was 39 when she noticed that an area in her right breast felt firmer and had a defined edge. It was not a distinct lump, and she nearly dismissed the accompanying pain after reading that breast pain usually was not a cancer symptom. Her gynecologist…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Tamara’s Patient Story
Tamara Mitchell had already faced other cancers when a routine mammogram in 2019 led to a diagnosis of Stage I breast cancer. She underwent a partial lumpectomy and then received radiation to her left breast. Her breast cancer diagnosis became part of a…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Survivor Story
Melissa found a growing, painless lump in her left breast while breastfeeding her 1-year-old daughter. Testing confirmed stage 2B triple-negative breast cancer, and she soon learned that she was pregnant with her second child. She was in her late 20s and had…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Alison’s Survivor Story
Alison was 34 and breastfeeding when she found a lump under her right arm. Biopsies confirmed triple-positive breast cancer in the breast and axillary lymph nodes. After HER2 testing returned equivocal 3 times, the final result guided a TCHP regimen…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stefanie’s Survivor Story
Stefanie first noticed a breast lump when she was 5 months pregnant and assumed it was a clogged milk duct. The night she delivered her second child by scheduled C-section, a postpartum nurse raised concern about the lump. An ultrasound was inconclusive, so a…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shari’s Patient Story
Shari found a breast lump in December 2015. A mammogram several months later led to a surgical lumpectomy because she had saline implants. The lump was breast cancer, and further staging showed that the triple-positive disease was already metastatic, making…
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