After cancer, the fight continues

For women to reclaim their rights after the disease.

Helping women recover from the trials of cancer has become the driving force in my life.

To give them back their confidence, to help them face the disease, but also to find their place in a society that stigmatizes them as “ex-patients”.

On the occasion of October Rose, I wish to pay tribute to these warriors (500 new people per day in France) and raise public awareness by asking them to sign a manifesto for these women to reclaim their rights after the disease.

Scientific progress increases the survival rate and encourages patients to hope for a cure, after the treatments, however, during the long period of remission, the fight continues to find a life that will never be the same again.

Indeed, women who have had to cope with the disease will have to learn to live with the physical but also psychological sequelae linked to it. If life starts again, these women will have to fight every day to find their place. A battle conducted in silence out of respect for those who are no longer there … and for fear of being misunderstood by the entourage who is only too eager to turn the page.
To fight to succeed in saying goodbye to their carefree attitude, with the ever-present sword of Damocles over their heads.

To fight to rediscover, to assume again their femininity and to learn to reclaim a bruised body, traumatized by the scars, the hormonal treatments, and the reconstruction in a society where the perfect body and good health are primordial. A big challenge.

Fight to support treatments to prevent a relapse.

Fight for treatments to combat side effects.

To fight to mourn the loss of maternal capacity.

To fight to relearn how to love oneself and to be loved and to accept to look at oneself and for others to look upon you. Between pity and benevolence, it will be necessary to face the awkwardness, the fear that the word “cancer” provokes, which lead to loneliness. It will then be necessary to build trust and have the strength to meet new people in this complex context.

To fight against the double punishment at work where there is no place for the disease. Indeed, 1 in 4 cancer victims lose their job within 2 years of diagnosis. When you are lonely, being unemployed creates even more precariousness. The fight for social reintegration will be all the more difficult.

To fight to defend your rights as a full citizen and have the opportunity to project yourself into the future without any negative effects. Being able to borrow money from a bank without their past illness negatively influencing the decision or paying a higher price when they seek social protection from a complimentary insurance.

The life of women affected by cancer is therefore a bitter and misplaced battle after all the hardships already experienced.

Sign this manifesto to change the image of these warriors who have so much to teach us and who know the true price of life.
https://www.mesopinions.com/petition/sante/cancer-feminin-femmes-retrouvent-leurs-droits/50636

So that after cancer, women are not reduced to eternal victims and can find their place in a welcoming and caring society.