Chemotherapy: 963 Real Stories
963 stories match chemotherapy. 777 of them mention surgery.
Stage II Colorectal Cancer: Tracy’s Survivor Story
Tracy was 41 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB colorectal cancer. She had lived with digestive problems for years, including bloating, inflammation, and intermittent bleeding that was often attributed to irritable bowel syndrome or hemorrhoids. During a…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lindy’s Patient Story
Lindy was 34 and 2 months postpartum when she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. During pregnancy, she had severe abdominal pain, bowel changes, blood in her stool, and major discomfort, but she thought the symptoms were part of pregnancy. The cancer…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shayla’s Patient Story
Shayla was 33 when she was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer. For years, she had unexplained digestive issues, exhaustion, food intolerance, and stomach sensitivity. She saw gastroenterologists and was diagnosed with celiac disease, but cutting out…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Eugenia’s Patient Story
Eugenia Horan was 46 when she was diagnosed with poorly differentiated non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms began after what seemed like a cold or flu in late 2018, followed by chest tightness, coughing blood, weight loss, and a racing pulse. Her concerns…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Scott’s Survivor Story
Scott was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer in July 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The cancer was found after a routine physical showed blood in his stool. A colonoscopy the next month revealed a tumor in his rectum, even though he had not…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Nicola’s Survivor Story
Nicola, a mother and anesthetic technician, first noticed rectal bleeding. Doctors initially thought it was hemorrhoids, but a colonoscopy found a 4-cm colorectal tumor. She had surgery just before Christmas, and pathology showed that 4 lymph nodes contained…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Scott’s Survivor Story
Scott had no noticeable bowel symptoms when a routine annual physical found blood in his stool. A colonoscopy then identified a rectal tumor and led to a stage 3 rectal cancer diagnosis. He had previously survived testicular cancer in 1988, but this second…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Karen’s Survivor Story
Karen moved from Seattle to Honolulu in July 2023 to lead an oncology service line. Two months later, at age 43, she found a breast lump despite having had a clear screening mammogram 9 months earlier. She had dense breast tissue and a family history of young…
Read this storyStage II ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie’s lung cancer story began with a mild cough in spring 2021. She thought it might be allergies or weather-related, but when it persisted, she mentioned it during a routine check-up. A chest X-ray showed a lung mass, and a CT scan showed a spiculated…
Read this storyStage IV Gastric Cancer: Mark’s Patient Story
Mark Scragg knew cancer risk ran in his family after he and several relatives learned they had Lynch syndrome. In May 2021, persistent fatigue and stomach pain led him to move up his yearly endoscopy and colonoscopy. Doctors found a stomach tumor, and…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Colorectal Cancer: Emily’s Patient Story
Emily King was 27 when stomach pain and blood in her stool led to an ER visit. A CT scan showed a large tumor in her transverse colon. Surgeons removed about 1 foot of colon and 23 lymph nodes; 13 nodes contained cancer. Her early recovery was complicated by…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Nicola’s Survivor Story
Nicola was first diagnosed with bowel cancer near the end of 2021 after years of rectal bleeding, stomach problems, and worsening anemia. A colonoscopy found a tumor, and staging scans followed. Five days before Christmas, she had bowel surgery that removed a…
Read this storyStage II ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Stephanie’s Patient Story
Stephanie Williams developed a mild but persistent cough in spring 2021. At a yearly primary care visit, she asked for a chest X-ray. The image showed a cloudy area on her right side, and a same-day CT scan described a large spiculated mass that was highly…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael Marie was 34 and raising 3 children when sudden worsening symptoms led her to the ER. She had bloating, severe abdominal pain, fatigue, trouble drinking water, and a swollen stomach. A CT scan led doctors to tell her she had Stage IV colon cancer with…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael, a 34-year-old mother of 3, was diagnosed with Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer after severe stomach pain sent her to the emergency room. A CT scan unexpectedly showed cancer, and further workup showed spread to her ovaries and liver. Before diagnosis…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer was 23 when a blood test showed extremely low iron and led to a colonoscopy. The scope found a tumor that blocked the camera, and she was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2017. Surgery on December 29 used an open approach because doctors were…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: India’s Survivor Story
India Robinson was 40 when her first mammogram in August 2022 led to more imaging, ultrasound, and 2 biopsies. On October 25, her birthday, she learned that 1 biopsied area was malignant. Within days, she and her family met with a Cleveland Clinic team to…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Roshonda’s Survivor Story
Roshonda Clark was 40 when she was diagnosed with rectal cancer in March 2022. Doctors first thought it was Stage III, but she later learned it was Stage IV. Her symptoms had started earlier with blood in her stool and a feeling that bowel movements were…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Roshonda’s Patient Story
Roshonda was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2022 after symptoms that began with blood in her stool and a feeling that bowel movements were incomplete. As symptoms worsened, including blood after sexual activity and increasing discomfort, she changed…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate first found a breast lump while breastfeeding her daughter in 2022. She was told it was probably a cyst and that she was too young for mammography or biopsy. The lump continued to grow, but repeated assessments still did not lead to tissue testing. In…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate first felt a breast lump while breastfeeding. An ultrasound found a 4 mm mass, but she was told she was too young for a mammogram or biopsy and that it was likely a cyst. In November 2023, the lump had grown to 2-3 cm, but she was again told not to…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Carmen’s Patient Story
Carmen noticed blood in the urine and stool in January 2025 and sought medical attention within a few days. A family doctor referred Carmen to a specialist, and colonoscopy confirmed Stage II colon adenocarcinoma. Carmen describes being in the 40s at…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Shirley’s Patient Story
Shirley was 34, working as a translator in Southern California, when a persistent cough during the COVID-19 pandemic became something much more serious. She went through multiple rounds of antibiotics and testing, but the cough continued and severe back pain…
Read this storyHow Clinical Trials Helped Me Fight Stage 4 Cancer
This anonymized patient reflected on more than 10.5 years of living with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. She was diagnosed in 2014 after a local clinic completed about 2 weeks of testing and told her she had Stage IV cancer. At first, her local doctor…
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