2023-10-11 06:04:03
When the diagnosis fell in May 2022, Amélie Lebrat, a Marseille teacher, wife and mother of two children aged 10 and 13, was “almost relieved“We are finally putting words to our ills.
“I had had a lot of pain in my chest for several months, it was red.she confides. But the exams yield nothing. Then I started to feel a lump and my breast became deformed. This time, the mammogram revealed a mass. Immediately, I had a biopsy and an MRI and we detected breast cancer. My gynecologist was reassuring, we discovered it early. Except that a week later, they found bone metastases. We then move from breast cancer which is well treated to a chronic cancer which is poorly cured. It scared me, I was very afraid of death and it reminded me of my father, who died at 49 from colon cancer, when I was 15.“
Nine months of treatment
Everything comes together. Almost five months of chemotherapy at Clairval Hospital, mastectomy, immediate breast reconstruction, targeted therapy and 25 radiation sessions until last February. In all, nine months of heavy treatment, a year of sick leave, a body and a life changed forever.
“I lost my hair but I was prepared for it and accepted it well. That meant it worked. It was my husband who shaved me. I didn’t wear a wig, it’s too heavy. Either I didn’t hide my head, or I wore a kind of fringe that you hang on a hat or scarf. I had moments of fatigue but my children never saw me at the bottom of the bed. They could count on me for homework, I managed the house with Cédric’s unconditional help. This is my pillar, we form a team. My therapy was to enjoy every day, see people, go out, dance. Today, I am in remission, breathes Amélie, half reassured. The tumor and metastases are no longer visible in the images, it was a lot of joy. But it can come back, elsewhere. In August something flashed in my hip, I have another check-up soon. I remain in fear.“
A fear that the young mother, now on hormone therapy to avoid recurrence, transforms into strength. “The disease took my breast but not my life! I remain positive and dynamic, I have hope. I want to travel, no longer procrastinate and above all celebrate as many birthdays as possible with Maëline and Nolan. I have no more time to waste“, she says.
Well surrounded
Without feeling guilty, Amélie now takes time for herself and sometimes leaves the house for a few days. “I needed to find myself but also to testify and get closer to associations. I created a page on Instagram to meet women who were going through the same ordeal. I was well surrounded by my family, my friends, even neighbors and parents of students, but with these women, it’s different. We understand each other better, she admits. We do sports together and courses like equine therapy, phototherapy, yoga… It feels good to let go.“
Since May, the school teacher has even returned to work. A therapeutic part-time which allows him to find his previous rhythm, his colleagues, his students, while continuing his treatments.
This lifelong struggle which commands admiration, Amélie explains with humility and tenderness in Les Carnets de Rose by Serena Davis, a book published by L’Alchimiste. “It is a collection of twenty testimonies from women and men affected by cancer, informed by a psychologist specializing in oncology. A journey on the path to resilience and screening awareness support“, she describes, as having a mission to help and raise awareness for all women.
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