Carolina, you have a cancer.
It's a phrase I'll never forget. It's like a blow to the heart. It took away any word. I ran. I cried. I felt like I was dying.
"I don't have time for a cancer", I kept telling myself. I have to have a child. My life wasn't supposed to go like this. These weren't the plans. I didn't sleep that night. But the day after, I found a strength in me that I didn't think I possessed. I felt strong, I dried my tears, and I decided I would fight that battle.
There were hard days when I felt weak, tired. Days when my only desire was to sleep. There were only bone pains, hot flashes from forced menopause, nausea, a headache that felt like head was exploding.
Days when I didn't recognize myself anymore looking in the mirror. After losing my hair, that bald head, without eyelashes, without eyebrows, I felt naked, like a different person.
Despite everything, I never allowed the illness, the cancer, to take away my smile. In the face of every challenge, I tried to bring out the best part of myself, and I thank my family, my friends, my wonderful partner, who never, never, never left me alone. The first medicine is family. I want to say to all the women who have to live through cancer: cancer doesn't depend on us, but the spirit with which you face it does!
Don't let cancer take away your desire to live.