Marielle Chevalier, 46, lives in Ubaye. Under treatment for breast cancer since the end of February, she tells us about her daily life as a patient and the specificities linked to the management of this disease in a medical desert.
Concretely, how does breast cancer follow-up work when you live in a fairly isolated valley?
From the start, I was offered to be followed either in Gap or in Aix, both of which host branches of the Paoli-Calmettes Institute (IPC). Driving is not my passion, so I chose the one in Gap, which is 1 hour 15 minutes away by car.
Out of 18 chemo sessions, in total, I still did four in Marseille, and I didn’t really see any differences. Afterwards, the first four, which are also the heaviest, are those with the most side effects. Sometimes you start to get sick on the spot, get nauseous, and since I get car sick…
I’m approaching the last phase of treatment, the rays, and when we get there we’ll have to take a taxi every day to go to Gap. This will perhaps be the most painful in the end: having to travel every day.
Not too difficult to travel so far?
It’s okay, I tell myself it’s doable. Let’s say that there are some who spend as much time in traffic jams to go to the IPC in Marseille, even if they live there.
So I tell myself that it’s manageable, knowing that certain parts of the protocol, like the immunotherapy injections, can be done at home so I don’t need to travel. Anyway, once you get in there, you don’t think about it anymore.
We do what we are told to do, so whether we drive two hours, three hours or four hours, it’s the same. We know that our day is going to be dedicated to that.
How did the screening go?
Very bad at first, because when I went to see my doctor following an abnormality, she told me not to worry and to wait. I waited six months, and his replacement immediately ordered a mammogram.
And there, it was super quick: in a week I had done everything. I had an appointment in three days in Briançon. The same day, I saw the radiologist and a gynecologist, who did the biopsy that day.
Do you have the impression that living here, far from a big city, has been a detrimental factor?
No, I would rather say that it is the opposite. The environment is quite pleasant to live in, so I definitely prefer to be here than in the city. Doctors say that the important thing to fight cancer is to keep your spirits up and be well surrounded.
