Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Karen’s Survivor Story
Karen moved from Seattle to Honolulu in July 2023 to lead an oncology service line. Two months later, at age 43, she found a breast lump despite having had a clear screening mammogram 9 months earlier. She had dense breast tissue and a family history of young…
Read this storyStage II ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie’s lung cancer story began with a mild cough in spring 2021. She thought it might be allergies or weather-related, but when it persisted, she mentioned it during a routine check-up. A chest X-ray showed a lung mass, and a CT scan showed a spiculated…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Rashawn’s Survivor Story
Rashawn Mitchell was 39 when fatigue and ice cravings became impossible to ignore. In February 2014, she was late to work repeatedly because she could barely get up in the morning. Her doctor suspected low hemoglobin and found blood in her stool during an…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Rashawn’s Survivor Story
Rashawn, a mother of 4 from Augusta, Georgia, was diagnosed with Stage I colorectal cancer in 2014. Her first warning signs were persistent fatigue and blood in her stool. A colonoscopy found a golf-ball-sized mass in her colon, and it was confirmed to be…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Colorectal Cancer: Emily’s Patient Story
Emily King was 27 when stomach pain and blood in her stool led to an ER visit. A CT scan showed a large tumor in her transverse colon. Surgeons removed about 1 foot of colon and 23 lymph nodes; 13 nodes contained cancer. Her early recovery was complicated by…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Nicola’s Survivor Story
Nicola was first diagnosed with bowel cancer near the end of 2021 after years of rectal bleeding, stomach problems, and worsening anemia. A colonoscopy found a tumor, and staging scans followed. Five days before Christmas, she had bowel surgery that removed a…
Read this storyStage II ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Stephanie’s Patient Story
Stephanie Williams developed a mild but persistent cough in spring 2021. At a yearly primary care visit, she asked for a chest X-ray. The image showed a cloudy area on her right side, and a same-day CT scan described a large spiculated mass that was highly…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael, a 34-year-old mother of 3, was diagnosed with Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer after severe stomach pain sent her to the emergency room. A CT scan unexpectedly showed cancer, and further workup showed spread to her ovaries and liver. Before diagnosis…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rachael’s Patient Story
Rachael Marie was 34 and raising 3 children when sudden worsening symptoms led her to the ER. She had bloating, severe abdominal pain, fatigue, trouble drinking water, and a swollen stomach. A CT scan led doctors to tell her she had Stage IV colon cancer with…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Jennifer’s Survivor Story
Jennifer was 23 when a blood test showed extremely low iron and led to a colonoscopy. The scope found a tumor that blocked the camera, and she was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2017. Surgery on December 29 used an open approach because doctors were…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: India’s Survivor Story
India Robinson was 40 when her first mammogram in August 2022 led to more imaging, ultrasound, and 2 biopsies. On October 25, her birthday, she learned that 1 biopsied area was malignant. Within days, she and her family met with a Cleveland Clinic team to…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Roshonda’s Patient Story
Roshonda was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2022 after symptoms that began with blood in her stool and a feeling that bowel movements were incomplete. As symptoms worsened, including blood after sexual activity and increasing discomfort, she changed…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Roshonda’s Survivor Story
Roshonda Clark was 40 when she was diagnosed with rectal cancer in March 2022. Doctors first thought it was Stage III, but she later learned it was Stage IV. Her symptoms had started earlier with blood in her stool and a feeling that bowel movements were…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Carmen’s Patient Story
Carmen noticed blood in the urine and stool in January 2025 and sought medical attention within a few days. A family doctor referred Carmen to a specialist, and colonoscopy confirmed Stage II colon adenocarcinoma. Carmen describes being in the 40s at…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Casandra’s Survivor Story
Casandra had persistent abdominal pain that caused significant discomfort. Although the symptoms were initially thought to be irritable bowel syndrome, Casandra remained concerned that something more serious was being missed. After about 2 years of raising…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Shirley’s Patient Story
Shirley was 34 when a cough and severe back pain were first treated as possible long COVID or pneumonia. Two bronchoscopies did not give answers. A wedge resection was then done to obtain tissue, and pathology showed adenocarcinoma. PET and MRI scans did not…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Shayla’s Patient Story
Shayla was 33 when years of stomach problems turned into a Stage IV colorectal cancer diagnosis. She had dealt with a sensitive stomach since high school, later received an uncertain celiac diagnosis, and continued to feel unwell despite cutting out gluten…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Marissa’s Survivor Story
Marissa Sweitzer’s breast cancer was found just after she gave birth to her daughter, Melody, in February 2024. Late in pregnancy, she had noticed a breast lump while applying lotion. Because breast changes are common during pregnancy, her doctor arranged for…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Juliette’s Survivor Story
Juliette Landgrave was 38, healthy and years away from routine mammography when she felt a breast lump in the shower. Imaging found two tumors: the one she could feel and another deeper tumor seen only on MRI. She was diagnosed with triple-negative breast…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Jill’s Patient Story
Jill Feldman’s story is part patient experience and part education about lung cancer biomarkers. She was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009, when biomarker testing was still much more limited than it is today. Her cancer was initially Stage I, and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips never smoked, so a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in December 2019 felt impossible. She was 43, with children ages 14, 13, and 9, and had been dealing with a persistent cough, unintentional weight loss, chest heaviness, and coughing up blood…
Read this storyStage III BRCA1 Ovarian Cancer: Carla’s Survivor Story
This patient was diagnosed with Stage III high-grade serous ovarian cancer in July 2023 after months of bloating, unexplained weight loss and increasing abdominal pressure. CT scans performed during an emergency-room visit showed two very large ovarian…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jose’s Survivor Story
Jose Santos lived with severe ulcerative colitis for 16 years before his Stage III colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2022. The autoimmune disease had caused abdominal pain, bleeding, urgency, weakness, and a major loss of quality of life since his 20s. When…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay Trevino was 48 when a routine screening test unexpectedly led to a colon cancer diagnosis on June 14, 2024. After a change in health insurance, he had to find a new primary care physician. The new doctor recommended a Cologuard test for colon cancer…
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