The morning started as usual. But he turned Muriel Baumeister’s life upside down: breast cancer. “I noticed it myself. I’m lying in the bathtub like I do every morning. I’m washing myself and I’m like: Huh, strange… Time stood still, it was like a bad movie! I thought, is this a joke?”, the actress recently recalled in Talk format “Turning Points” of the Potsdam self-help association SEKIZ about the shocking moment.

She felt the breast cancer lump “directly under her left armpit”. It didn’t take long for the diagnosis: “Then I went to the doctor, who said: ‘For God’s sake! That doesn’t look good!'” The lump was “six centimeters big,” reports the mother of three. “He recommended me to a fantastic oncologist.” A biopsy, a tissue removal, brought clarity.

“This is my cancer”

Actually, her treatment should begin quickly, if the doctors had their way. The actress talks about this very emotionally. But, she remembers the year 2022: “This is my cancer, I have to see how we get together first.” She went to Austria with her daughters for four weeks.

Baumeister found her way. Eventually it became clear that therapy was her only chance of survival. The now 54-year-old describes it as the hardest time of her life. “I might not have wanted to have an operation at all. But it turned out that that was the only option: chemo, antibody therapy, surgery and radiation. The full program. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!” The consequences of chemotherapy in particular are worse than her Alcohol withdrawal been.

“My throat was bloody like a fillet steak”

The actress describes the physical side effects of chemotherapy very graphically: “My throat was bloody like a fillet steak. I couldn’t drink water or eat. It was horrible.”

But her extreme journey was worth it – as of now: “I’ve been cancer-free for two years now.” Baumeister pushes aside any fear of a relapse: “I’m a total pragmatist. That makes it easier for me. Life is already stressful enough. It is what it is. I’m alive and that’s a good thing.” Baumeister also has herself and her attention to thank for the fact that she can now say that.

7 warning signs of breast cancer

Muriel Baumeister’s story shows that breast cancer is not always a question of age – and an opportunity to look at your own body carefully. Because most women discover the lumps themselves. The German Cancer Aid lists seven signs where you should go to the doctor to clarify the cause:

1. A breast has changed in size, shape and position.
2. The skin on one breast has changed or there is unclear redness.
3. A breast has indentations or bulges.
4. A nipple retracts.
5. Fluid secretes from the nipple.
6. You feel lumps in a breast, around the areola or in the armpits.
7. She lose weight for inexplicable reasons.

1. The Consuming large amounts of red meat had the largest share at eleven percent. Red meat comes from beef, pork, goat and sheep.
2. After that follows Smoke – included Passive smoking – with a share of eight percent.
3. A high blood sugar levels accounted for a share of six percent.
4. A high body mass index (BMI), i.e. overweight, was calculated to be associated with four percent of the years of healthy life lost.
5. Had a share of two percent high alcohol consumption.
6. Just like little physical exercise also with a two percent share.

More than a quarter of the years of life lost due to breast cancer can be attributed to these risk factors, the study says. The good news: Women can influence these six factors. Many deaths from breast cancer are therefore preventable. However, there are also genetic and other causes that cannot be influenced type of cancer.

With information from dpa