Louise's Le Cure experience
This August, the Le Cure ride returns for its eighth year. Over four days, a team of cyclists called ‘Les Curistas’ will cycle across the French Alps on some of the most iconic routes of the Tour de France to raise money for breast cancer research at The Royal Marsden.
Taking part for the first-time last year was Louise Farrer, who took on the challenge alongside her husband and brother, together raising an incredible £30,000 to mark five years since completing treatment for breast cancer.
Discovering a lump
“The day before giving birth to my second child I found a lump in my breast. I knew something wasn’t right but needed to focus on the baby and delivering him safely. The next day a very happy and healthy Rory was born by caesarean.
I went to my GP once I was home who referred me to The Royal Marsden for tests two weeks later. By this time my milk had come in and the lump had disappeared. I even said to the consultant I was sorry for wasting her time.
I was given a mammogram and an ultrasound, and it quickly became clear there were abnormalities. I was asked to return the next day with my husband where I was initially told I had a non-invasive breast cancer. I was completely shocked and filled with sadness. Thinking of my two children I was worried they would grow up without me.
I was given a full mastectomy and had the lymph nodes in my armpit removed. This is when it was discovered the cancer was also in my lymph nodes and was in fact invasive. I had 10 months of treatment including eight rounds of chemotherapy, then radiotherapy, and finally reconstructive surgery.
Today I continue to receive hormone therapy, but since my mastectomy in 2015 my scans have remained clear and I have had no signs of reoccurrence. I feel so grateful - for the treatment I received, the support during my recovery, and to still be here to see my children growing up.
Taking on the climbs
“Five years after my diagnosis I decided I wanted to do something special. I was keen to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and towards breast cancer research, because research gives hope, and this felt like the most direct way I could make a difference.
I remembered hearing about Le Cure’s bike ride whilst receiving treatment. I wasn’t a cyclist and I hadn’t owned a bike since I was a kid, but I thought it sounded amazing (albeit, if I am honest, terrifying). After a few glasses of champagne on Christmas Eve I managed to sign my husband up, and then my brother too.
We bought our bikes and started our training at the start of 2020. We expected that Covid-19 would halt our plans, but miraculously Le Cure found a way through the ever-changing travel restrictions and the route was moved to start in Switzerland and finish in Italy instead of France.
Across the four days in August I met many wonderful people and we helped each other along the beautiful route. The support team were heroes. It was hard, but thoughts of why I was doing this kept me pedalling. It was a sign of how far I had come, physically and mentally, since the lows of diagnosis, but also because raising money towards research is vital to improve outcomes and save lives. As a patient, my fear will always be that my cancer returns. Currently there is no cure for secondary breast cancer. But with research, there is hope that one day there will be, and it might benefit me, the many breast cancer patients receiving treatment today and those, sadly, to come.
Crossing that finishing line in Italy felt incredible. I have so many amazing memories but the stand-out was the encouragement, friendship and kindness of my fellow Curistas. I know the Louise of 2015 would have thought it a miracle that five years on from treatment I would be happily cycling up mountains in the Alps. The event made me feel so alive and I couldn’t have felt further from a chemo ward if I had tried.”
Over eight years the team - Les Curistas - have raised over £1.7 million, which has directly funded breast cancer research at The Royal Marsden. If you fancy taking part in Le Cure 2021, get in touch with team Le Cure to find out more.
