Working with metastatic breast cancer
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Today, Ann is 47 and has already received several diagnoses. In 2021, she experiences her first relapse, which unfortunately will not be her last. The metastasis makes her reflect on what she really wants in life. The job of home nurse is demanding and requires a lot of evening and weekend work. She decides to stop working as an independent home nurse and, exceptionally, stays at home for a few months. In August of that year, she starts working part-time as a nurse at the hospital in Geraardsbergen. It is not unusual for her to have radiation therapy on Friday and show up at work without fail on Monday morning. "Staying at home for too long makes me unhappy; I love being around people too much."
Two years after her first relapse, she receives more bad news: another relapse. And it doesn't stop there. In 2024, she is told that her breast cancer has spread even further. She jokes that she is like a Christmas tree, lighting up everywhere in her body during a scan.
Working in healthcare while being a cancer patient yourself is not easy. No one can tell that she is ill, and she spends all day caring for patients, some of whom also have cancer. Work tires her, but it also gives her energy. She is surrounded by wonderful colleagues at work, and it is precisely these colleagues who give her the boost she needs to keep going.
Some colleagues don't understand why she continues to work in her situation. People tell her she should "enjoy life" more. But life goes on as usual: her husband works and her children go to school. The most important thing she wants to convey is that she still has a life, even with metastatic breast cancer and the necessary treatments. It's about finding a balance between what still gives her energy. She wants to enjoy today above all else, because tomorrow is not promised.
Ann wrote a poem about it herself:
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is uncertain
Embrace
Gentle
Courageous
Gather memories
Seek out the light
And shine today
Celebrate life
Because tomorrow is not promised to us
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