Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Colorectal Cancer: Catherine’s Patient Story
Catherine was 10 weeks pregnant when persistent rectal bleeding, bloating, and trouble going to the bathroom led to sigmoidoscopy. The procedure found a rectal tumor. Further CT, MRI, and biopsy workup showed Stage III rectal cancer: it had reached lymph…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Callie’s Survivor Story
Callie was 38 when she noticed dimpling and a bulge in her breast. Her husband urged her to take it seriously, and her primary care doctor quickly arranged a mammogram and ultrasound. The radiologist told her the mammogram was BI-RADS 5, highly suspicious for…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda was 30 when almost a year of gastrointestinal symptoms finally led to a colonoscopy. Her symptoms began with daily stomach gurgling and then progressed to blood in her stool, worsening constipation, and the feeling that something was blocking bowel…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jackie’s Patient Story
Jackie was diagnosed with Stage IIIB rectal cancer after constant blood in her stool and worsening constipation led to colonoscopy. CT imaging raised concern for a liver spot, but that finding was later considered nothing. Genetic testing then showed Lynch…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Allison’s Survivor Story
Allison was 32 and living with Crohn’s disease in remission when new symptoms felt different from anything she had experienced before. About 1.5 years earlier, she had the cleanest colonoscopy of her life. Then she began losing weight, feeling severely…
Read this storyStage II BRCA1 Breast Cancer: Joy’s Survivor Story
Joy began checking her breasts after a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, and that habit helped her notice a lump. A private clinic performed ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy, and the doctor was confident it was breast cancer even before the biopsy…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Maria’s Survivor Story
Maria’s Stage IIIC rectal cancer was first mistaken for other problems. She was tired, lost about 20 pounds, and had a high pulse during a physical for maritime work. Doctors found a bladder infection that would not clear, then later suspected appendicitis…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Ken’s Patient Story
Ken was 59 when Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer was found after years of intermittent bowel changes. He had loose stools, increasing bathroom frequency, and occasional blood, but no abdominal pain and no major appetite problems, so he kept hoping the symptoms…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Carrie’s Patient Story
Carrie was a full-time elementary music teacher and single mother when she suddenly became very sick with stomach pain, gas, nausea, and vomiting. A walk-in clinic told her it was probably gas, but the symptoms did not improve. After she became sick in a…
Read this storyStage II KRAS Lung Adenocarcinoma: Roy’s Survivor Story
Roy was a 50-year-old commercial airline pilot and Air Force veteran when he noticed a subtle rattle in his chest while lying down at night. An early X-ray was interpreted as something like pneumonia, and because he was a nonsmoker with no family history of…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy had experienced back and hip pain since her early 30s. When it worsened in June 2022, she was told she was getting older. Four months later, she noticed an inverted nipple and immediately contacted her primary-care clinician. Mammography and ultrasound…
Read this storyStage II Ovarian Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Caitlin’s Survivor Story
Caitlin Koehler was 27 when a year of severe abdominal pain finally led to CT imaging that found an 11 cm mass on her right ovary. She underwent removal of the right ovary and fallopian tube, and pathology showed Stage II squamous cell carcinoma arising in a…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer Patient Story
The patient was 41, active in bodybuilding, and up to date on mammograms when she first noticed blood from her nipple rather than a breast lump. After the bleeding stopped, she was initially sent home. About 1 month later, she developed a large breast lump…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Jake’s Patient Story
Jake was 15 when severe migraines began in late 2012. For about 25 days, he hid the pain, took large amounts of Advil, and kept playing sports until his mother pushed for an MRI. The scan showed a golf-ball-sized tumor in his cerebellum. After brain surgery…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lawrence’s Survivor Story
Lawrence Henry, a retired Army colonel, was diagnosed with Stage 3C colon cancer in 2021 at age 50 after worsening stomach pain, blood in his stool and a feeling of fullness after bowel movements led to colonoscopy. He was treated locally with surgery…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha was 22 when she noticed a breast lump in 2019. Because she was so young, doctors first considered causes such as a cyst or infection, but biopsy eventually confirmed breast cancer. Further testing found cancer in her rib and lymph nodes, making it…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer Patient Story
Karen Coleman’s father developed severe stomach pain in 2006 shortly after having lunch with friends. By that evening, the pain had become serious enough for him to go to the emergency room. Doctors initially suspected diverticulitis, but while he was being…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Maralee’s Survivor Story
Maralee Lellio was 28 when she noticed a breast lump in 2018. A first evaluation called it a benign fibroadenoma, but the lump grew and became painful. Further mammogram and biopsy showed Stage II breast cancer. Before treatment, Maralee and her husband froze…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kristen’s Survivor Story
Kristen developed new abdominal pain and severe constipation around the end of April. At first, she wondered if food was the cause, but the episodes kept returning almost every 3 weeks. Doctors repeatedly told her it was IBS-C, even as she struggled to use…
Read this storyStage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Susie’s Survivor Story
Susie started smoking as a teenager because it was what many of her friends did. She tried to give up several times over the years but found it difficult. Later, she developed lung cancer that she directly linked to smoking. The title identifies her diagnosis…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Nathan’s Survivor Story
Nathan, a 35-year-old father of 5, had persistent heartburn, digestive problems, early fullness, exhaustion, and later severe abdominal pain. Blood work in the emergency room showed major anemia, and colonoscopy revealed colon cancer: a baseball-sized tumor…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Mariana’s Patient Story
Mariana was 26 when mild symptoms led to a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. Her main warning signs were bloating, anemia, and blood in her stool. After she passed out at home in May, the emergency room gave her fluids and noted severe anemia, but she still…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: David’s Patient Story
David spent months trying to get answers for worsening digestive symptoms, severe fatigue, ribbony stool, blood in his stool, and about 70 pounds of weight loss. His symptoms were repeatedly attributed to stress, depression, anxiety, medication effects, or…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Helen’s Survivor Story
Helen was 49 when symptoms that seemed like a urinary tract infection led to a Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer diagnosis. She had pelvic pressure, burning with urination, bowel changes, bloating, and low energy. After 3 rounds of antibiotics and 2 enemas that…
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