Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Colorectal Cancer: Shiva’s Survivor Story
Shiva Sharma was 40 and working as a family doctor when vague bowel changes and back pain finally led him to schedule a colonoscopy. He had recently moved countries with his wife and 3 children and initially blamed stress. The colonoscopy changed everything…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Charlotte’s Survivor Story
Charlotte was preparing to retire to a quiet cabin in northwestern Minnesota when breast cancer interrupted the plan. About 2 weeks before her 2024 annual mammogram, she felt pain in her right breast. She had long had an inflamed duct on the left side, so at…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Nicole’s Survivor Story
Nicole was 27, active, and athletic when stomach pain and inconsistent bowel movements started to feel less like routine digestive trouble. At first, she thought it might be IBS, partly because many young women around her talked about stomach issues. The pain…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Iris’s Patient Story
Iris Lopez-Mendez first faced breast cancer in 2010 after feeling a lump in her right breast. Mammogram and biopsy confirmed Stage IIA breast cancer, and she was treated with lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. For years afterward, she kept up with…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marissa’s Survivor Story
Marissa Coreno was 27 when she felt a breast lump in June 2021. She was young, healthy, living independently, and had no family history of breast cancer, so she did not expect the lump to be serious. Diagnostic imaging at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Linda’s Patient Story
Linda Norman was approaching her 60th birthday in January 2019 when a routine mammogram found a small mass in her left breast. Biopsy confirmed breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy, then 10 radiation treatments over 2 weeks. Anastrozole caused extreme joint…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Samantha’s Survivor Story
Samantha Fletcher spent months trying to understand persistent stomach pain. Her journey included emergency-room visits and surgery for an ovarian cyst before a colonoscopy in July 2024 finally found a tumor in her colon. She was 35 when she learned she had…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Kathy’s Survivor Story
Kathy Ball-Toncic had already survived the trauma of September 11 and rebuilt her career when cancer entered her life twice in close succession. In February 2023, on her 69th birthday, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), described as the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Devon’s Survivor Story
Devon was 30 when rectal cancer symptoms appeared quickly. She first noticed more frequent bathroom urges, then mucus instead of stool, pain, and very narrow stools. She did not have blood in her stool, but the symptoms kept worsening. A gastroenterologist…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Suzy’s Survivor Story
Suzy was a respiratory therapist with 17 years of experience when her own symptoms were dismissed. In late 2022, she noticed a lump under her collarbone and frequent pain in her left breast. A clear mammogram the year before made clinicians less concerned…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Paula’s Survivor Story
Paula Jones was 43 when a routine mammogram in February 2010 found a small spot in her left breast that she could not feel and her doctor could not detect by exam. Because she had lost her mother to breast cancer at age 7, Paula had started screening in her…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Dan’s Survivor Story
Dan Trombley was 37, a Navy chief warrant officer, when unusual fatigue and low blood counts led to a colonoscopy in 2020. At first, doctors thought the colon tumor would be straightforward to treat. A CT scan 2 weeks later changed that: he had Stage IV colon…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Ian’s Survivor Story
Ian was 38 when unusual fatigue and blood in his stool led him to the emergency room in late November 2022. His wife and sister pushed him to act quickly, and the ER doctor took the symptoms seriously. A CT scan showed a mass or narrowing in the colon. When a…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Dolly’s Survivor Story
Dolly Chua was living in Makati, Philippines, when she felt a breast lump in the shower in 2019. Mammogram and ultrasound confirmed breast cancer, and she wanted the best treatment she could find even if it meant traveling. Her daughters independently found…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren was 42 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma of the colon in 2025. The diagnosis was a shock: colon cancer had not been on her radar, and she struggled with how to tell her parents, siblings, cousins, husband, and 2 young…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kate’s Patient Story
Kate Joyal was training for a 10K when severe abdominal pain appeared suddenly. She initially wondered whether she had appendicitis or severe constipation, but urgent-care evaluation showed a bowel obstruction caused by several masses in her intestines. She…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lynn’s Survivor Story
Lynn Leiro was 36 when back pain, fatigue and then a lump in her armpit led to a Stage IIIC triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2022. Imaging showed five breast tumors and a swollen lymph node; a later CT scan found more cancerous lymph nodes in her…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren was 41 when an urgent bathroom problem became the first sign of Stage IV signet-ring cell colon cancer. In mid-February 2025, she began feeling constant pressure to use the bathroom. By March 6, she counted 27 bathroom trips in 1 day. Her primary care…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Andrea’s Patient Story
Andrea Suarez V began having persistent constipation in 2015. By 2016, she was also seeing dark blood in her stool. Colon cancer ran in her family, but her doctor did not recommend a colonoscopy. As a recent immigrant, Andrea found the U.S. healthcare system…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Lung Cancer: Samantha’s Patient Story
Samantha Vaughn first noticed breathlessness and hoarseness after having COVID in 2022. For about 6 months, the symptoms were treated as long COVID, sinus problems, or infection, with inhalers, steroids, and antibiotics that did not help. In May 2023, she…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Courtney’s Patient Story
Courtney was 37 and pregnant with her 3rd child when she first found a lump in her left breast in February 2022. Ultrasound showed a 5 mm hypoechoic mass that was considered probably benign, and mammogram did not show it because of dense breast tissue. She…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Paige’s Patient Story
Paige Cipher was 25 and living in Denver when she shared her Stage III rectal cancer story. Her first symptom had started months earlier: blood in her stool around September 2024. She was otherwise healthy, active, and exercising regularly, so the symptom did…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jackson’s Survivor Story
Jackson was 2 days away from turning 26 and 3 weeks away from the bar exam when abdominal pain, vomiting, and dehydration sent him to the emergency room on July 3, 2024. A CT scan showed narrowing in the colon and concern for a tumor. He had an emergency…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Sara’s Patient Story
Sara Glenn was 38 when she felt a peanut-sized breast lump during a self-exam in summer 2024, while her family was moving from North Carolina to Southern California. Mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy showed a 2 cm grade 1A-1B ER-positive, HER2-negative breast…
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