ITW n°112: Cécile - k fighter

Hello, today, Cécile aka Artémisia, 62 years old, visual artist, gives us HER fights, against 2 K of the breast, fought in 2000, then in 2016, a sacred warrior, who wishes to raise awareness as much as possible about vigilance, and especially about weapons to fight. You can also discover this inspiring fighter on her blog “Le Mystère K” here! Very nice discovery.

Let's get started:

Who are you ? First name: Cécile (Artemisia) Age: 62 Profession: Plastic Arts Teacher Where do you live: in Normandy Why do you agree to share your story today? To testify and inform all women that we must fight against this S... of K of the breast. What are your qualities (in a few words)? Artist, creative, decisive and combative What are your passions (in a few words)? All arts, I am a visual artist (drawing, painting, photo, video, installations), What K (what cancer - grade if you wish / stage ditto): in 2000 K lobular (remission), in 2016 K infiltrating ductal grade 2, it is not a recurrence but another! When was it discovered? How old were you ? in 2000: 45, in 2016: 61 Under what circumstances was it discovered? In June 2016: Control mammogram + ultrasound (like every year since my K in 2000): diagnosis everything is fine ma'am there is only mastosis! Ah good ? yes don't worry! All summer I worry anyway, it's strange this mastosis which wasn't there before! In September, worried, I went back to see the doctors and radiologist: but don't worry Madam, it's mastosis! I insist a lot, again Mamo+echo nothing mastose! Well, if you are worried, we will do a biopsy to reassure you! And there BINGO! I was right ! In the month of October Rose, month of breast K my whole city was in Pink I was told that I have CI grade 2 cancer!!!! Well done ! Moral: listen to your body, it seems that there are dogs now who detect the K in the breast, they might be more effective! For my K in 2000, I felt a lump in my breast, which had not been detected by the mammo! So BE CAREFUL! If you are currently undergoing treatment, or in remission (for how long?) So after, the journey of VR, Scanner, MRI, surgeon I was finally operated on December 2, 2016 (my birthday! Thank you), mastectomy left breast because what had been diagnosed as a mastosis was in fact the tumor of 8 cm! Can you summarize your (K fighter) story for us ? After these months of panic and waiting from June to December, 6 months, I decided

• already not to hide it, to tell those around me, to look for who I could count on (my family is in the south, I lost my husband two years ago, and my daughter lives in Paris), I am alone in Normandy and I needed to be surrounded.
• As I am an artist, create a blog with drawings and photos to inform my friends who are far away. I started this blog in October 2016 when I was told about this K and have been publishing one drawing and one HaiKuu per day since October.
• http://lemysterek.canalblog.com/
• Planning exhibitions of all my drawings in October Rose 2017 for my remission, and why not an edition..

What treatment did you have? chemo: if you have had it: (name of cocktails / number of sessions) 3 FEC 100 sessions every 3 weeks 12 Taxol (following the problems with Taxotère/Docétaxel): 12 sessions every week until June 2017 radiotherapy: if you have had it: (number of sessions) 6 weeks in July/August, holidays on the Normandy beaches will be nice, no right to sun or sea bathing! operation if you have had one (how long were you hospitalized): Mastectomy in December 2016 lymph node dissection. Three days of hospitalization and I was told “consider yourself lucky because in Paris we do the same operation on an outpatient basis, coming in the morning and leaving in the evening with the drains!” » Goops! What tips directly related to K do you want to share? (your feeling with the doctor, your good treatment organization plans, anything that seems useful to you ;))? 1/ chemo: (ex: your tips, the helmet, your affinities with nurses): Eat very light the day before. Helmet, and now with Taxol, hands and feet in the class, so impossible to draw and read, come accompanied by family or friends in my case. How did you live the day before, the day itself, the days after chemo? and what were your tips? Anxious in the morning, bad after the Fec nausea, better after the taxol (except the following night). Little Chinese gri-gri in my bag, photos, drawing books, painting materials 2/ hospital: (e.g. contact with nurses / doc / caregivers): Good but you have to impose your needs, I refuse to be on a bed in a room without a window and am forced each time to ask for an armchair in a room with a view! It's okay, they listen to me, at first I shed a few tears because it depresses me! A somewhat difficult contact with a replacement oncologist from Paris! 3/ “parallel” medicines, if you have done it (what disciplines, what were their benefits):

• Homeopathy very good, but it is better not to talk about it at the Center
• Paleo Diet
• Essential oils
• Sophrology
• Mediation
• Hatha Yoga
• Natural products

What did you do to clear your mind/clear your head (before chemo, surgery & co)? Draw, draw, draw Listening to Ella Fitzgerald on repeat in my ears, and after the operation Mickael Jackson! What practical “well-being/beauty” tips can you advise us? 1/ beauty: your essential products (e.g.: creams, varnishes, scars, oils, etc.) As many natural products as possible

• Coconut oil + essential oils for scar and body
• Castor oil for hair and nails
• Shea Butter, body
• Olive oil from time to time for the body
• Raspberry-colored silicon varnish for fingernails and hands
• Brewer's yeast in capsules (hair and nails
• Turmeric, every day in my kitchen, and in capsule form (healing, joints etc…great for everything)

2/ look, (e.g. your favorite chemo, hospital, every day look to feel good):

• Hosto: cool and flexible, always the same red and black checkered shirt (superstition?)
• Daily: Changes my look as soon as I go out, even to go shopping: wigs, hat, bonnets, makeup, lipstick, skirt (no more pants, I can't stand them anymore), very feminine, my daughter said to me "you do woman now! », before you have to believe that I was a teenager at 60 years old!

3/ daily (e.g. sport, food & co, meditation, reading, etc.)

• sport: take gym classes at the hospital twice a week, now I'm slowing down a little because of chemo every week, and I don't want to spend my life there.
• Flat bike and brisk walk on the beach, almost every day
• I tried Dragon-Boat and I love it, I want to sign up but you need a Medical certificate. (see my blog)
• Diet: organic as much as possible + Paleo diet, lots of fruits, vegetables, proteins, no processed products, no gluten or lactose (from time to time a little cheese QD even), cooks mainly in a Wok, and eats with chopsticks to eat more slowly (I'm not Asian, but I love their way of life)

4/ hair problem (eg: did you wear a wig, scarves, hats)

• mid-length hair at the beginning, cut at the announcement of the K to become aware and start the fight, cut into a brush at the first falls a month after the first chemo, then shaved after the first Taxol.
• Wig a first brown wig, pompously called capillary proythesis paid enough look for a hairdresser recommended by the K Center (but I have met women who paid three times more).
• A super platinum blonde wig of the same manufacture which suits me much better bought from a Black hairdresser, and paid a lot less
• Tomorrow I'm going to go for a red wig at Blaks-Afro
• Brown bangs under the cups
• Lots of hats and bonnets (see my blog)
• This summer I will try scarves
• +castor oil rubbed in +rosemary oil then kept overnight
• Homeopathy: Tallium acetium

Were you concerned about the views of others, were you afraid that their views would change? What did you do to counter it? - I have never been afraid of the gaze of others, on the contrary I play on my image, and I show it. Recently I have taken to going out with a shaved head. But I think this is due to the benefit of age, at your age I think I would never have dared, I was rather shy and introverted. What are the “nugget”/footed phrases (that you remember) that someone said to you during K and that you could have avoided? - I'm going to drink coffee with my colleagues, of course with a wig and makeup to look good "You look in great shape! When are you going back to work? » in an air of saying “lazy, we work and you come to taunt us, we thought you were in your bed! ", "Oh, do you do sports? it's recommended ? » “But if you play sports you could come to work!” » How did your loved ones support you?

• especially on the phone!
• My daughter, but she can't come every weekend
• My friends and girlfriends and colleagues (but we quickly sorted it out)
• The faithful who always send a message the day before chemo and afterwards, those who accompany me to appointments who suggest going shopping.

And what advice could you give to loved ones who accompany a K fighter? -Get news even a little MSM, a Like on KB, when I publish my blog, a little comment, don't call every day to ask if I'm okay, when is the next chemo, even though I have it already repeated ten times, and I put it on my blog! Don't call at mealtime because when I've spent an hour cooking my wok and finally put my feet under the table I don't want to hear my phone ring. Do you find out about K on the internet? -I am on My Breast Cancer network - The Essentials - At the beginning I went online more often, now less. But I found your blog while having insomnia at 4 a.m.! If so, does it make you feel good?

• Yes at the beginning, we're not alone in having a K, but it's scary too..
• It's reassuring because when we read about certain cases we say to ourselves that we're not doing so badly.

If so, what would be the useful (internet) links that helped you during K?

• Put above “My breast cancer network”, it’s light and we lift our spirits, we encourage each other the day before treatments, we laugh at night when we have insomnia! plus he has links, advice.
• Les Essentielles is more serious but there is good information.

What has the K changed in your life…?

• We put a lot of things into perspective
• We realize the beauty of life
• We understand the importance of friends and those around us
• We open up more to others
• I think it would be good to change your life afterwards! but at my age it's easier)
• Live my life as an artist fully and completely.
• I am much more feminine than before and pay attention to my look! (about time!)

Free field ;) tell us what you want (which might not be in my questions): I "took advantage" of this break, and my sick leave, to invest myself completely in my artistic life, I have already participated in three exhibitions since January 2017, I am planning a personal one in May, and I I plan to have several exhibitions of my some 300 drawings in October 2017, breast K month and “birthday and remission, I hope of my K”. I have just had a disappointment because the AntiK Center where I am being treated refused my plan to exhibit around thirty drawings, under the pretext that the drawings were too red!!!!!!! Too personal, and would not interest other breast cancer patients! I also gave the address of my blog, 10,000 page views, followed by more than 4,600 visitors who encourage and support me. This is a disappointment from the medical profession which does not understand poetry and the therapeutic benefit which could help many women.

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Thank you Cécile, for your precious testimony.

You can leave comments below.

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NEVER GIVE UP!!

Charlotte