Breast Cancer Patient Stories

A few years ago, when I was 46, something unusual showed up on my yearly mammogram. So they did an ultrasound and said I should come back every six months for monitoring for the next two years.

For 18 months, there was no change. Then, in April of 2023, I went for my last follow-up scan. When we finished, instead of sending me home, the radiologist came into the room to talk to me. I knew then that something wasn’t right.

She said there had been a change since my last scan. It looked like I had a malignancy in my right breast, and we would need a biopsy to be sure.

I was just beginning a new chapter of my life when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 at the age of 73.

Several months prior, my husband had passed away after a 12-year fight with prostate cancer. That left me alone in a large home with 13 rooms. Two of my girlfriends encouraged me to move to an apartment complex for seniors in Pittston, Pennsylvania, about two hours north of Philadelphia.

My name is Amy Wolf and I am a breast cancer survivor who was treated at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

Before my diagnosis, I worked with preschoolers, acting as an aid for children with autism. After going in for an annual physical, my doctor felt a lump in my left breast, but when she placed my hand on it, I couldn’t feel it.

My name is Maria and I’m a breast cancer survivor.

For decades, my healthcare routine was the same: When I scheduled my annual mammogram to screen for breast cancer, I also booked an appointment for a preventative transvaginal ultrasound. That’s because my sister survived a bout with uterine cancer 40 years ago, and our family history could put me at risk of developing the same cancer.