Surveillance: 191 Real Stories
191 stories match surveillance. 147 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Michelle’s Survivor Story
Michelle Cappel was a 40-year-old fifth-grade teacher when years of chronic constipation, bloating, and worsening abdominal pain finally led to a Stage IV colorectal cancer diagnosis. Her symptoms had been blamed on antidepressants, possible celiac disease…
Read this storyInvasive Lobular Carcinoma: Lucinda’s Patient Story
Lucinda Rudolph was 68 when an annual breast cancer screening in April 2020 led to a frightening local assessment. She had been treated for breast cancer 10 years earlier with lumpectomy and radiation, and this new cancer was initially described as…
Read this storyStage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Cynthia’s Survivor Story
Cynthia Jordan never missed her annual mammogram, but dense breast tissue made her cancer difficult to find. In 2018, a mammogram showed an architectural distortion, and follow-up imaging and biopsy led to a diagnosis of Stage IIB invasive ductal carcinoma…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Angelica’s Survivor Story
Angelica Allen’s follow-up story focused on how life changed after Stage III bowel cancer. She was diagnosed in 2018 at age 38, after exhaustion, iron deficiency, bloating, bowel changes, and intermittent bleeding led to emergency evaluation. Treatment began…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Angelica’s Survivor Story
Angelica Allen was 38 when she was diagnosed with Stage III bowel cancer after months of symptoms that were easy to misattribute. She had iron deficiency, severe exhaustion that lasted 7 or 8 months, bloating, bowel-movement changes, and intermittent…
Read this storyStage I Lung Cancer: Terri’s Survivor Story
Terri Ann DiJulio’s lung cancer was first found by accident after she went to the emergency room with chest pressure. Her heart was fine, but imaging showed a nodule in her right lung. The nodule stayed stable for about 2 years, then changed. During surgery…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Bart’s Survivor Story
Bart Wilson was 37 when lower abdominal pain and blood in his stool led to a colonoscopy in January 2020. Doctors found a large tumor blocking much of his colon, and he needed emergency surgery. The next day, he learned he had Stage IV colon cancer that had…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda was 29 when light IBS-like symptoms and blood in her stool began. She immediately asked whether it could be colon cancer, but was told it was probably hemorrhoids, a fissure, grief, anxiety, or stress. Her symptoms persisted for almost a year. Blood…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Amy’s Survivor Story
Amy was 34 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIIB colorectal cancer associated with Lynch syndrome. Treatment was described as a marathon in 3 legs. The first leg was 6 weeks of chemotherapy plus radiation. After a break, she underwent a 9.5-hour operation…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Haley’s Survivor Story
Haley P. was 37, recently postpartum, and raising a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old when symptoms she kept explaining away led to a Stage IIIC colon cancer diagnosis. During pregnancy and after delivery, she had constipation, stomach pain, shortness of breath…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany was a labor and delivery nurse, Pilates instructor, wife, and mother of twins when shortness of breath and right-sided pain led to a long diagnostic workup during the pandemic. A bronchoscopy was followed by a collapsed lung and hospital stay. Imaging…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Carmen’s Survivor Story
Carmen Susman was active and felt healthy when urinary symptoms unexpectedly led to a Stage IV colorectal cancer diagnosis. In November 2021, he had a renal ultrasound to check for kidney stones. Instead, the test found a mass on his liver. Follow-up tests…
Read this storyStage II HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Lanie’s Patient Story
Lanie Jones had already survived adrenal carcinoma as a toddler when she found a breast lump in July 2008, shortly before starting nursing school. At first, she delayed the ultrasound because she was 24 and could not imagine having cancer again. When the lump…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Dan’s Patient Story
Dan was a young father with 2 daughters when symptoms that seemed like a stubborn cold began in November 2018. The cold did not go away. Instead, he developed shortness of breath, chest tightness, and lost his voice. Steroids and inhalers did not help, and no…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Feyama’s Survivor Story
Feyama Ashby, a quality and compliance coordinator in MD Anderson’s diagnostic labs, noticed pain in her sternum that extended into her right breast. She initially thought she had pulled a muscle while working out, but the timing lined up with her annual…
Read this storyStage IV MET Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy’s third video focuses on living with Stage IV squamous cell lung cancer after several years of treatment. During her earlier Keytruda treatment period, she developed a painful bone metastasis in the femur and hips. The pain became severe enough that she…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Almudena’s Survivor Story
Almudena was a medical student doing hospital rotations when rectal bleeding pushed her into the patient role. She had noticed blood in her stool 6 months earlier, at age 25, but was reassured that it was probably hemorrhoids. When bleeding happened again, a…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Dan’s Survivor Story
Dan Gut was 39 when symptoms he had ignored for about 18 months led to a major colorectal cancer prevention surgery. He had changes in bowel habits and blood in his stool, often after eating ice cream, and thought he might be lactose intolerant. When the…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Shyreece’s Patient Story
Shyreece’s fourth video focuses on the lessons she learned as a Black woman living with Stage IV lung cancer and on the advocacy that grew from her experience. She described a frightening beginning: within about 2 weeks, she went from symptoms and hospital…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Abby’s Survivor Story
Abby Kanarek was 60 when a backache led to an X-ray that showed a lung mass. Soon after, temporary leg numbness and loss of movement on the left side of her body sent her to emergency care, where scans found the lung mass plus a large brain tumor and 5…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley’s lung cancer treatment changed because genomic testing found an EGFR-positive cancer with the T790M marker. This part of her story focuses on how she was able to start osimertinib, also called Tagrisso, soon after it became FDA-approved for her cancer…
Read this storyNon-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Susan’s Survivor Story
Susan Taylor was 71 when complications from a double knee replacement unexpectedly led to an early lung cancer diagnosis. After the knee surgery, she developed blood clots in both legs and lungs. A later chest X-ray found a mass in her left lung, which Susan…
Read this storyNo confirmed cancer diagnosis / benign breast cysts: Terri’s Patient Story
Terri Overton was 40 when she finally received the breast screening she had been requesting for years. Her mother had battled breast cancer, and an aunt and a cousin had died from it, so Terri had asked about mammograms at ages 30 and 35. She was told to wait…
Read this storyStage I EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley Stringer was 34 when shortness of breath on the treadmill led to a lung cancer diagnosis. An X-ray showed a suspicious spot on her left lung, and biopsy confirmed Stage IA adenocarcinoma. Tumor testing showed the cancer was EGFR-positive. Because only…
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