Surgery: 1,095 Real Stories
1,095 stories match surgery. 777 of them mention chemotherapy.
Breast Cancer: Angelika’s Survivor Story
Angelika Keller was 64 at the time of her interview in June 2023. She was married, cared for her husband who had paraplegia, and had retired 2 years earlier than planned after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2022. She had felt no symptoms, so she was very…
Read this storyStage IV Kidney/Renal Cancer: Cécile’s Patient Story
Cécile was 57, a nurse, married, and the mother of 2 adult children when bloodwork for ENT problems showed kidney abnormalities. A CT scan found that one kidney was diseased, and within a week she had surgery to remove it. Further testing then found many…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Waltraud’s Survivor Story
Waltraud Amann was a single mother of a 15-year-old son when breast cancer was diagnosed in 1995. She had felt a lump in her right breast and immediately suspected something malignant. Her gynecologist confirmed the concern, and Waltraud went into the…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Julie’s Survivor Story
Julie was 73 and already knew what cancer treatment could mean, having survived lymphoma in 2004. In February 2015, she developed what seemed like the flu, but her fever stayed high. Her general practitioner ordered a chest X-ray, then quickly connected her…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Susanne’s Survivor Story
Susanne Ricke was 61 when breast cancer was found during routine mammography screening in 2022. She had kept up with screening because breast cancer had affected both her mother and sister, and because she had already gone through treatment for a malignant…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Carole’s Survivor Story
Carole shares the lung cancer experience of her mother, who was 83 when the illness was discovered. During the winter of 2015, her mother had a long-lasting cold or flu-like illness and did not feel well. Because she had previously had lymphoma in 2004, the…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ulrike’s Survivor Story
Ulrike Blessinger was 40 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer was already familiar in her family, so she had thought about the subject before, but the diagnosis still changed her life. She found some comfort in having choices and a clear…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Thierry’s Survivor Story
Thierry was 55 when unusual neurologic symptoms led to his lung cancer diagnosis in May 2014. He had headaches for a week, seemed “strange” to people around him, struggled to handle objects, felt numbness around his mouth, and behaved unusually while driving…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Liz’s Survivor Story
Liz was 43 when symptoms that seemed unrelated to her lungs led to a cancer diagnosis. In late 2014 and January 2015, she had heavy, painful legs and swollen ankles. Blood tests showed a clear drop in red blood cells. Because her doctor was worried about a…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marie-Ève’s Survivor Story
Marie-Ève was a mother of 3 young children when she faced breast cancer 16 years before sharing her story. Her treatment path included chemotherapy, mastectomy, radiation therapy, reconstruction, and hormone therapy. She described those treatments as…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ana’s Patient Story
Ana was 45 when breast cancer was found during her annual gynecology review. A small lump appeared on ultrasound even though mammography had missed it. Further palpation and biopsy showed breast cancer described to her as aggressive. An extension study found…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Séverine’s Survivor Story
Séverine was diagnosed with breast cancer when her daughter was only 8 months old, just 7 months after her own mother had died of cancer. The diagnosis made her think immediately about survival and about being present for her child. She responded by taking…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Corinne’s Patient Story
Corinne was 54 when breast cancer became a central part of her life. Her story describes more than a single treatment moment: it includes repeated breast cancer experiences over several years and the emotional work of continuing forward after each step…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Sylvie’s Patient Story
Sylvie was 40 when she faced breast cancer. Her care began with breast-conserving surgery, and her story later included treatment for recurrence. The experience meant moving through more than 1 phase of cancer care, rather than closing the chapter after the…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Béatrice’s Survivor Story
Béatrice’s breast cancer was found very early, when the tumor was described as only 2 mm. Because it was detected at such a small size, her treatment path was different from many longer breast cancer journeys. She had a mastectomy with immediate…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Danielle’s Survivor Story
Danielle was 68 when she faced Stage II breast cancer. Her treatment path was intensive and included a mastectomy, chemotherapy, 5 weeks of radiation therapy, and immunotherapy described as a way to lower the chance of recurrence. The physical side of…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Petra’s Patient Story
Petra Thomas was 32 when she described life 2 years after being diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. Blood in her stool first appeared about 9 months before diagnosis, but she was initially reassured that she was too young for cancer and probably had…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Kirsten’s Survivor Story
Kirsten Seifert was 52, married, and working as a freelance sports trainer when breast cancer was diagnosed. She had 3 adult children and received the diagnosis about 1 year before rehabilitation. Her gynecologist first advised immediate surgery, but Kirsten…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
Laura Filip was 34 when she was living through treatment for rectal cancer diagnosed in December 2022. Blood in her stool during summer 2022 led to testing, including a colonoscopy that found the tumor. A coronavirus infection delayed her hospital admission…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Ute’s Survivor Story
Ute Schuhmacher was 63 when she looked back on 17 years with breast cancer and recurrence. Her first diagnosis came in 1996, when her children were still young. Fear for them was one of her greatest worries. Several operations were needed from the beginning…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Joachim’s Survivor Story
Joachim Braun was 55 and married when he described an early rectal cancer found 5 years earlier. One day at age 50, he noticed blood in his stool. After waiting a few days and hoping it would stop, he went to a doctor, who immediately referred him for…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Margarete’s Patient Story
Margarete Reichle was 78 when colorectal cancer was discovered only recently. She first noticed blood in her stool, pain, and dramatic weight loss. Because she was taking blood-thinning medication, she initially thought the bleeding might be related to that…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sonja’s Patient Story
Sonja Zeiss-Wengler was 51 when she described breast cancer diagnosed at the end of 2006. She had been under regular gynecologic monitoring because of a hard area in the breast. When her gynecologist noticed that something had changed, she was referred for…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Uwe’s Patient Story
Uwe Dierks was 63 when he shared the long-term effects of rectal cancer diagnosed in 2011. For about 1 year before diagnosis, he had worsening bowel problems, nighttime toilet trips, bleeding, and weight loss. Colonoscopy found a tumor, and his doctor was…
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