Fertility Preservation: 35 Real Stories
35 stories match fertility preservation. 32 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Nina’s Survivor Story
Nina was 34 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Her first sign was a hard strip under her left armpit, not the small pea-like lump she had been told to watch for. At first, she was reassured because she was young, had dense breast…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Savannah’s Survivor Story
Savannah Kaspar was 26 when abdominal pain, severe constipation, and bloody stools pushed her to seek answers. A colonoscopy in August found a mass in her sigmoid colon. It was first described as noncancerous, but Savannah came to MD Anderson, where imaging…
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 III HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sarah’s Survivor Story
Sarah McDonald was 44 when she was diagnosed with 2 unrelated cancers within 2 months. Surgery for a rare salivary gland cancer prompted her to re-examine a breast lump first noticed 6 years earlier. Annual mammograms had not shown a clear problem because she…
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 II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy’s Patient Story
Lucy was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 days after her 24th birthday. Her risk was already personal: her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer twice and, after the second diagnosis, learned she carried a BRCA1 mutation. Lucy then had genetic testing…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Katie’s Survivor Story
Katie Robb Sewall was 27 when a double mastectomy in 2014 changed what she thought was stage 0 breast cancer into a Stage III diagnosis. Pathology showed the cancer had spread from the breast ducts into lymph nodes. Katie and her husband, Craig, had to move…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Caitlin’s Patient Story
Caitlin J. was 29 when she found a lump in her breast and had to push for evaluation while uninsured. Planned Parenthood referred her for imaging, and a mammogram showed a mass. Biopsy results came back within 3 days and confirmed Stage IIB ER-positive…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Alexandria’s Patient Story
Alexandria was 27 when she felt a hard breast lump in the shower. The ultrasound happened the day after her birthday, and the biopsy found abnormal cells that led to a breast cancer diagnosis. She waited to tell her parents until the diagnosis was clearer…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Brittney’s Survivor Story
Brittney Rinella was 26 and planning her wedding when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After discussing options with Cleveland Clinic oncologist Dr. Halle Moore and the rest of her care team, Brittney chose a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Heather’s Survivor Story
Heather Kokinda was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 while breastfeeding her 5-month-old daughter. She first noticed a lump in the shower and thought it might be a clogged milk duct, but it did not go away despite the usual measures. After the cancer…
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