Radiation: 614 Real Stories
614 stories match radiation. 511 of them mention surgery.
Stage I Breast Cancer Survivor Story
A daughter described her mother's breast cancer being found after a company health check in April 2009 recommended further testing. A local doctor saw a white shadow in the left breast and first considered calcification, but sent her to a larger hospital to…
Read this storyBreast Cancer Survivor Story
A woman found a breast lump herself and had it checked when a breast specialist was visiting a nearby clinic. She was quickly sent to a hospital for testing and was diagnosed with breast cancer. The time from discovery to surgery moved fast, but she felt…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Alba’s Patient Story
Alba, 58, first went to the doctor because of unexplained weight loss. During breast cancer screening, doctors found a painless lump in her right breast, and a biopsy confirmed Stage II breast cancer. She also described physical fatigue during the process…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Belsy’s Survivor Story
Belsy, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer more than 3 years after she noticed what felt like a small ball while bathing. She was told the tumor was among the most severe and aggressive forms possible, and the diagnosis made her feel isolated, lonely…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Clara’s Survivor Story
Clara, 48, noticed a small lump on her nipple along with flaky skin on her breast. Those changes led her to seek medical evaluation, and she was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer. The news was frightening and confusing, especially because the diagnosis…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Claritza’s Patient Story
Claritza, 51, is from Colombia and has been living with Stage III breast cancer for more than 3 years. Her early symptoms included frequent fevers, constant headaches, and significant weight loss. After diagnosis, she was told her estimated 5-year survival…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Emilcen’s Patient Story
Emilcen, 58, is from Colombia and was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer after finding a lump in her left breast. She went through mammogram, biopsy, and histochemistry testing before receiving the diagnosis. The news brought fear and worry, and she…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Alma’s Patient Story
Alma had always been vigilant about breast self-checks and annual mammograms because her mother had been treated for breast cancer. After moving from St. Louis to Australia with her husband and 2 sons, she began having recurring pain on her left side and…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Nikoo’s Patient Story
Nikoo’s first experience with invasive lobular carcinoma began in 2003, when her general practitioner felt hard tissue in her right breast even though she had recently had a clear mammogram. Ultrasound and biopsy found a 0.9 cm lobular breast cancer. She had…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kristel’s Survivor Story
Kristel was 38, married with 3 children, and working as a communications director in Wisconsin when she found a breast lump just before Christmas 2018. At her yearly check-up in January, she was sent for a mammogram and ultrasound, but both were read as…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie was 56 and living south of London when she shared her experience with invasive lobular carcinoma. Her primary breast cancer had been diagnosed at 50 after mild pain in her right breast. A mammogram did not show the cancer, and the diagnosis was…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Chickie’s Patient Story
Chickie was 76, married to her high school sweetheart for 54 years, and living an active retirement-community life in Reno, Nevada, when an annual screening changed everything. In March 2023, she was called back for diagnostic screening and ultrasound, then…
Read this storyStage III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lucy’s Survivor Story
Lucy was 47 when she found a pea-sized lump in the outer quadrant of her right breast during a self-exam in 2003. A mammogram and ultrasound did not show cancer, and she was told the lump was a fluid-filled cyst. Over the next 15 months, the area grew to the…
Read this storyStage IV KRAS Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Maureen’s Patient Story
Maureen’s lung cancer was found by accident. After an infection, she had a CT scan that showed a spot on her lung. She was told to follow up in 6 months, and in May 2015 she was diagnosed with Stage I non-small cell lung cancer. For several years, the cancer…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
Laura Greco’s lung cancer record needs a major subtype correction: this was lung cancer, not colon cancer. Her initial diagnosis in 2015 was Stage IIIA non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer driven by an ALK translocation. Initial treatment included 2…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rhonda’s Patient Story
Rhonda Martin was diagnosed in March 2018 with Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer. At diagnosis, the cancer had already spread to her brain, spine, hip bone, and lymph nodes. Her first treatment was whole brain radiation. While biopsy results…
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 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 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 storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Stéphanie’s Patient Story
Stéphanie Lévesque learned she had Stage III colorectal cancer on February 14, 2023, when she and her partner met with the surgeon who had performed her colonoscopy on February 6. The diagnosis was difficult to absorb, but her surgeon explained that the tumor…
Read this storyStage 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 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 I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Patty’s Patient Story
Patty Schone was 63 when a routine mammogram found an abnormality in her left breast. At first, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, in that breast and was scheduled for a mastectomy. Because Patty had dense breast tissue, her surgeon…
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…
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