Stage III Breast Cancer: Sarah's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage III
- Biomarkers
- Estrogen/progesterone-sensitive breast cancer mentioned; exact receptor labels not reported
- Sex
- Female
- Treatment
- chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy and fertility treatment
- Outcome
- Care Ongoing
Treatment course, step by step
- First diagnosis was incurable salivary gland cancer after a lump in the floor of the mouth; treatment details for that cancer were not specified
- Two months later, Stage III breast cancer was diagnosed after repeat biopsy of a long-standing breast lump
- Breast treatment included chemotherapy that broke down the tumor
- Tumor-removal surgery was done twice, but surgery details were not specified
- Radiation followed, with planned hormone therapy for 10 years to suppress estrogen and progesterone
- Hormone therapy was later paused for IVF based on new research, and she delivered a daughter at age 48.
What happened, in summary
Sarah McDonald was 44 and pursuing fertility treatment with her husband when she received 2 unrelated cancer diagnoses within 2 months. The first was incurable salivary gland cancer, found after she noticed a lump in the floor of her mouth after a deep teeth cleaning. That diagnosis pushed her to re-examine a breast lump she had found 6 years earlier. Her OB-GYN had sent her for a mammogram and biopsy at the time, and she had been told it was not cancer. After the salivary gland diagnosis, Sarah pushed for another biopsy of the breast lump. This time, she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. Her breast oncologist explained that after about 1 year of breast cancer treatment, Sarah would need hormone therapy for 10 years to suppress estrogen and progesterone that were feeding the cancer. That meant pregnancy might no longer be possible. She went through chemotherapy, and her oncologist later told her the chemo was doing what it needed to do and the tumor was breaking down. The tumor was removed twice, radiation followed, and eventually her oncologist felt the breast cancer treatment had reached a good point. Later, new research allowed Sarah to pause hormone therapy for IVF. As of June 2023, she had delivered her daughter at 48 and was using her story to help people talk more openly about cancer.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by The Patient Story. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer