Surveillance: 191 Real Stories
191 stories match surveillance. 147 of them mention surgery.
Stage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Nahilys’s Patient Story
Nahilys had previously experienced thyroid cancer when, one year later, she was diagnosed with stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer. A niece had also had breast cancer. Nahilys sought a second opinion from a more experienced doctor and approached the new…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Xavier’s Patient Story
In spring 2022, Xavier Sanders was placed on Air Force reserve duty after repeatedly testing positive for COVID-19. Further evaluation found a spot in his lung, and a follow-up 3 months later showed that it had doubled in size. Biopsy confirmed cancer, and a…
Read this storyStage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Robert’s Survivor Story
Robert Tumanic’s lung cancer was found through follow-up after a pulmonary embolism in 2015. A CT scan showed areas that needed monitoring, and 10 months later they were confirmed as multifocal Stage I non-small cell lung cancer. An oncologist recommended…
Read this storyBalance After Cancer – Is it Even Possible? (Part 1 of 2)
An anonymized 72-year-old man was 5 years beyond surgery for Stage III lung cancer. The operation left him with one lung, yet he was described as breathing normally and remaining able to walk. His lung cancer was in remission. The raw text did not identify…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Michael’s Patient Story
Michael O’Donnell is a Vietnam War veteran who receives his lung-cancer testing and treatment through the Dallas VA, with access to a lung-cancer specialist from UT Southwestern when needed. His cancer was Stage IV at diagnosis. He had smoked until two weeks…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Marnie’s Patient Story
Marnie Clark first noticed that one leg felt unusual. The problem became impossible to dismiss when the leg became paralyzed. Early tests focused on the leg and found nothing, so Marnie and her husband paid for additional examinations rather than continue…
Read this storyWe’re Back! Q&A With Breathe Deep TOGETHER Team Captains
This patient was shocked and frightened when doctors diagnosed Stage I lung cancer. Even though the disease had been found early, the words “I had cancer” brought immediate questions about whether chemotherapy or radiation might be needed and whether the…
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 storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: François’s Patient Story
Françoise tells the caregiver side of her husband François’s small cell lung cancer. At the announcement, she felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath her. Every morning, she woke hoping it had been a nightmare, then had to face the reality of the…
Read this storyNon-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jode’s Patient Story
Jode tells the caregiver story of her husband, who was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in 2010 and was initially given only 3 to 6 months to live. He received 33 cycles of chemotherapy over 1 year. During that first year, he was often bedridden, did…
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 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 storyHormone-dependent bifocal invasive lobular breast cancer with nodule disappearance after follow-up
A 59-year-old woman was diagnosed in July 2018 with hormone-dependent, grade II bifocal invasive lobular breast cancer. The cancer involved 2 nodules, one measuring 18 mm and the other 15 mm. After several oncology visits, she decided not to follow the…
Read this storyLung Cancer: François’s Survivor Story
François was 62 when he shared his experience of lung cancer. The first clear warning sign came at work, when he coughed blood into a white tissue. He waited 4 days before telling his wife, Françoise, because he did not want to frighten her. His doctor…
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 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 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 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 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 storyColorectal Cancer: Annemarie’s Survivor Story
Annemarie Merscher was already used to close medical monitoring before colorectal cancer was found. Because of polyps, she had colonoscopies and rectoscopies every 6 months from 2006 to 2014. She also lived with a donor liver and immunosuppressive medication…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Karl’s Survivor Story
Karl Bergmann was 82 when he reflected on rectal cancer first diagnosed 23 years earlier. Blood in his stool initially seemed like hemorrhoids to him, but his wife and daughter pushed him to be examined. Colonoscopy found rectal cancer. Surgery removed the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Richard’s Survivor Story
Richard Linde was 61, married, and a father of 2 when he described colorectal cancer diagnosed 2 years earlier. He had not felt generally ill. The warning sign was repeated blood in his stool, which led him to contact his family doctor after 3 days…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Johanna’s Patient Story
Johanna Vogel was a 24-year-old student living with familial adenomatous polyposis, or FAP, an inherited condition that can fill the colon with polyps and greatly increase colorectal cancer risk. Her father died young from colorectal cancer, and his illness…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Gerlinde’s Survivor Story
Gerlinde Zeigert was 59, in a long-term partnership, and a former teacher and principal when she described life after hereditary colorectal cancer. Because her brother and a cousin had developed colorectal cancer early, she had already been advised to attend…
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