Lili's journey of courage and determination

Lili Sohn’s life turned upside down when she was diagnosed with breast cancer on Valentine’s Day of 2014. At only 29 years old, she was told she needed to have surgery to remove a carcinogenic lump located in one of her breasts. 

“It was the best Valentine’s ever,” she says with a playful laugh while sitting in the waiting room of the Montreal General Hospital’s (MGH) Oncology Department of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). “At first I was in denial, but once the tumour was removed and I started chemotherapy, I was finally confronted with the reality of having cancer.”  

When Lili first became acquainted with her oncologist, Dr. Michael Thirlwell, and the rest of the team at the Montreal General, she was reassured to know they were sensitive to the fact that she was a young patient, very much determined to take over the illness that was invading her body. 

“Having a good relationship with your doctor is so crucial. I don’t feel like just another number,” she says. “I can laugh and make jokes with him while getting answers to my questions; it just makes everything so much easier.”

Between chemotherapy, blood tests and appointments, Lili now embraces cancer treatment as part of her daily routine. Her approach to cancer might seem somewhat unusual, but it was her determination to not be seen as a “sick person” that became a key element in her recovery. 

After surgery, she started a preventive chemotherapy treatment in order to eliminate any probabilities of a relapse. Today, she is looking at the option of starting radiotherapy treatment or getting a preventive double mastectomy. 

“I can’t complain about the care I’ve received here at the MGH,” she says. “Sometimes I’m doing chemo and the volunteers bring me cookies or they’ll bring pets and we’ll do zoo therapy… Just a little secret though, I don’t really like dogs, but they’re so nice to me how could I say no to them.”

Shortly after getting diagnosed, Lili put her talents as a graphic designer to use and started a blog called Tchao Günther in which she illustrates her experiences with the disease and her interactions with the medical world. As a result from the success of her blog, she recently published the graphic novel “La Guerre des Tétons” and plans on making it a book series. 

“I’m young and I’m not ready to give up. On the contrary, this experience has brought so many positive things to my life. Who would have thought that one day I’d be making this dream of becoming an author a reality? This is not ending here, it is just the beginning”.