Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage 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 III Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kerri’s Survivor Story
Kerri was 49, living on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, and used to regular mammograms because of a family history of breast cancer. In March 2018, shortly after her yearly mammogram, she received a letter saying the mammogram was clear. Five months…
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 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 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 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 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 storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Bill’s Patient Story
Bill was an active Park City skier, runner, and mountain biker when back pain after shoveling snow turned out to be much more than a pulled muscle. The pain lasted for months, and physical therapy did not help. Before a scheduled MRI, he became unable to walk…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Robert’s Survivor Story
Robert’s colon cancer was found after a colonoscopy showed a bleeding ulcer at the site where a suspicious polyp had been removed 6 months earlier. He was told he needed surgery right away. On December 27, 2010, surgeons removed the ascending colon and 10 cm…
Read this storyEGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Joanne’s Patient Story
Joanne’s lung cancer was found by chance in February 2021. She had gone to the emergency room because of what seemed like an abdominal hernia or aneurysm, and an angio CT scan instead showed a mass in the upper lobe of her right lung. She had not had classic…
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 storyEGFR Lung Cancer: Caroline’s Patient Story
Caroline, a nurse practitioner in Louisiana, already knew lung cancer ran through her maternal family. Her aunt had Stage IV lung cancer in her 40s and died within a year. Her grandmother was also diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and, after care at MD…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jameelah’s Survivor Story
Jameelah Mahmoud was 33 when persistent abdominal pain finally led to a Stage III colorectal cancer diagnosis. Her pain began in November 2018, but she was misdiagnosed 4 times before getting an answer in March 2019. She kept returning to her primary care…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Xavier’s Patient Story
Xavier Sanders was serving in the U.S. Air Force when lung cancer changed the course of his life. After contracting COVID in 2020, he stayed off flying status longer than expected. A physical found a spot on his lung, and about 3 months later the spot had…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Amber’s Survivor Story
Amber Madden was 42 when persistent stomach pain led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis that was soon upstaged to Stage IV. In late July 2024, she thought the discomfort might be constipation, but over-the-counter medicines did not help. At the emergency…
Read this storyStage I EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Julie’s Patient Story
Julie was 42 when a routine mammogram indirectly led to a lung cancer diagnosis. The mammogram showed a calcified blood vessel, so her doctor ordered a calcium score CT scan. That scan found a 3 cm mass in her left lung. A chest CT confirmed it was still…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Kaitlin’s Patient Story
Kaitlin Van Saders first noticed bowel changes after the birth of her second son. She was going to the bathroom more often and asked a GI doctor for a colonoscopy, but at age 32, with no family history, she was denied and told to decrease stress. During…
Read this storyStage III ROS1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Wendy’s Survivor Story
Wendy’s lung cancer was found after she pushed for imaging that her doctor initially thought was unnecessary. Months earlier, she had noticed odd sensations in her lungs when she laughed, but reflux was suspected. A benign breast lump later scared her enough…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Pete’s Survivor Story
Pete Di Stefano had a recommended screening colonoscopy at age 45 and learned he had a 3 cm mass in his transverse colon. Looking back, he realized he had missed anemia as a possible warning sign. His treatment plan began with surgery. After pathology came…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Gerri’s Patient Story
Gerri first noticed a slight cough that would not go away and a drop in stamina on the StairMaster. Before a planned hiking trip to Patagonia, she saw her doctor to check whether she was well enough for travel vaccinations. Her lungs sounded clear, but the…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Patient Story
Jessica Engle’s only early symptom was that she could not pass stool for a week. On day 7, she developed stabbing pain on the right side of her abdomen, and her daughter took her to the hospital. Doctors attempted a colonoscopy, and Jessica woke up hearing…
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 III Colorectal Cancer: Karina’s Survivor Story
Karina Bandera had just turned 40 when she was told she had Stage IIIC rectal cancer. She had always considered herself healthy and kept up with yearly primary-care visits, but then noticed streaks of blood in her stool. A gastroenterologist referred her for…
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