Surveillance for Breast Cancer: 42 Real Stories
42 stories match breast cancer and surveillance. 41 of them mention surgery.
Stage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Nahilys’s Patient Story
Nahilys had previously experienced thyroid cancer when, one year later, she was diagnosed with stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer. A niece had also had breast cancer. Nahilys sought a second opinion from a more experienced doctor and approached the new…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Jasmin’s Patient Story
Jasmin Nussing was 26, living alone, and attending technical school when breast cancer was diagnosed at the end of 2012. Her first symptom was repeated greenish fluid from the breast. Her gynecologist examined her and performed ultrasound, while mammography…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Waltraud’s Survivor Story
Waltraud Amann was a single mother of a 15-year-old son when breast cancer was diagnosed in 1995. She had felt a lump in her right breast and immediately suspected something malignant. Her gynecologist confirmed the concern, and Waltraud went into the…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Susanne’s Survivor Story
Susanne Ricke was 61 when breast cancer was found during routine mammography screening in 2022. She had kept up with screening because breast cancer had affected both her mother and sister, and because she had already gone through treatment for a malignant…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ulrike’s Survivor Story
Ulrike Blessinger was 40 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer was already familiar in her family, so she had thought about the subject before, but the diagnosis still changed her life. She found some comfort in having choices and a clear…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Béatrice’s Survivor Story
Béatrice’s breast cancer was found very early, when the tumor was described as only 2 mm. Because it was detected at such a small size, her treatment path was different from many longer breast cancer journeys. She had a mastectomy with immediate…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma Survivor Story
A 59-year-old woman was diagnosed in July 2018 with hormone-dependent, grade II bifocal invasive lobular breast cancer. The cancer involved 2 nodules, one measuring 18 mm and the other 15 mm. After several oncology visits, she decided not to follow the…
Read this storyBreast Cancer Survivor Story
A man treated for breast cancer had already lived more than 10 years after his first surgery. During that long follow-up period, doctors sometimes found areas suspicious enough to require detailed tissue testing, but the most recent 6-month check-up showed no…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Kevin’s Patient Story
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…
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: 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 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 storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Margaret’s Survivor Story
Margaret’s Stage II breast cancer involved both invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ. She first noticed left-breast pain and an inverted nipple. Mammogram and biopsy led to diagnosis, followed by rapid decisions about surgery, scans…
Read this storyStage 0 HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Natalie’s Survivor Story
Natalie found a lump in her right breast after nursing her third child. Mammogram and ultrasound did not explain what she could still feel, so she pushed for a specialist. After 6 months of watching the area, she had a lumpectomy, and pathology showed Stage 0…
Read this storyStage II BRCA1 Breast Cancer: Joy’s Survivor Story
Joy began checking her breasts after a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, and that habit helped her notice a lump. A private clinic performed ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy, and the doctor was confident it was breast cancer even before the biopsy…
Read this storyBRCA2 Breast Cancer: Erika’s Patient Story
Erika was in college when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time and tested positive for a BRCA2 mutation. Years later, as Erika approached the age her mother had been at her first breast cancer diagnosis, she met with a genetic…
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 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 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 storyStage I Breast Cancer: Krista’s Patient Story
Krista’s breast cancer journey began with her mother’s history. Her mother had breast cancer twice and later learned she carried a pathogenic ATM mutation. After her mother died, Krista chose genetic testing and found that she carried the same mutation…
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