For You. Alive, Brave And Winning

I don’t want to be another letter of support. I don’t mean to say everything they say and that is useless. I really want to help. I want each word to awaken something in you, to make you reflect and convince you that breast cancer is not fair, but that, without a doubt, you are capable of facing it and overcoming it. Because we know what you are like, we know that you are, above all, a living, brave and winning woman.

Do you remember the day your body betrayed you? Yes, I know you think it was a betrayal, because you don’t know why, because a breast cancer appeared whose only function is to scare, destroy and end a body, a life. His life changed suddenly. Suddenly you find yourself fighting a war you didn’t seek, with weapons you don’t know and not knowing when or how peace will emerge.

It’s difficult. It’s a path that nobody wants to take. And you were chosen. How to admit it? It’s breast cancer, thousands of women and men suffer from it, but thousands more don’t. There are days when you wonder if it’s worth so much effort, if you’ll be able to win, if it’s not better to let everything go its own way…

I mean what you are

I don’t want you to have to face a fight, and to have to draw strength from where it doesn’t exist in order to win it. I mean that everything you need is in you, and others are here to remind you of that. 

You’re brave. Of course yes. Being brave is getting lost along the way, meeting your worst fear and knowing that in some way it originates with you, and therefore you can overcome it. You took a blow from within you, but you’re still here. Your body and you can face this blow.

You are strong. You don’t think so, you think your body is fragile and weak from the drugs, and it’s true. But you have a lot of strength inside of you. You know that every bad moment you’ve been through is a small victory. You deserve to acknowledge this.

You are capable. Of everything. The adversities are there, they exist, but it’s okay because you need time to assume it. It’s breast cancer. It’s something important. But it doesn’t define you, and you know it’s going to be part of your story, but not your full story. 

I mean what do you have

You know we are here by your side. You know our names and why we love you so much. We have many things we want to give you without receiving anything in return:

• Support. We are many, many, who want to reach out and accompany you on this path that frightens us. We are capable of that too, so you can trust us. 

• Refuge. We want to hug you when you need comfort. You have a right to see the bad side of things and to cry. But we are within our right to comfort you. We are your little confessional, enjoy. You need an emotional refuge and we know how to build it.

• Tool. We are sword and shield. We are a magic potion and armor. We know we cannot suffer for you, but at least we can be by your side. 
• Army. Thousands of people face this situation just like you. We don’t want you to take the lead, we want to surround you like the army that protects its captain. 

• Memory. You are not breast cancer. No. You are mother, father, doctor, economist, brother, daughter. And besides, he likes horror movies and Sunday lunches. We want to remind you that everything you were is still there. Breast cancer doesn’t define you, and we’re here to stop it. 

I want to tell you what breast cancer didn’t take away from you

You are no less male or female. To be a man or a woman it is not enough to have a body. You need more. Whether you are a man or a woman, breast cancer does not recognize gender.

It didn’t take away its beauty. It is a body that has to face an attack from within. Your body has changed and it may not go back to being the same as it was, but know that whoever doesn’t see the beauty that lingers in you is the one with the problem.

It didn’t take away his smile. In every moment of your life something can make you smile. Enjoy. The little things you have on the side might surprise you. It’s often the details that make us laugh when we least expect it.

Come back to us whenever you need to remember how brave you are and everything you have will help you remember that you are so much more than you lost.