I discovered a lump in my right breast in May 2012. It wasn’t at all painful. I called my mother to tell her about it and I remember saying that I wouldn’t go see a doctor because there was no chance of me getting cancer at my age. My mother didn’t share my reaction; she told me to make an appointment with my family doctor as soon as possible! My aunt (her sister) had breast cancer 30 years ago, so she didn’t take this symptom lightly.

So I went to see my doctor. He didn’t want to take any chances. He transferred my file to Rivière-du-Loup so that I could have an ultrasound. I waited three weeks for my appointment. During that time, I was wondering what was going on but I wasn’t really afraid; to me, cancer didn’t seem possible.

I went to my appointment by myself, convinced that it was a cyst or something else benign. During the ultrasound, the radiologist told me that she should do a biopsy the same day. At that moment I felt that maybe this was taking a new twist… I remember it like it was yesterday!

The following week I was at work when my GP’s secretary called to ask me to see the doctor right away. I wasn’t able to go immediately, so I left work and went home. I went to see him the next day.

During the appointment, I could feel that my doctor was very uncomfortable. When he finally told me that I had breast cancer, I burst into tears; I just couldn’t help it. He told me that the rest of the follow-up would be done with the team at the hospital in Rivière-du-Loup.

That’s where I met with my surgeon. After an examination, he told me we should start the treatment protocol with an operation. Less than a week later, I had a partial mastectomy and my lymph nodes were removed for analysis. I was also tested to see if it was a genetic cancer. It wasn’t.

A month after the operation, I started chemotherapy treatments; one session every three weeks. Mentally, I was not doing well at all. At the time, I was a single mother with a two-and-a-half year old and I remember saying to myself: “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Fortunately, I had psychological support quickly after my diagnosis, with a social worker. I also had my mother’s support. This helped me a lot, even though I was harbouring a lot of anger that still hasn’t left me 10 years later. I still get counselling for that.

My son knew I was ill, but he was so young that he didn’t realize how serious my condition was. Today, he doesn’t even remember it.

Among the many challenges that breast cancer brings, I found it very upsetting to see my body change so much. I was a smoker at the time but quit as soon as I found out I had cancer, in order to give myself every chance. I also started taking cortisone, which caused me to gain about 60 pounds. Because cortisone makes you swell, I didn’t recognize myself. My face was as round as the moon. I felt that something had completely taken over my body against my will.

But what affected me most was the loss of my beautiful long, curly hair. People don’t always think about it, but your eyelashes and eyebrows fall out too. It was a real shock.

I stopped working soon after my diagnosis, because in my case everything happened very quickly. Fortunately, I had insurance that helped me during my disability period.

I was very tired during the chemotherapy treatments: it took me a whole week to recover from a session, and I was completely non-functional. My mother helped me a lot, and my babysitter at the time looked after my son on weekends. Afterwards, I had to have radiation treatments from Monday to Friday for a month. I had to go to Rimouski to have them. It was a 40-minute drive each way. Every day. Plus, the sessions were really hard; they burned and discoloured my skin, my armpits were all blackened. During this time I got the results of my lymph node analysis. The news was good, none of them were affected. I developed a beautiful friendship with one of the oncology nurses. Even today, we get together often.

When the radiation treatment was finished, I rested for a month. The doctor then prescribed a gradual return to work but my progress was slower than expected. Everything I did was exhausting.

Even after a decade, I am still afraid of a recurrence. The first few years I was followed up every six months or so, and for the past two years I’ve had annual follow-up. It’s coming up soon and it’s stressing me out. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long to get the results.

Ten years ago I wasn’t on social media, so I was never part of a breast cancer support group like the Parlons cancer du sein private Facebook group. But I think I would have really liked that. I think that if you want to get through something like cancer, you shouldn’t hesitate to seek help and confide in others. It’s normal to go through the whole range of emotions.

In 2014 I met my new boyfriend and we had two daughters during my remission period. They are now three and seven years old. It was a joy and a relief because I wasn’t sure that my body would be able to cope after this huge ordeal.

I wanted to share my story because I would like to spread the message that it’s not just women over 50 who are at risk. I was 30 years of age when I was diagnosed.