My nurse Maria related a story to me about a patient recently she spoke to. She told me that the patient, after having a mastectomy, passed by her mirror daily during her morning routine, and immediately following her mastectomy and the months afterwards undergoing radiation therapy and chemotherapy for breast cancer, was constantly reminded of her mastectomy by the appearance of her chest, the clothes she couldn’t wear, with each time she passed by the mirror as a constant reminder.
She had her breast reconstruction, and through each stage of the reconstruction, over several months, her reminder of the mastectomy grew less and less. She finished her breast reconstruction and recovered. One day during her morning routine, she noticed that she had passed by her mirror without even noticing or stopping to think about her mastectomy and breast cancer…. and at that point she felt whole, and a complete person.
