Shirley, 32 years old "I want more real relationships. My life has moved better »

Single, loving to party, I chained meetings without asking me questions. When cancer fell on me at age 30, I was scared to no longer interest anyone. For eight months I did not know if I would keep my breast sick. I underwent partial surgery, with a "light" scar.

The hard part was not shaving my long hair, but losing my eyelashes and not being able to put mascara for a year.

And above all, out of the question to flirt. Not wanting to scare a man ... Several times, I was approached, but with my wig, I felt shifted. Offside ... I needed to be alone, to question my way of life at 200 km / h and my systematic attraction for "handsome guys", focused on their physical assets. And I met Paul.

Before cancer, I would never have looked back on him! There it was different, we talked about music, painting ... and my extra pounds, my scar, my fear.

We spent the night together, it was very sweet, it helped me to dramatize this dreaded return to sexuality. I did not believe that desire would return so quickly. This man gave me a present: to restore my confidence. Less invincible, less light, I am less "consumer".

More time to lose in "shots" without tomorrow ... I want more real relationships. My life has changed better: I left my job to work at the Keep a Breast Foundation *, I got closer to friends who have children - I will see in five years, at the end of my treatment.

My breasts bring me more pleasure, they became very sensitive to caresses! Is it because I love myself better and I pamper them more?

(*) Which exhibits, among other things, casts of plaster women's busts decorated by artists, and resold at auction. www.keepabreast.org

Valérie, 46 years old "Many times, I dreaded being afraid of me"

"Your heart does not change, you stay the same, I will always love you, with or without breast," my husband told me, past the shock of ablation. This statement, after twenty-three years of marriage and four operations (I attack hormone therapy), carries me! Because even if I have never felt worried, many times, I dreaded that he was afraid of me ... With my hair that repel white, there is enough to escape!

We now come to laugh at it. But he tells me, "You are beautiful," is part of my fight. I who did not make up, I forced on the make-up, followed a workshop to redraw my eyebrows and made manicures for my nails and my hands, very damaged. But in the hospital, we are not told enough how hard it is to hug each other when you are in pain all over the place to be afraid of being simply touched, with raw mucous membranes, nausea and vomiting. After months of abstinence, we slowly return to a sexual relationship, I have not found my feelings before, but I feel able again to let me caress and make him happy.

My breasts are a very erogenous zone for both of us. So for me, reconstruction is vital to become a "normal" mother and a woman again. I dream of being rebuilt by the summer of 2013.

Brigitte, 51 years old "The desire is extinguished. I'm too much in my life

Separated from my daughter's father, I have been living alone for four years. Before my cancer, I had met a man, but I chose to stay alone. With my 16 year old daughter.

For now, the desire is off, but I have no frustration. I am too much in my life. Then, I would have a hard time making a guy deal with the vagaries of the treatment. It's hard enough to endure when you lose your eyelashes, your nails, the skin peels, you find yourself scarred, menopausal ... To avoid sinking and staying up for my daughter, I advance.

But regaining self-confidence when the body changes so much is not easy. I'm not sure a man can accept all that, while I've seen relatives running away. I start to look at myself in the mirror.

Manon, 49 years old "As soon as I stopped hormone therapy, I found the appetite to love"

The first time, I had good chemotherapy, and my amazon body for eight months, before undertaking a reconstruction. After a few months of abstinence, where my scar had become untouchable, I found a sexual equilibrium with my husband. Even if it is complicated to put back eroticism in hugs when the lover has given way to the nurse.

The cataclysm occurred when my cancer recurred. To the terrible anxiety of death was added hormone therapy. For five years, I did not want to make love anymore. I cried. My sexuality was dead . My husband was understanding. Then, little by little, he moved away. We divorced.

Miracle, as soon as I stopped hormone therapy, I found the appetite to love ... And a lover! This man, I did not hide anything from him, and he was great. With him, I found sensations of pleasure and I savor every hug, a happiness! I found all of my body. And the desire, even more than before, to bite the apple.