First of all I'm really sorry to hear about your diagnosis, I understand how it feels like to go through this journey. My wife is a survivor, she was diagnosed 2 years ago, it was an overwhelming time for us as we had just returned from a long vacation.
As a supportive husband I wanted to understand her situation better and I took upon myself to read alot of medical journal pull up alot of resources and also pick the brain of some friends who were experts in the medical field. I will try share some of the info I got and make them as simple as I can:
Stage 0: At this point , the cancer hasn't spread from where it started, it is just like it’s sitting at one place confined. You might hear Doctors might call this """"in situ,""""which means the cancerous cells are in their original position
Stage 1: At this stages the cancer has begun to spread lil bit , but not that much, kinda like it’s contained, and it hasn’t gone too far from original position.
Stage 2: at this point the cancer is spreading but still hasn’t moved that further, it’s still around the locality of it’s origin and specific lymph nodes, doctors break this down into stages 2A and 2B depending on how much it has spread.
Stage 3: At this stage the cancer is more advanced and it might be big, or has spread to farther lymph nodes or tissues.
Stage 4: This is most advanced stage of the cancer, at this point it might have spread to organs and other systems or parts of the body which is far from where the cancer developed..
I want you to know that this is just a phase of your life which will hopefully soon fade away, I am sending you all the warm hugs, prayers and strength. You’ll definitely overcome this!🙌