Introducing our New Patient Advocate Blog

Hi!  My name is Cecilia and I am 47 years old. I’m married to Ghazel and we have two young girls, Maya, 17, and Nora, 14.  From now on I hope you and I will be able to connect here and share about our cancer experiences.

I’m born in Swedish Lapland, in a town named Jukkasjärvi, near a city called Kiruna above the polar circle.  No one knows where that is, but when I say, ”You know…. where ’the Icehotel’” is located!” – finally, many know exactly what I am talking about and have even seen it on TV.

Let me tell you that it’s a destination to put on your Top 5 to celebrate a victory, and to sense the beauty of life and nature!

I moved to France when I was 16 with my family and have since lived a very rich life. I also studied and got married in France, and with our respective jobs our family has traveled moved around quite a lot. We even packed our bags and belongings to move from Paris to Mexico City. Then back to the north of France to Lille.  We moved back to Paris again and now we are in the south of France. Today we live in beautiful Aix en Provence, a city where the light and atmosphere is one of the most beautiful in the world. Also, a Top 5 destination for when you’ll be able to travel again.

These have been great years, always doing what we love to do. Very inspiring for my daughters, discovering different cultures and countries. It has been sometimes stressful and logistically heavy to keep the work and family balance, but I think we’ve made it.

One should never have regrets, always think positive, seek for opportunities rather than reasons for not doing… Yet, there is ONE thing, ONE single thing that I regret in my life.  If I could, I would turn back time to 2013, to make that life changing appointment. Use that prescription I received for a mammogram. Instead I underestimated it and did so in the worst conditions. Breast cancer doesn’t only hit other people, it can happen to you.  And we have the proof, every day.

Today, 5 years later, I’m a Breast Cancer Survivor. It’s incredible how this disease changed me and gave birth to a better and stronger 2.0 version. I wouldn’t say it was an “amazing” adventure every day, but I can promise you that there are so many great and incredible moments, some you discover by yourself, some because someone tells you what to do. And today, it has become my Purpose.

I’m a very lucky person working for a large manufacturer of medical devices and believe that today I have the best cards in my hands. Indeed, I know today what’s really needed to save lives, and it comes with moving the needle on patient experience, within my company, with healthcare providers, and most importantly, empowering and inspiring YOU together with your doctors!

With that said, I’ll be writing to you regularly and hope to engage in conversations with you.  We will build a few guides for you on a regular basis in order to give you everything that you need to know about breast care….and on different themes, wherever you are in your breast care journey, and that I personally would have loved to have, proactively and in one place.

Nothing can be better than peer-to-peer advice.  Who else can help you through this experience better than another patient? I believe I can help. I have a very good idea of what you are going through, your fears, thoughts, reflections, and expectations. My guess is that we speak the same language and I can help you understands your new body language.

There are so many things we understand too late… or only once we’re out of the tunnel.  For example, that you increase your chances for healing up to 30% by doing the right things.

So, I’m starting this blog series during this COVID-19 pandemic, along with its challenges and our confinement, so you can imagine that my heart belongs to you.

So, the first thing I want to say:  STAY POSITIVE! Educate yourself on this topic and most importantly, ACCEPT, as soon as possible that this is our new reality.  It can be lifesaving.

It’s a difficult period, but you’re not alone and believe me that with the right mindset, you’ll be able to find the positive in your journey. It’s so important for your family and loved ones, because you’ll be able to relieve your family and friends of worries by inspiring trust and conviction instead of sadness!

Hence, I want to make sure that you receive from day 1, a feeling of belonging, a community, a place to go to, education with empowerment to make it!

Because you don’t know yet, let me tell you, let me help you to find your light!  I’ll share with you, on a regular basis, my thoughts and advice on the most common questions and thoughts you might have. Some topics are more sensitive than others, but we’ll manage those as well within our community. We’re more than women, men, facing a cancer.  So, no matter where we come form and who we are, we are all heroes and we can speak about all we want.

By the way, we’re not necessarily all equally “equipped” to win. You may feel like a victim, of course, but that mindset can be very harmful. Therefore, I want to empower you via a few stories, my experiences, through a few pictures to show you that you will need to be THE main writer of your future and take control of your breast care and, potentially, your cancer journey!

You’re all heroes!