Recently I received a letter from a lady thanking me for writing a frank and honest account of my experience with breast cancer.
She had read my book “A More Difficult Exercise” which was my own personal record of all that happened to me during my diagnosis, treatment for and recovery from breast cancer some years previously.
She told me it had become her Bible, her rock to lean on during times of trauma and distress as she battled with the disease. In it I had described the prescribed treatment for my own breast cancer, a bi-lateral mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction. A daunting experience but one that probably saved my life.
Hers was a moving letter, but ended hilariously. She described how she too had undergone a bi-lateral mastectomy, but had decided against the added discomfort of surgery for reconstruction of her breasts. Instead she had opted for “falsies” – external silicon prostheses which could she could simply slip into her bra to create a feminine shape.
But this ingenious lady had acquired 2 pairs of prostheses, both in different sizes – one small and one large pair. She gleefully described the joys of being able to find bargains at Sale Time which fitted her chest size perfectly – either large or small.
Now that’s what I call practical!