Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shannin’s Patient Story
Shannin was diagnosed on April 13, 2024, at age 26 with Stage IV metastatic colorectal cancer. Months earlier, she had severe left-lower abdominal pain after eating, nausea, vomiting, and a feeling that stool could not pass. Initial explanations such as food…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Edie’s Survivor Story
Edie was 52 when a positive Cologuard test led to a Stage IIIB colorectal cancer diagnosis. For years, she had dealt with constipation, but she had linked it to medication, scoliosis, and everyday explanations. When she turned 50, her doctor recommended…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer Trefzger was diagnosed with colon cancer at 23 in 2017 after years of symptoms and severe iron deficiency. A colonoscopy found a 5 cm tumor blocking her descending colon. She was initially told the cancer was Stage III, but later learned it had…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie, a nurse in Cleveland, was 38 when she was diagnosed with Stage III invasive lobular carcinoma in March 2024. She had been referred to a high-risk breast clinic because her mother and 2 sisters had developed breast cancer, but her first mammogram and…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Katie’s Survivor Story
Katie’s Stage IIIB transverse colon cancer was found after months of fatigue and severe anemia rather than classic bowel symptoms. Emergency-room testing did not show blood in her stool, and she initially tried iron pills and then iron infusions. The…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Katie’s Survivor Story
Katie’s Stage IIIB colon cancer was found after symptoms that did not look like classic bowel cancer at first. She had extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and heartburn, but no blood in her stool or obvious gastrointestinal changes. Because she was active…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Cattie’s Patient Story
Cattie Fleming had intermittent rectal bleeding for years, and the symptom was repeatedly attributed to hemorrhoids. During and after her second pregnancy, her symptoms became more intense. She experienced severe fatigue, constipation, irregular and narrowing…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Edie’s Survivor Story
Edie had noticed severe constipation for 1-2 years before her diagnosis. Because she had no family history or major risk factors, screening began when she turned 50. A positive Cologuard test led to a colonoscopy, where doctors found a mass near the border of…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Chance’s Survivor Story
Chance was 24 and already knew she carried a BRCA1 mutation when she saw a lump protruding from her chest during a beach trip. A January 2021 MRI had looked normal, so the sudden change felt alarming. Her care team moved quickly: ultrasound, mammogram, MRI…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 33 when she folded her arms and felt a golf ball-sized lump near her left armpit. She had no family history of breast cancer and did not test positive for an inherited gene mutation, but imaging and biopsy confirmed triple-negative breast cancer…
Read this storyOvarian Cancer: Angela’s Survivor Story
At 32, an MD Anderson employee learned of an ovarian dysgerminoma after an annual well-woman exam in 2018. The gynecologist felt a hard area in the abdomen, and surgery was performed to remove the mass. Pathology showed that it was cancer. The patient chose…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Evan’s Patient Story
Evan White was 24 when he was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer in 2017. His sister Jenna lived with him for 2 years during surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation and saw the cumulative side effects of treatment. Evan also turned his experience into…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Skylee’s Survivor Story
Skylee Tinker was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer at age 49 without preceding symptoms. Her daughter, Laken Dilday, was 4 months pregnant at the time. The family initially expected that surgery to remove part of Skylee’s colon would be the only…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Wendy’s Survivor Story
Wendy Harpp was 55 when a routine colonoscopy found Stage III rectal cancer in late 2019. Her first screening colonoscopy at age 50 had shown no polyps or other problems, and she had no symptoms before the follow-up examination 5 years later. During 2020…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer Survivor Story
Antonio Dionizio’s father was 63 when he was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in 2003. He had immigrated to the United States in the 1970s and worked in construction to support his family. Antonio remembered him as exceptionally strong, and cancer…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shawn’s Patient Story
Shawn was 48 and living in Springfield, Michigan, when severe abdominal pain led him to seek urgent care. A CT scan showed a large blockage, and doctors quickly diagnosed Stage IV colorectal cancer. The diagnosis was unexpected and frightening, but treatment…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shawn’s Patient Story
Shawn Michael was 48 when Stage IV colorectal cancer was found after what felt like severe constipation. He had postponed a scheduled colonoscopy in January 2024 during a stressful period. By late October, he felt impacted and tried urgent-care…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Calvin’s Survivor Story
Calvin was 33 when he was diagnosed with Stage I lung cancer after years of breathing problems that had been treated as adult asthma. The pattern began around 2016, after he became very sick during work travel to Germany and was treated for pneumonia. Over…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shayla’s Patient Story
Shayla was 33 when she was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer. For years, she had unexplained digestive issues, exhaustion, food intolerance, and stomach sensitivity. She saw gastroenterologists and was diagnosed with celiac disease, but cutting out…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Tracy’s Survivor Story
Tracy was 41 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB colorectal cancer. She had lived with digestive problems for years, including bloating, inflammation, and intermittent bleeding that was often attributed to irritable bowel syndrome or hemorrhoids. During a…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Eugenia’s Patient Story
Eugenia Horan was 46 when she was diagnosed with poorly differentiated non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms began after what seemed like a cold or flu in late 2018, followed by chest tightness, coughing blood, weight loss, and a racing pulse. Her concerns…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Scott’s Survivor Story
Scott had no noticeable bowel symptoms when a routine annual physical found blood in his stool. A colonoscopy then identified a rectal tumor and led to a stage 3 rectal cancer diagnosis. He had previously survived testicular cancer in 1988, but this second…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Nicola’s Survivor Story
Nicola, a mother and anesthetic technician, first noticed rectal bleeding. Doctors initially thought it was hemorrhoids, but a colonoscopy found a 4-cm colorectal tumor. She had surgery just before Christmas, and pathology showed that 4 lymph nodes contained…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Scott’s Survivor Story
Scott was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer in July 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The cancer was found after a routine physical showed blood in his stool. A colonoscopy the next month revealed a tumor in his rectum, even though he had not…
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