Clinical Trial: 133 Real Stories
133 stories match clinical trial. 95 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy Nicole was diagnosed with colon cancer after noticing only a small change in her stool. Initial blood work and other tests were normal, and her planned colonoscopy was delayed for about 1 year during COVID restrictions. When she finally had the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Survivor Story
Jessica Dazzler was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in January 2021, soon after her 37th birthday. For about 1 year before diagnosis, she had pelvic and tailbone pain, changing bowel habits, blood in the stool, low iron, and fertility-related…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer Patient Story
Elsa Lankford became a caregiver when her wife was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer at age 49. The recommended screening age had been lowered from 50 to 45 only 2 months earlier. They already feared cancer, and the diagnosis was confirmed while Elsa’s…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne Laporte, a nurse for about 35 years and an endurance athlete, had a lung nodule followed years earlier and then dismissed because she was a lifelong nonsmoker. Years later, progressive back pain was treated as a sports injury through multiple doctor and…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tim’s Patient Story
Tim Monds was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016 after chest and left-shoulder pain led to imaging and then further testing. He was 57, had never smoked, and initially had Stage I disease. Surgery removed the upper left lobe of his lung on 29 June 2016, and…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Dena’s Patient Story
Dena Ofengeim was 28 in December 2021 when worsening back pain and leg weakness sent her to the emergency room. Imaging found a mass pressing on the nerves of her spine. Surgery removed the mass, and a biopsy showed that it was breast cancer that had spread…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff Williams was 50 when his first routine colonoscopy found a tumor in his sigmoid colon. Scans the next day confirmed Stage IV colorectal cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs, with 4 liver lesions and 3 lung lesions. He first had surgery to remove…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Matt’s Survivor Story
Matt Hiznay was 24 and in his second year of medical school when a persistent dry cough led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in August 2011. He was a lifelong nonsmoker, making the diagnosis especially hard to process. Testing showed the cancer was driven…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Loralee’s Patient Story
Loralee Lovell had lived with irritable bowel symptoms for years, so blood in her stool did not initially seem unusual. After moving from North Dakota to Texas at the end of 2020, she was exhausted from the move, caring for 5 children, and a new litter of…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Julie’s Patient Story
Julie Flower was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in March 2018, initially with liver metastases. Over the next 5 years, the cancer involved multiple sites, including the lung, liver, lymph nodes, and bone. Her treatment history was long and…
Read this storyStage III MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 28 when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. She had a 5 cm ulcerated tumor, and the standard path discussed at first would have included chemotherapy, chemoradiation, and surgery. That plan carried major concerns for her, including…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Colorectal Cancer: Brian’s Patient Story
Brian Beck was 54 when a positive at-home stool screening test led to colonoscopy and the discovery of a tumor in his sigmoid colon. Follow-up scans showed that the cancer had spread to his liver, making it Stage IV. Brian first had colon surgery to remove…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Spill’s symptoms began when she was 8 months pregnant: constipation, blood in her stool, appetite changes, fatigue, weight loss, cramping, and a strong feeling that something was wrong. For months, she was repeatedly told the symptoms were likely…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Gene’s Survivor Story
Gene Jones was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in 1993, early in the year he turned 51. He had stomach problems and could not go to the bathroom, and colonoscopy could not get past a large tumor that was almost completely blocking his large intestine…
Read this storyStage III Ovarian Cancer: Karoline’s Patient Story
The patient was diagnosed with Stage III clear cell ovarian cancer on Feb. 6, 2020 after pain with urination led to a CT scan. The scan showed a mass about the size of her fist on the right ovary, and her gynecologist confirmed cancer. Her treatment began…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Abigail’s Patient Story
Abigail Myers was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2014, just over a year after the birth of her son. Testing showed triple-positive disease, with estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Her initial treatment included a double mastectomy, radiation…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Haley’s Survivor Story
Haley P. was 37, recently postpartum, and raising a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old when symptoms she kept explaining away led to a Stage IIIC colon cancer diagnosis. During pregnancy and after delivery, she had constipation, stomach pain, shortness of breath…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany was a labor and delivery nurse, Pilates instructor, wife, and mother of twins when shortness of breath and right-sided pain led to a long diagnostic workup during the pandemic. A bronchoscopy was followed by a collapsed lung and hospital stay. Imaging…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: JJ’s Patient Story
JJ was 27 when months of stomach pain led to an initial Stage II / borderline Stage III colon cancer diagnosis. Surgery removed about 80% of his colon and about 36 inches of small intestine because of how the tumor had grown. He also received 6 rounds of…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy’s Survivor Story
Lucy E. was diagnosed with grade 3 triple-negative breast cancer 3 days after her 24th birthday. She had found a breast lump and pushed for biopsy even after being told it was likely fibrous tissue. She already knew she carried a BRCA1 mutation, which made…
Read this storyStage IV PIK3CA Breast Cancer: Abigail’s Patient Story
Abigail was 38, running a law firm, raising 2 young children, and breastfeeding when she felt a lump in her left breast in January 2017. She first thought it was a clogged duct. In April 2017, she was diagnosed with strongly hormone-positive breast cancer and…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lianne’s Patient Story
Lianne Kraemer was 37 when a small painful area in her left breast led to imaging and a biopsy in late 2013. She was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer involving lymph nodes. In 2014, she underwent a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, reconstruction, and…
Read this storyStage IV Gastric Cancer: Rachel’s Patient Story
Rachel Orth was 33 with three young children when surgery for what doctors thought was a benign ovarian mass revealed cancer in December 2020. She later learned that she had metastatic gastric cancer. The diagnosis came during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Emily’s Patient Story
Emily Bannister was 46, a physician, and a mother of 3 when breathing symptoms led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. She first noticed wheezing while lying down, shortness of breath, and a fast heart rate with stairs. An urgent-care X-ray looked like…
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