Information about breast cancer
It's not just pink - women testify about their breast cancer story
Some women testify about their breast cancer story. Check out the stories of Els, Denise, Jeannin, Christelle and Irène.
Els has been living with breast cancer for more than 20 years.
Since 2022, there have been metastases in her peritoneum. She tries to live mostly in the now.
"Cancer is part of my daily life. I live more today and tomorrow."
Denise was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2020
Fortunately at an early stage. So far, everything remains stable.
"It went from, 'oh, that's not too bad,' to 'oy, this is really serious,'" he said.
Jeannin has been living with breast cancer for 9 years and with metastases for 5 years.
She draws strength from her love of flower arranging and remains positive despite the constant threat of relapse.
"You can always be in a relapse, but I try to push that away from me."
Christelle was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer when she was 34.
At 40, the cancer returned, but after treatment, she is again in remission.
"Théo looked at me and said, 'Mommy, are you sick?' He had understood without us having to say it."
Irène was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011.
Ten years later came a lung metastasis. But she does not sit still.
"I forgot about my cancer and thought, I'm not going to die because I'm moving," he said.
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Oligometastatic breast cancer
When breast cancer metastasizes, there are still many treatment options. With only a few distant metastases, you can sometimes survive for 10 years or more, and exceptionally even be cured.
Fear of relapse after breast cancer
Once the treatments are over, everyone breathes a sigh of relief, except you, who have survived the cancer. Your body doesn't feel the same, but most of all, sometimes the fear of the cancer returning creeps up on you. Cancer instills fear. Especially in the first year after diagnosis, but also later, especially during check-ups, fear of relapse sometimes rears its ugly head. This is normal. The majority of all cancer survivors face it regularly.
Hereditary breast cancer is not a doomsday scenario; there are solutions
Ten percent of all breast cancers are hereditary. That means there are abnormal genes in the hereditary material that greatly increase the risk of breast cancer. The best-known breast cancer genes are BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA stands for BReastCAncer). They are passed down from generation to generation. Men can also inherit these genes and pass them on to their offspring. Moreover, both breast cancer genes are dominant. If one of your parents carries the gene, you have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it.
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