At 52, Virginie had everything going for her. As the mother of two children and recently re-married, her future looked bright. But one day in February in 2013, after a routine examination, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and her life fell apart. “I didn’t really understand what was happening to me,” said Virginie. But she was determined to fight even though the illness rocked her to the core.
In 2006, Stéphanie was 40 years old, with her partner and three young children, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her illness and four suspected relapses up-ended her family’s life for almost 10 years. “We didn’t know that we were undertaking a marathon.”
When a woman learns she has breast cancer, there is first the shock of the diagnosis and the fear of impending death. Then there are the possible treatments: radiation therapy, chemotherapy, mastectomy, and hormone therapy. That is another challenge, one that, in addition to its many side effects, has an impact on a women’s self-esteem.
