Testimony

Testimony by Andréa-Laurence Tardif

Enseignante en adaptation scolaire et sociale

Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (HMR) and Pierre-Boucher Hospital, TCHP (Docetaxel - Taxotere, Carboplatine, Herception and Perjeta)

2024

Accompanied by my husband at every treatment, I wore cooling caps during each chemotherapy session. Of course, it requires a lot of commitment, but it works. Thanks to this support, I was able to continue living my life, be present for my family, and even allow myself small getaways during treatment. One of the most powerful moments was being able to accompany my son to his first day of school without other parents knowing that, just the day before, I had been in treatment.

Before

During

After

In the spring of 2024, I discovered a lump in my breast. A few weeks later, after a series of tests, it unfortunately turned out to be cancerous. When the oncologist gave me the news, I immediately expressed my wish to use a cooling cap. His response was blunt: “It’s only hair, it will grow back quickly.” And yet, I wanted to remain unnoticed. I didn’t want anyone to know that I was sick. At the time, my son, who was 6 years old, had just overcome a particularly aggressive cancer. During his treatment, he had lost all his hair, as well as his eyebrows and eyelashes. Our family had already carried the visible image of illness, and I dreaded once again receiving those looks filled with pity. I needed my journey to remain discreet, for our daily life to regain a sense of normalcy. Accompanied by my husband at every treatment, I wore cooling caps during each chemotherapy session. Of course, it requires a lot of commitment, but it works. Thanks to this support, I was able to continue living my life, be present for my family, and even allow myself small getaways during treatment. One of the most powerful moments was being able to accompany my son to his first day of school without other parents knowing that, just the day before, I had been in treatment. Today, my invasive treatments have been behind me for several months. My eyelashes have grown back, as have my eyebrows. The regrowth of my hair remains a delicate process: although I kept the vast majority of it, I did lose some, fairly evenly across my scalp. I feel grateful to have had access to these caps, because they allowed me to go through this ordeal almost incognito.

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