Stage III Breast Cancer: Pearline's Patient Story

What happened, in summary

Pearline, from New Zealand, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in 2023 after a routine mammogram found a suspicious area and a core needle biopsy confirmed cancer. Her surgeon told her that the estimated 5-year survival rate was 44%. A few months earlier, she had also been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease, a form of arthritis. Her doctors discussed several treatment options, including breast surgery, lymph-node surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy. Pearline underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by surgery to remove axillary lymph nodes. At that point, she was still receiving chemotherapy. Her doctors had proposed a new stage of 3C, but the restaging had not yet been finalized. Planned travel had been postponed until the following year, and she hoped to travel with loved ones and watch them grow and become settled in life. Pearline also described isolation, sadness, and difficulty finding trusted people with whom to share her experience. She encouraged patients to ask questions and bring a trusted person to appointments to help raise difficult issues.