“I prefer to move forward, not feel sorry for myself. »Fate falls hard on Chrystelle Douheret. This almost 46-year-old mother is fighting breast cancer for the second time. A few months ago, she felt a lump in her right breast again. The diagnosis is clear: it is a recurrence of cancer that she had eight years ago.
“I lost my dad to cancer that year,” she says with modesty and emotion. I think the emotional shock had a lot to do with triggering mine. My father had Lynch syndrome*, just like me. The terrain was more favorable for crabs. »
His son Kyllian also had this syndrome. The latter died of a brain tumor in March 2025, at age 22. But despite these trials, Chrystelle Douheret “hangs on”. “I have to keep moving forward,” she insists. “For me, for my loved ones, for my daughter, for my partner”. She wants to carry “a message of optimism”. This is why she contacted the Journal of Saône-et-Loire on the occasion of Pink October, breast cancer screening awareness month?
“It’s just one breast, the hair is growing back…”
“I lost my hair again, I had a total mastectomy, I have to continue chemotherapy… But I try to put things into perspective. In these trials, I cling to the positive. It’s just one breast, the hair is growing back…”
“It’s not a smile for the sake of a smile,” she continues. I’m not in denial, but I tell myself that if I cry or scream, it won’t change anything except fuel the negative. I am convinced that good morale is 50% of the cure. »
She therefore leads a fight, “but with kindness”. “It would be disrespectful to my children and my partner not to continue fighting. » “For all the years stolen from my son, for what my daughter went through, I must continue to move forward. »
A book with his son’s writings
“And then,” she continues, “I get up, I breathe, I have my two arms, my two legs. I’m doing things that I haven’t had time to do until now. Things that are out of the ordinary. I want to remain a woman and dignified. I listen to myself, I take a nap, I eat well. I don’t want to let myself get down. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have moments of slack, but I’m well looked after. »
A needs assessor for the elderly, she is due to return to work in January. But she wonders about her professional future. “Do I still want to evolve in an environment where illness and old age are very present? I’m not sure. I’ll see. »
In the meantime, she has travel plans, particularly with her daughter. And his son left many writings from his last months of life, full of beautiful messages and life lessons. “He loved reading. So I tell myself that maybe we could write a book together. »
*Lynch syndrome is a genetic disease responsible for an increased risk of developing certain cancers.
