My name is * Lili Sohn, I'm 33 years old and I'm a comics author. After studying arts in Strasbourg, I moved to Quebec where I worked as a graphic designer in the video game industry.

At 29, after consulting a doctor because of "weird nipple", I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I thought at first a joke or a file error"

My first reaction was to tell me, "It's a nightmare and I'm going to wake up!" It's not possible to have cancer at 29 years old. I thought, "It's a joke" or "someone made a mistake".

I was in denial!

My relatives were also very shocked. We always think that it happens to others, to those we do not know. Very quickly, however, I decided to live this "experience" in my own way. Everyone followed because it made me feel good and it made them feel good too.

Army humor and "all possible media care"

First we took off my tumor (and my nipple), then I had 6 months of big chemo, followed by a year of small chemo. Meanwhile I discovered that I had a genetic mutation (on my BRCA1 gene) and I chose to remove the mammary gland, to avoid any recurrence. Instead I was put plastic breasts.

All that was not easy, but I armed myself with all the care of existing supports (acupuncture, osteopathy, homeopathy, yoga, meditation, nutrition). The loss of hair and other hairs, fatigue ... it's really a big deal! However, I put what I had energy to make it as fun as possible ... I was still happy that it stops and everything pushes.

Paradoxically, it was at the end of the treatments that I felt like a "lack", at this moment when one is supposed to be cured and one is no longer regarded as sick. I did not allow myself to ask for help, I told myself that my entourage had had enough!

"The drawing, the colors and the humor punctuated my medical visits"

Fortunately, there was my blog BD. I opened it a few days after my diagnosis. I began to tell my daily life. It was addressed first to my entourage, then, little by little, to a wider circle, thanks to social networks in particular.

To tell others it was to tell myself to better accept, to dramatize the situation. The drawing, the colors and the humor punctuated my medical visits, my surgical interventions like a red thread that kept my head out of the water.

I felt less alone. Beyond the entourage of my family, my blog put me in relation with other young women in my case. What a relief to share and share his experience!

"The war of the nipples", a BD-therapy

A few months after the opening of the blog, I was contacted by a Quebec publishing house that published the 1st volume of "The war of nipples" in Quebec. Then volumes 1, 2 and 3 were published in France, published by Michel Lafon.

This blog BD has been a therapy for me and my entourage. I had many feedback and encouragement from readers: patients, relatives of patients, health professionals. I am very proud that this personal initiative can help others, inform, explain and raise awareness.

Today, I have finished my reconstruction, I resume the course of my life. I left Quebec to settle in Marseille where I continue my career as comics writers and illustrator.