Surveillance: 191 Real Stories
191 stories match surveillance. 147 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jason’s Survivor Story
Jason Randall was 35 in 2018 when severe cramping and inability to move his bowels led to scans showing Stage IV rectosigmoid colorectal cancer. He had a large tumor where the rectum and colon meet, and cancerous lesions covered about 80% of his liver. His…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Ivy’s Survivor Story
Ivy E. was 47 when neck pain and trouble straightening her elbow led to an unexpected Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. Doctors first thought the symptoms might be an overuse injury. Imaging of the elbow showed a mass involving the joint and bone. After…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jelena’s Survivor Story
Jelena was 34, healthy, and running half marathons when she began noticing unusual digestive changes. Her gas smelled different, then she saw blood in her stool. Because colorectal cancer did not run in her family and she felt otherwise well, she first…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Deborah’s Patient Story
Deborah Persinger was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 after bronchitis-like symptoms would not go away and early X-rays and tests did not explain the problem. A local thoracic surgeon gave her a poor 5-year survival estimate, and she asked to be treated at…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay McCoy was 48 when a scheduled executive physical and routine colonoscopy unexpectedly found Stage II colon cancer. His wife, a family medicine physician, arranged the colonoscopy because screening recommendations had shifted to begin at age 45. During the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jim’s Patient Story
Jim Bromwich was 36 when mild abdominal cramps and a small amount of blood in his stool pushed him to ask for a colonoscopy. He had been active and healthy, and an initial doctor reassured him that colon cancer was unlikely at his age. His GP still offered a…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Chantal’s Survivor Story
Chantal was 24 and already knew she carried a BRCA1 mutation when she felt a sudden painful lump during a beach trip. Just 1 month earlier, her preventive MRI had looked normal. Because the lump was visible and clearly new, she sought testing quickly. Biopsy…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie was 32 when years of stomach pain, bloating, feeling run down, and low iron finally led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis. She did not have blood in her stool, which made colon cancer feel unlikely to her at first. Doctors initially attributed…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Debra’s Survivor Story
Debra Haberstroh went to the emergency room over the 2023 New Year’s holiday after her oxygen level dropped to 85%. Because she had asthma and felt poorly, the emergency physician ordered a CT scan to look for pneumonia. Instead, the scan found a tumor in her…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Barbara’s Survivor Story
Barbara was an active, health-conscious woman who did not fit the stereotype many people imagine for colon cancer. Her first symptoms were digestive: food felt like it was just sitting in her gut, she had trouble processing meals, and she became extremely…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Multiple primaries: metastatic Breast Cancer + Colon/Colorectal Cancer: Sherri’s Patient Story
Sherri was a retired Air Force member, therapist, and mother of 3 when shortness of breath after a Costa Rica trip became impossible to ignore. At the emergency room, her oxygen level was dangerously low and her blood counts were falling, leading to…
Read this storyStage II MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Shannon’s Survivor Story
Shannon was 29 when severe pain after eating eventually led to a Stage IIA colon cancer diagnosis. The pain began in late 2014 and was first treated as an ulcer, then linked to gallbladder problems. Her gallbladder was removed in January 2015, but the pain…
Read this storyStage III MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 28 when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. She had a 5 cm ulcerated tumor, and the standard path discussed at first would have included chemotherapy, chemoradiation, and surgery. That plan carried major concerns for her, including…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda Peters first noticed rectal bleeding after the birth of her son in 2014. She was told it was a fissure, then later that bleeding after childbirth was likely hemorrhoids. Over the next several years, the bleeding kept returning and eventually worsened…
Read this storyCancer Researcher Becomes Cancer Survivor
J. Mark Brown was working as a research scientist when a colonoscopy in 2013 found a large, fast-growing tumor in his colon. He also had ulcerative colitis. Surgery removed his colon and the tumor, and pathology established Stage III colorectal cancer. Mark…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Danielle’s Patient Story
Danielle Archer was 40 when worsening constipation, abdominal pain, and a feeling that something was off led to a colonoscopy and endoscopy on December 31, 2018. During the colonoscopy, doctors found a bleeding 7-centimeter mass in the upper sigmoid area…
Read this storyStage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Thomas was 33 when she felt a lump in her left breast. She had no breast cancer history in her family and had checked her breasts regularly, so the finding was frightening. Imaging and biopsy confirmed breast cancer, and her breast surgeon told her…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Susan’s Survivor Story
Susan was 72 when she shared a breast cancer history spanning more than 20 years. Her first diagnosis began when she was 50 and her husband, a physician, felt a hard pea-sized lump in her left breast. A fine needle aspiration incorrectly came back negative…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Lauren’s Survivor Story
Lauren had years of worsening breathing problems that were treated as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, sinus infections, and upper respiratory infections. By late 2021, she had high fevers, a chronic wheeze, and a collapsed lung. She pushed for a CT scan…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Britney’s Patient Story
Britney Beadle was 18 and still in high school when she found a breast lump in February 2015. An ultrasound and mammogram were arranged, but she was told 18-year-olds do not get breast cancer. A few months later, the lump had grown and her nipple inverted…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Spill’s symptoms began when she was 8 months pregnant: constipation, blood in her stool, appetite changes, fatigue, weight loss, cramping, and a strong feeling that something was wrong. For months, she was repeatedly told the symptoms were likely…
Read this storyStage I Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa’s Survivor Story
Melissa Berry was 42 when routine high-risk screening found Stage I triple-negative breast cancer. Breast cancer ran strongly on her mother’s side, and Melissa had learned she carried a BRCA mutation. Because of that, she was being followed closely with MRI…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle Cappel was first diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in 2017. Initial treatment included chemotherapy and curative-intent surgery, and she reached no evidence of disease for about 2.5 years. As she approached the 3-year mark, she developed a…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Megan’s Survivor Story
Megan-Claire Chase was diagnosed with Stage II invasive lobular breast cancer after symptoms such as green bruises, brittle hair, sudden weight gain, and a left-breast mass. Her doctors later believed the cancer may have been growing for 8 to 10 years and had…
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