A Life-Altering Diagnosis in Thurgau
Ines Wagner lives in Hüttwilen, in the canton of Thurgau. The 57-year-old mother of two has transformed her personal journey through incurable illness into a published work titled Letrozol und Erdbeere. The book chronicles her daily life, medical treatments, and moments of joy following a life-altering diagnosis in July 2023.
The release of the publication coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, capturing a narrative that began on an ordinary summer day over three years ago. After medical evaluations, Wagner learned she had metastatic breast cancer. While modern medicine offers treatments to manage the condition, it remains currently incurable, upending her daily reality.
The Daily Toll of Treatment and Routine
Rather than succumbing to bitterness, Wagner focused her energy on adapting to her new circumstances. Every evening, she takes a tablet of Letrozol designed to suppress the proliferation of cancer cells. Early in her treatment regimen, she also underwent radiation therapy for a metastasis located in her pelvic bone. The medication brings severe side effects, including persistent bone and joint pain, particularly affecting her hands. To counteract the threat of osteoporosis, she maintains a strict focus on physical movement.
Maintaining a structured daily routine forms a core part of her approach. She adjusted her diet by reducing sugar consumption and baking her own bread. She retains a connection to professional life by working a 20 percent schedule in customer service, a significant reduction from her previous full-time employment. Establishing personal boundaries and accepting help required a conscious learning process, as she previously tended to shoulder burdens entirely on her own.
Finding Meaning in Strawberry Moments
The title of her book stems from her concept of “strawberry moments,” which represent the sweet, often overlooked details of everyday existence. Whether encountering a butterfly during a walk, feeling the warmth of sunlight, or engaging in a meaningful conversation, these fragments provide her with grounding presence. The diagnosis taught her to abandon long-term planning in favor of taking life one day at a time.
Her adult children, aged 25 and 20, serve as pillars of support. To remove the stigma surrounding her condition, she adopted an attitude of complete transparency with friends and family, inviting them to ask any questions they wished.
Rejecting Statistical Forecasts for the Present
When considering the future, Wagner deliberately avoids asking her physicians about statistical life expectancy or the remaining duration of her medication’s efficacy. She notes that numerical estimates offer no practical benefit and only fuel anxiety, preferring instead to concentrate her energy entirely on the present.
Her advice to other individuals facing similar diagnoses centers on self-awareness, allowing adequate time for personal decisions, and pursuing paths that align with individual needs. Through her writing and daily routine, she continues to prioritize the deliberate collection of small, meaningful experiences, anchored by a diagnosis received over three years ago.
