three days of hiking in the Vercors for women with cancer

Around ten women suffering from cancer and members of the “Bivouac et moi” association met this Wednesday, October 9 to climb the Vercors trails for three days. A way for them to surpass themselves and above all to free themselves from illness during their stay.

Walk to free yourself. For three days, Sophie, Lysiane, Nathalie and six other women will hike on the trails of the Vercors. Three days in the mountains which begin with a gentle walk on the Molière mountain pasture.

“They are there to do themselves good, walking is a gentle physical activity, and therefore it is perhaps one of the best medicines we can have”Jean-Christohe, mountain guide and pharmacist aware of personal care.

Everyone has their own pace, this is the credo of these mountain stays offered to patients being treated for cancer. “The idea of ​​these hikes is that everyone reaches the end without being too tired,” adds the attendant.

Sophie moved away from the group. Like other women, she prefers to walk alone: “It’s important for me to walk in silence, to stop the head talking all the time, to take a break at head level and nature invites that. We observe everything when we take a break, the birds , the sky, and we say to ourselves that life is magnificent.”

These stays have been offered for two years now by the Savoyard association “Bivouac et moi”, created by Florence Van Velde, doctor at the Aix-les-Bains hospital.

“Doing physical activity is part of care. Also sharing the human bond with other people, for me that’s also part of care. The idea is to be supportive, to expect , to trust yourself again, to know that you are capable of walking, of climbing, is already enormous and it strengthens self-confidence which is fundamental in monitoring the disease., explains the doctor.

A feeling already shared by other women: “My young son told me: ‘mom, you’re going on an adventure, you’re going out of your comfort zone’. It’s a kind of challenge, it proves that you’re capable, it makes you move forward.”, Lysiane tells us.

Once the walk is over, the girls and their companions meet at the Feneys refuge. This is where they will sleep for three days: a small dining room and a dormitory to share.

“The link and the common thread of this stay is joy and recognition. There is this kind of intrinsic recognition and it is the illness which also allows that. There is a lot of humility and simplicity and You don’t need much to be good.” Sophie concludes.