Chemotherapy: 963 Real Stories
963 stories match chemotherapy. 777 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Sydney’s Patient Story
Sydney Stoner had digestive issues for years before lower abdominal pain became debilitating. The pain shifted from occasional constipation to frequent heavy pain with constipation and diarrhea. She tried elimination diets and holistic doctors, but she knew…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Nick’s Survivor Story
Nick Cleworth, a 48-year-old train driver and father, went to his GP in late 2024 after seeing significant blood in his stool. Colonoscopy, CT, and MRI found a 4 cm rectal tumor, and the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes. His father had died from bowel…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Janice’s Patient Story
Janice Johnson was 48 when severe abdominal pain sent her to the emergency room. At first, the symptoms were treated like constipation or food poisoning, but follow-up testing showed thickening in part of her colon wall. She pushed to get a colonoscopy…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Mila’s Patient Story
Mila Gardon Labor, a 58-year-old woman from the Philippines, was first found to have a lung lump during a yearly health exam. It was initially misdiagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis, and she took tuberculosis treatment for 4 months before CT scan and biopsy…
Read this storyEGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Donna’s Patient Story
Donna Thompson was 45 when an emergency-room visit for high blood sugar unexpectedly revealed a lung mass. She had no smoking history, so lung cancer seemed unlikely to everyone around her, but scans and biopsy confirmed Stage II non-small cell lung cancer…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Linnea’s Patient Story
Linnea Olson was 45 when she was first diagnosed with lung cancer. Her initial diagnosis was Stage I, and she had surgery that removed most of her left lung, followed by chemotherapy. The first scan after chemotherapy showed something back in her lungs…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Usha’s Patient Story
Usha Jain, a retired UC Berkeley professor, was diagnosed in July 2018 with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer despite having no smoking history. Her daughter, Amita Jain, was both a physician and caregiver, yet still found the lung cancer decision-making…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Robbie’s Patient Story
Robbie first faced breast cancer in early 2012 with Stage 0 DCIS. She then received a second, more serious diagnosis in mid-2013: Stage II estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer on the left side, with a very large tumor. Treatment included major surgery…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Glenna’s Survivor Story
Glenna’s lung cancer story began in December 2022 with a nagging cough. She was not especially worried at first because she already had a silent reflux diagnosis, but by March the cough had worsened. Medication changes and a reflux referral did not solve the…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Dianne’s Survivor Story
Dianne Austin had been healthy and had kept up with annual mammograms since turning 40, so her 2015 breast cancer diagnosis was a shock. A mammogram found something suspicious that was initially thought likely to be a cyst. Further evaluation showed breast…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lexi’s Patient Story
Lexi was 39 when she introduced herself as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and someone living with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms had started about 2 years earlier with left shoulder pain, weight loss, and then severe pain in her…
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 III EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren was 38 and celebrating her first year as a mother when she began training for a half marathon and noticed what felt like a pulled muscle in her neck. An initial X-ray was explained as a possible old injury, but Lauren did not feel that answer fit, so…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Rebecca’s Survivor Story
Rebecca Barber had recently had a baby when she began bleeding while going to the bathroom in 2019. The bleeding worsened, and a sigmoidoscopy found a tumor while she was awake with only the doctor and a nurse present. The moment felt unreal, and she later…
Read this storyHow Learning To Ask For Help Can Make Life With MBC Easier
An unnamed mother of 4 was 37 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer in December 2010. Her initial treatment included A/C followed by T/Herceptin, then a bilateral mastectomy and 36 radiation treatments. She stayed on Herceptin for about 8…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Gwen’s Survivor Story
Gwen Powell was 35, with 3 children under age 5, when repeated painful episodes were dismissed as constipation, gall or kidney stones, postpartum changes, or ovarian cysts. She kept going back for help, but it was hard to push for more testing while exhausted…
Read this storyOvarian Cancer: Bryn’s Survivor Story
Bryn Cloud was in her early 20s when worsening lower-back pain, low-grade fever and a growing stomach bulge appeared in March 2020. At first, she wondered if she had COVID-19, but ultrasound imaging near home suggested a serious abdominal problem. Her family…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dwan’s Survivor Story
Dwan Thomas, a chemical engineer, was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in 2017 after noticing something different in her left breast. At her OB/GYN appointment in March, she had a mammogram, ultrasound and breast biopsy. The diagnosis was HER2-negative…
Read this storyStage III Lung Adenocarcinoma: Becky’s Survivor Story
Becky Manning was a 47-year-old active working mother who had never smoked when months of chest pain, cough and abnormal imaging finally led to a lung cancer diagnosis. Her symptoms were first treated as pneumonia, then other causes were considered, but she…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Eutha’s Survivor Story
Eutha Prince was diagnosed with Stage II invasive ductal and lobular breast carcinoma in 2012 after a suspicious finding on her yearly mammogram led to ultrasound and biopsy. Her tumor was estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-positive and…
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 storyColorectal Cancer: Elizabeth’s Survivor Story
Elizabeth had put off her first colonoscopy for 5 years because she dreaded the preparation. When her sister needed one in 2014, Elizabeth finally scheduled her own. The procedure itself was easier than she expected, but the result was not: she was told she…
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 story