Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lenny’s Survivor Story
Lenny was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer in November 2019. He had never smoked. His first warning signs were a change in his walking, pain in his right leg, and later coughing and wheezing that felt different from his usual mild asthma…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: LaShae’s Patient Story
LaShae was diagnosed with multicentric breast cancer while pursuing a PhD in cancer prevention research. She first felt a small movable lump in 2022 and pushed it aside, but by late 2023 it felt larger and painful. At a wellness visit in January 2024, she…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lizzie’s Survivor Story
In October 2020, Lizzie noticed an area in her right breast that felt similar to the dense tissue she had felt before, but this time it did not change with her monthly cycle. Her routine screening had been delayed during COVID, leaving 19 months between…
Read this storyStage 0 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Erica’s Survivor Story
Erica Newbert Campbell was diagnosed with Stage 0 ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, in 2018 after years of anxious breast imaging. Her mother had died of breast cancer more than 20 years earlier, so Erica had been on high alert even though genetic testing…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Steve’s Survivor Story
Steve Slack was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer at age 48 after 2 years of bowel symptoms, including blood in the stool, changing bowel habits, bloating, gas-like pain, and abdominal pain. A colonoscopy on June 18, 2021, found a large tumor that…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lisa’s Patient Story
Lisa Ordmandy was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and was told after treatment elsewhere that it would not recur. A few years later, a fall from a stationary bicycle caused a C2 vertebral fracture, and doctors believed the fracture was caused by…
Read this storyOvarian Cancer: Shraddha’s Patient Story
Shraddha Pandey discovered a hard lump in her abdomen while she was still in school. A local doctor referred her to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and quickly transferred to another city for treatment. The diagnosis was frightening…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Sophie’s Survivor Story
Sophie was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancer in 2018 after months of unusual symptoms. Her first sign was sudden vomiting, followed later by severe anemia, stomach pain, intermittent diarrhea, and difficulty eating. Doctors initially investigated food…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Liz’s Patient Story
Dr. Liz O'Riordan, a breast surgeon, was diagnosed at 40 in 2015 with Stage III mixed ductal and lobular breast cancer. Her cancer was not seen on mammogram; it was found on ultrasound and MRI. She received chemotherapy first, and her final MRI appeared…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy Nicole was diagnosed with colon cancer after noticing only a small change in her stool. Initial blood work and other tests were normal, and her planned colonoscopy was delayed for about 1 year during COVID restrictions. When she finally had the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Survivor Story
Jessica Dazzler was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in January 2021, soon after her 37th birthday. For about 1 year before diagnosis, she had pelvic and tailbone pain, changing bowel habits, blood in the stool, low iron, and fertility-related…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Andrea’s Survivor Story
Andrea was 32 when Stage III colorectal cancer was diagnosed, after symptoms that began while she was about 7 months pregnant. She first noticed bloody stool, lower back pain, and pressure in June 2021. During childbirth she had severe rectal pain, and…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Kim’s Survivor Story
Kim moved back to San Antonio in 2022 and had her first mammogram in the new city that October. The previous year’s 3D mammogram had been unremarkable, but this time the radiologist wanted a biopsy for a concerning spot in the left breast. Kim had also felt…
Read this storyStage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Katrece’s Patient Story
Katrece Nolen was diagnosed with Stage III inflammatory breast cancer in February 2013. Her first sign was that one breast looked slightly larger than the other. A doctor found swelling and warmth but no lump and initially treated her for possible mastitis. A…
Read this storyStage I EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Phuong’s Survivor Story
In 2019, Dr. Phuong Ho developed a mild cough and chest tightness that did not improve with inhalers. Chest X-rays and lung function tests were normal, but her symptoms continued. A pulmonologist later ordered a CT scan, which found an almost 2-centimeter…
Read this storyStage II Gastric Cancer: Irasema’s Survivor Story
Irasema Partida Chavez was 34 when months of heartburn, indigestion, nausea, fatigue, and weight loss eventually led to an endoscopy in 2015. Biopsies showed stomach cancer. She underwent a partial gastrectomy that removed 80% of her stomach, and surgery…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Irasema’s Survivor Story
In September 2020, several years after treatment for stomach cancer, Irasema Partida Chavez learned that she also had breast cancer. Routine imaging showed an abnormality in her right breast. A mammogram and biopsy confirmed cancer, and she was told that…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Melissa’s Patient Story
Melissa Adams noticed a persistent abnormal area in her right breast in 2017 while finishing a graduate degree in planetary geology. Ultrasound, mammography, and biopsy led to a diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma. Because the tumor was large, she…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Daniel’s Survivor Story
Daniel West’s lung nodules were found unexpectedly in 2022 when he used a workplace opportunity to have cardiac testing after his father’s death from a heart attack. CT and PET imaging showed a concerning nodule in the middle lobe of his right lung, and…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Andrea’s Survivor Story
Andrea was 32 and working as a nurse practitioner when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. Her first symptoms started while she was pregnant: blood in her stool, low back pain, pelvic pressure, and the constant feeling that she needed to use the…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Samantha’s Survivor Story
Samantha Salway was 34 and 14 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in January 2023. She already had 2 young children and had recently completed a 10K and a half marathon. The first questions she and her husband asked were…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kristie’s Patient Story
Kristie Reimann was 45 when cramps and bowel-movement problems led her gynecologist to arrange a colonoscopy. A tumor was found, and within a week she had seen multiple specialists and completed extensive testing. A radiologist told Kristie that she had Stage…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kyle’s Patient Story
Kyle Rising had just turned 45 when severe constipation and blood in his stool changed everything. Because his grandmother had died from colon cancer, he had been proactive: starting at 40, he completed at-home screening tests every year for 4 years. None…
Read this storyStage II Lung Cancer: Ed’s Survivor Story
Ed Ackerman was 61 and felt healthy when a day-long Cleveland Clinic executive physical unexpectedly found a spot in the lower right lung. He had recently received reassuring results from other routine examinations and had no symptoms. A repeat CT scan showed…
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