A new boob? Being alive meant more

HAVING my left boob removed at the age of 23 didn’t bother me.

When cancer was diagnosed I couldn’t have the lump extracted surgically straight away as it was the size of an avocado (actual doctor terminology there!) and it needed to be plum-sized.

Instead, I underwent five months of chemotherapy to shrink it to an operable size. Luckily, it worked and by the time I was whisked off to theatre I couldn’t give a hoot that I was going to be detached from something that had caused me immeasurable pain.

I didn’t get the option of having a new boob at the same time, since I needed radiotherapy which would have deformed my it anyway.

When I got to see my plastic surgeon, several months after my mastectomy and radiotherapy, I had got so used to my prosthesis that I didn’t want to put myself through another major operation.

I guess I am lucky. I was in a loving relationship at the time, was in a great frame of mind about my body image and, quite frankly, I had bigger fish to fry. I was alive – and that mattered more than what was happening under my bra.

My surgeon did a beautiful job and I often get complimented on how neat and tidy my scar is. It doesn’t signify much, it’s simply a scar.

What means the most is that I am still here.

Waking up from my mastectomy was a memorable moment. I was pretty groggy and miserable from the anaesthetic but my twin sister Maren told me that we had been granted charity status for CoppaFeel!. So October 28 marked the end of my left boob but the start of something magical.

I was released from hospital the next day with a tube attached to collect all the lymphatic fluids, as I had to have my lymph nodes removed. It was near Halloween and I remember carving pumpkins in my mum’s kitchen with the tube dangling by my side. My life had taken on a new meaning but carving that pumpkin made everything seem normal.

I am often asked where I buy my mastectomy bras. CoppaFeel! works with awesome firms through our #BraHijack campaign and thanks to them, I have quite the lingerie collection now.

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