Supportive Care: 133 Real Stories
133 stories match supportive care. 80 of them mention surgery.
Breast Cancer: Manisha’s Patient Story
Manisha’s initial doctors recommended lumpectomy and mastectomy, but she felt the first approach was not effective and wanted to hear more options. She sought a second opinion and changed hospitals. At the new hospital, she chose lumpectomy, immunotherapy…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Maria’s Patient Story
Maria found a breast lump and was diagnosed with cancer more than three years before sharing her story. The news left her frightened, helpless, and overwhelmed, especially because she had previously lost her father to cancer. She sought a second opinion…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Mia’s Patient Story
Mia sought medical attention after developing breast pain and severe fatigue and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The news brought anger, fear, sadness, surprise, and a sense of vulnerability. She did not seek a second opinion. Her treatment included…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Mina’s Survivor Story
Mina had no symptoms when a mammogram found a tumor during health checks arranged in her final month of job-based insurance. She was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and felt frightened, helpless, and worried. The original treatment plan included…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle had been living with ALK-positive lung cancer since 2018 when she developed persistent headaches, vomiting, ear popping, and a whooshing sound in her head. Remembering another patient who had developed leptomeningeal disease, she pressed for an…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Xavier’s Patient Story
In spring 2022, Xavier Sanders was placed on Air Force reserve duty after repeatedly testing positive for COVID-19. Further evaluation found a spot in his lung, and a follow-up 3 months later showed that it had doubled in size. Biopsy confirmed cancer, and a…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Angie’s Patient Story
Angie Brice Hessbruegge was 37 and raising 2 young children when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in May 2019. She had never smoked. Her daughter was 6 and her son was 4, and Angie quickly learned that cancer affected the whole household. She spoke…
Read this storyStage I Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Susan’s Patient Story
Susan had continued annual breast examinations and mammograms because of dense breasts. A July mammogram was read as normal, but in October she felt a new lump in her left breast. A repeat 3-D mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy found invasive ductal carcinoma…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Susan’s Survivor Story
Susan was 59 when a routine mammogram found breast cancer despite there being no lump or other warning sign. In the first days after diagnosis, she struggled to believe that cancer had entered her life so abruptly. Fear shaped how she thought about survival…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Jasmin’s Patient Story
Jasmin Nussing was 26, living alone, and attending technical school when breast cancer was diagnosed at the end of 2012. Her first symptom was repeated greenish fluid from the breast. Her gynecologist examined her and performed ultrasound, while mammography…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Angelika’s Survivor Story
Angelika Keller was 64 at the time of her interview in June 2023. She was married, cared for her husband who had paraplegia, and had retired 2 years earlier than planned after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2022. She had felt no symptoms, so she was very…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Waltraud’s Survivor Story
Waltraud Amann was a single mother of a 15-year-old son when breast cancer was diagnosed in 1995. She had felt a lump in her right breast and immediately suspected something malignant. Her gynecologist confirmed the concern, and Waltraud went into the…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Annette’s Survivor Story
Annette Huber was 48 when she reflected on breast cancer that began years earlier with a lump in her right breast. At first, the path to diagnosis felt long and frustrating. She repeatedly sensed that something was wrong, but felt that her concerns were not…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Klaus’s Patient Story
Klaus Deckmann was 66 and newly retired when breast cancer was diagnosed in early 2020. He had felt repeated pressure in his breast, and because his mother had died of breast cancer, he pushed himself to see his family doctor. Ultrasound, mammography, biopsy…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Claudia’s Survivor Story
Claudia Kressmann was 51 when she reflected on breast cancer diagnosed at 35, while her 3 children were still young. She had felt a lump herself, and because of her age there was first hope that it would be something less serious. The diagnosis was breast…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Dieter’s Survivor Story
Dieter Loewe was 68 when he described rectal cancer diagnosed in 2006. He had pain during bowel movements, but an initial medical visit did not find anything abnormal. When the pain continued, his wife pushed him to seek care again. Colonoscopy found 2…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Dagmar’s Patient Story
Dagmar Schiffer was 51 when she found a lump in her breast in 2011. Because her mother had also had breast cancer, she quickly saw her gynecologist. Breast cancer was diagnosed, and Dagmar had breast-conserving surgery with removal of affected lymph nodes…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Henriette’s Survivor Story
Henriette Schiller was 44 when she described rectal cancer diagnosed 5 years earlier. For several months before diagnosis, she noticed that her stamina was lower. Then she developed digestive problems, pain while sitting, and blood in her stool. Her partner…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ute’s Survivor Story
Ute Schuhmacher was 63 when she looked back on 17 years with breast cancer and recurrence. Her first diagnosis came in 1996, when her children were still young. Fear for them was one of her greatest worries. Several operations were needed from the beginning…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Anna’s Patient Story
Anna Rusch was 71 when she described living with colon cancer and a permanent end stoma. About 3 years earlier, she noticed blood in her stool and went to a doctor, who first thought hemorrhoids were the cause. Only after a friend urged her to seek another…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Elke’s Survivor Story
Elke Ferch was 66 at the time of her interview and had first been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991. The diagnosis came as a shock, especially because she was still a young woman and had to face losing a breast. Surgery removed her right breast and about…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
Laura Filip was 34 when she was living through treatment for rectal cancer diagnosed in December 2022. Blood in her stool during summer 2022 led to testing, including a colonoscopy that found the tumor. A coronavirus infection delayed her hospital admission…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Silke’s Survivor Story
Silke Winter was 51 at the time of her interview and had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014/2015. She first noticed a soft, unusual area on the right side of her breast, but she was reassured that it did not seem worrying. Only later, after returning…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Margarete’s Patient Story
Margarete Reichle was 78 when colorectal cancer was discovered only recently. She first noticed blood in her stool, pain, and dramatic weight loss. Because she was taking blood-thinning medication, she initially thought the bleeding might be related to that…
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