Chemotherapy: 963 Real Stories
963 stories match chemotherapy. 777 of them mention surgery.
Stage II Breast Cancer: Erika’s Patient Story
Erika developed painful, sore breasts with small bumps and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The diagnosis was frightening and left her nervous, worried, and overwhelmed. Her initial recommendation included mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Aishah’s Survivor Story
Aishah was 51 when she accepted a free mammogram offered through her workplace. The test unexpectedly found a breast lump, and her GP referred her to hospital. She was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and also experienced irritation of the breast skin…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Barsha’s Survivor Story
Barsha was 69 when she felt a suspicious lump in her left breast during an oil massage. She sensed that something was wrong and sought medical assessment. After being diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, she obtained a second opinion from a more experienced…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Camila’s Survivor Story
Camila was 43 when she felt a breast lump while breastfeeding. Her gynecologist initially thought it might be caused by clogged milk ducts, but further testing showed stage 2 breast cancer. The diagnosis left her nervous, worried and powerless, especially as…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Cheryl’s Survivor Story
Cheryl was 66 and had no symptoms when a mammogram unexpectedly found an abnormality. Further assessment at a breast clinic confirmed stage 1 breast cancer. The news left her withdrawn, disappointed and confused, even though the cancer had been found early…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Sharon’s Patient Story
Sharon Schneider was diagnosed with a rare ALK-positive lung cancer in April 2017. She had previously completed 7 half marathons along with several 15K and 5K races, but cancer treatment and blood clots in her brain forced her to stop running. Later that…
Read this storyStage III KRAS Lung Cancer: Bill’s Survivor Story
Bill Morris was diagnosed in 2021 with Stage IIIB KRAS G12D lung cancer after 9 months of misdiagnosis. His treatment included 10 rounds of chemotherapy, 30 rounds of radiation, and 10 months in an immunotherapy clinical trial. During the same period, his…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Angie’s Patient Story
Angie Brice Hessbruegge was 37 and raising 2 young children when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in May 2019. She had never smoked. Her daughter was 6 and her son was 4, and Angie quickly learned that cancer affected the whole household. She spoke…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Bob’s Patient Story
Bob Neary was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2012 at age 63. He underwent radiation and chemotherapy, but died from the disease 7 months later in February 2013. His father had also died from lung cancer at the same age. Bob was a husband, father…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Carla’s Patient Story
Carla lived with lung cancer that repeatedly developed resistance to treatment. For long periods, her symptoms were limited mainly to coughing and manageable fatigue. In January 2015, while taking third-line afatinib, she married Bud and moved to Manila to…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Lyn’s Patient Story
Lyn Smith’s lung-cancer diagnosis forced her to confront mortality, stigma, and a major change in her role within the family. She had spent much of her life caring for other people, including her 4 adult daughters, and initially found it difficult to let…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Katherine’s Patient Story
Katherine “Kat” Adelufosi initially dismissed a lingering illness, but symptoms persisted for weeks and led to tests and scans. On October 24, she learned that she had Stage IV lung cancer. The diagnosis was especially unexpected because she had never smoked…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Mary’s Patient Story
Mary Lynn Moser lived through 15 years of cancer, including 5 years with breast cancer and nearly 10 years with lung cancer. A radiologist noticed a lung spot while reading a mammogram, allowing the lung cancer to be detected at Stage III rather than after…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ericka’s Survivor Story
Ericka was 41 and had considered herself completely healthy when breast cancer interrupted her life. Treatment included chemotherapy and radiation, and she also faced the loss of one breast. When active treatment ended, the emotional impact became especially…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Anne’s Survivor Story
Anne was 11 weeks pregnant with her third child when she was diagnosed on June 11, 2022, with Stage III poorly differentiated metaplastic triple-negative breast cancer. She was building a career in pediatric surgery and expecting a son after two daughters…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Kattysmith’s Patient Story
Kattysmith was first diagnosed with borderline Stage I/II breast cancer in 2003, shortly before turning 51. She underwent lumpectomy with sentinel-node biopsy, which showed no spread, followed by radiation and tamoxifen. After years of follow-up, breast…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Naomi’s Patient Story
Naomi was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2024 while raising two children, ages six and eight. Chemotherapy caused rapid hair and weight loss, and she wore a wig because her children were frightened by how ill she looked. A mastectomy brought both…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Adriana’s Survivor Story
Adriana was 34 and living in Israel when she noticed a breast lump. As a doctor with a strong awareness of her family history, she recognized that the mammogram looked concerning. She flew to Brazil the next morning because she could obtain a biopsy more…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Ann’s Patient Story
Ann was diagnosed in February 2017 with two large ER-positive, HER2-negative invasive lobular cancers in her right breast. The tumors had not been felt and had not appeared on mammograms, and cancer was found in 17 lymph nodes. She underwent right mastectomy…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Jenna’s Patient Story
Jenna was 34 and pregnant when she found a breast lump that she initially thought was a clogged milk duct. Ultrasound and an urgent biopsy confirmed breast cancer with spread to lymph nodes. A second opinion agreed that treatment needed to begin quickly…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Suzi’s Patient Story
Suzi found a painful lump in the lower part of her left breast during a self-check at the end of April 2024. She had long believed that painful lumps were unlikely to be cancer, but a mammogram, breast scan, and guided biopsy confirmed carcinoma. The…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Susan’s Survivor Story
Susan was 59 when a routine mammogram found breast cancer despite there being no lump or other warning sign. In the first days after diagnosis, she struggled to believe that cancer had entered her life so abruptly. Fear shaped how she thought about survival…
Read this storyThe Pervasive Stigma Associated With Lung Cancer
In February 2021, an emergency evaluation for a possible abdominal problem unexpectedly found a mass in the upper lobe of the right lung. Further testing led to a diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer adenocarcinoma. Tumor testing identified an EGFR exon 19…
Read this storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: Nina’s Patient Story
Nina was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in early 2014. She began standard chemotherapy and radiation and continued through about 14 months of treatment. The treatments caused side effects, including hearing loss, and eventually stopped controlling the…
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