Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
BRCA Breast Cancer: Susana’s Survivor Story
Susana, a preschool teacher, noticed a hollow or indentation in the lower part of her breast. Cancer was already familiar in her family, and she knew she carried a BRCA gene mutation. The diagnosis led to removal of both breasts. Surgery was difficult: the…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Gemina’s Survivor Story
Gemina, a health journalist, remembered the key months of her breast cancer story clearly: when she first noticed that something was wrong, when the diagnosis was confirmed, and when surgery took place. Because of her professional background, she understood…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Alan’s Survivor Story
Alan Traynor was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and referred to The Christie for specialist treatment. His care was led by consultant colorectal surgeon Mr Paul Sutton, a specialist in advanced colorectal cancer and complex operations for difficult-to-treat…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Carolina’s Patient Story
Carolina, originally from Bogotá, moved alone to Spain in 2002 to study. Years later, she faced breast cancer in a difficult and physically demanding way. Her cancer was metastatic from the start, and she was found to carry a BRCA gene mutation. Because of…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Carol’s Survivor Story
Carol had only just turned 30 when she found out she had breast cancer. She wanted to have a baby, so one of her first fears was that cancer treatment might take away that possibility. Even with that worry, she knew treatment had to come first. Carol was…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer Patient Story
This anonymous colorectal cancer experience focuses on colectomy, a surgery used when part or all of the colon must be removed. The central experience is surgery and recovery rather than a long medication timeline. During colectomy, the surgeon may connect…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Cindy-Anne’s Survivor Story
Cindy-Anne Manoo was working as a personal support worker when a resident accidentally hit her in the chest. A sore area remained, and she later felt a lump. Ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy led to a breast cancer diagnosis on December 21, 2021, her 44th…
Read this storyHR-Positive Breast Cancer: Toni’s Patient Story
Toni S was 59 when she was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in February 2021. She learned that this type of breast cancer is hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive, and her oncologist explained that there were medicines that could target her…
Read this storyStage II BRCA1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stephanie’s Patient Story
Stephanie Hargis was 25 when she found a painful lump in her right breast in March 2022. With no family history and her young age, she and her clinicians first thought it might be an inflamed lymph node. Ultrasound and biopsy instead showed Stage II…
Read this storyInvasive Ductal Carcinoma: LAM64’s Survivor Story
LAM64 was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2019 after imaging of the left breast showed a mass at the 3 o’clock position. Follow-up mammogram and ultrasound at Emory Breast Center confirmed the mass and also showed an enlarged left axillary lymph…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sandra’s Survivor Story
Sandra Christianson was born in 1972 and lost her mother to breast cancer when she was 15. In her late 30s, she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and chose lumpectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. A port was placed in late February 2012…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: June’s Patient Story
June Lee first had breast cancer in April 2005, when she was 43. A mammogram found early signs of cancer in her left breast, even though the lump she had felt was on the right. She was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, had a lumpectomy, and received…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Belén’s Survivor Story
Belén’s breast cancer experience began in summer 2007, when she moved from knowing the oncology clinic as a Roche employee to entering it as a patient. Because she already knew oncologists and understood breast cancer information, she could ask questions and…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marta’s Survivor Story
Marta was 38 in 2009 when a routine checkup found a breast tumor. She had recently returned to Spain after working in Poland, and surgery confirmed the tumor was malignant. What followed was a long and frightening 5-year path that included chemotherapy…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Annette’s Survivor Story
Annette Huber was 48 when she reflected on breast cancer that began years earlier with a lump in her right breast. At first, the path to diagnosis felt long and frustrating. She repeatedly sensed that something was wrong, but felt that her concerns were not…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Danièle’s Survivor Story
Danièle’s breast cancer was diagnosed quickly after a bra underwire left a mark and her gynecologist sent her for imaging. On February 4, 2016, ultrasound and biopsy raised immediate concern, and by February 11 she was told it was breast cancer that was…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Klaus’s Patient Story
Klaus Deckmann was 66 and newly retired when breast cancer was diagnosed in early 2020. He had felt repeated pressure in his breast, and because his mother had died of breast cancer, he pushed himself to see his family doctor. Ultrasound, mammography, biopsy…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Iris’s Survivor Story
Iris was in her 50s when she was diagnosed with 100% hormone-dependent breast cancer in February 2021. Because her mother had died of ovarian cancer and her aunt had breast cancer, Iris had already taken prevention seriously. Genetic testing at 43 had been…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Silvia’s Patient Story
Silvia Litsching was 61, married, and the mother of 2 adult children when she described more than 20 years with breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in 1990 at age 38 after insisting that a breast lump be checked, even though earlier examinations had seemed…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer Patient Story
This story was shared by the sister of a woman with aggressive lung cancer and bone metastases. The cancer involved the skull and spine and had caused a clavicle fracture. Around the same time, doctors also found a localized 4 cm breast cancer. She received…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Claudia’s Survivor Story
Claudia Kressmann was 51 when she reflected on breast cancer diagnosed at 35, while her 3 children were still young. She had felt a lump herself, and because of her age there was first hope that it would be something less serious. The diagnosis was breast…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Katia’s Survivor Story
Katia was 46 when lung cancer was found in an unexpected way. She first had an ovarian cyst emergency and abdominal pain that led to imaging. After surgery for peritonitis, a PET scan between Christmas and New Year 2014 showed what had initially seemed to be…
Read this storyBRCA1 Breast Cancer: Jasmin’s Patient Story
Jasmin Nussing was 26, living alone, and attending technical school when breast cancer was diagnosed at the end of 2012. Her first symptom was repeated greenish fluid from the breast. Her gynecologist examined her and performed ultrasound, while mammography…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Liz’s Patient Story
Jacques tells the story of his wife Liz’s lung cancer from the caregiver perspective. They had been together for 25 years when the diagnosis arrived. Jacques remembers the shock of hearing the words lung cancer and seeing Liz’s fear as they left the doctor’s…
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