Goddamn these steroids. I actually get a decent night’s sleep thanks to my magic zopiclone, but the minute I wake up I feel queasy and jittery once again. I stare over at the empty desk on the far side of the bedroom and realise I won’t be going back to any normal work life, or any normal life for that matter. Is this as good as it will get? Will I feel like this (or worse) for the rest of my life? I hug Spital for a few minutes and cry it out and then try to pull myself back together. Look for the good!
I’m actually quite excited for today. After Friday’s KK ocean drenching I decided to get started on looking for swimwear for the remainder of summer. So today I have an appointment with Tdy, a consultant for ABC Breast Care NZ, at Harbour Cancer Wellness. The Ministry of Health offer a Breast Prothesis Subsidy for people who have had mastectomies or lumpectomies, or who have other kinds of similarly placed needs. The subsidy allows us to buy breast prostheses or breast forms (these may also include swim forms, foam fillers, shell prostheses and lumpectomy shells), modified swimsuits, bras, camisoles etc. The range of options is quite broad and the entitlement is $613 over a 4 year period. ABC Breast Care take care of all the forms and paperwork. All I need is a specialist’s medical certificate which Dr KG kindly provided to me at Tuesday’s appointment.
An hour with the very lovely Tdy and I come away with a new mastectomy friendly swimsuit and two new bras, all with stuffable breast pockets for my KKs or a breast prosthesis. I also buy a swim form (a little beanbag for swimming) but will have to wait for it to be mailed out to me. Tdy very generously comps me a mastectomy camisole as well. I am very happy with my purchases and will now feel way more comfortable at the beach or pool.
My happy place just got a little happier.
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