In the last 10 days of January 2023, I was diagnosed with lung cancer with metastases in the brain, liver, on a vertebra and on the iliac bone. Once the first two weeks of absolute chaos had passed, I started to write, without any specific goal in mind but with a real need to get it all down on paper, if just to organize the jumble a little.
Over time and with each line written, I realized how important the advice and recommendations had been to me, given here and there by another patient, a nurse, a medical secretary, about treatments, how to organize and plan ahead. I also realized that “CANCER”, often presented as a monolithic and uniform entity (Fight against “CANCER”, “CANCER” plan), covers an infinite number of disparate daily realities, depending on your age, your gender, your personality, the type of cancer, the stage it is at, its vulnerability, the type of treatment suggested, etc.
Mine was gentlemanly enough to be known by the pneumological police services, not to cause incapacity or too much physical suffering, and to have ALK receptors, which are permeable to treatment. What follows is therefore in no way the “Diary of a survivor returned from the HELL OF CANCER” nor a “Manual of the perfect patient” or even an “Encyclopedia of cancer: where does it come from, where is it going and how far will it go? No, I simply relate as honestly as possible what happened, what I thought and felt, and mention those I met, encountered or rediscovered along this sometimes difficult, often exhausting but also surprising and rewarding journey.
I would also like to point out that these texts have no literary ambition whatsoever. But if you find a word, a sentence or a thought here or there useful to you, then so much the better... that will be good enough for me.
