Pump up the jam, pump it up... while your feet are....something...and the jam is something else...
This is the song that comes in to my head every time I go to the hospital to get inflated. I have absolutely no control over it. It's absurd. I think there may be something wrong with me. I even found myself humming it while I got undressed last time. Seriously, is there something wrong with me?!
I'm up to about three pumps now, three lots of solution have gone in and little Lefty is finally starting to take shape. It's not quite a fully fledged boob yet, it's still looking a little like a wonky water balloon, but it's my water balloon and as long as it keeps growing and doesn't explode that's fine by me.
My surgeon reckons I've got another two or three more to go then I should be ready for the next operation. It's amazing how quickly it's all happening really. It was just over a month ago that someone said "you have breast cancer", a week after that they took my breast and now here I am growing a new one. There are times when it all feels a bit removed, like it's happening to someone else and any moment I'll wake up and realise it's all been a horrible, horrible nightmare. Except it's not.
The dreams I'm having at the moment are brilliant though, when C-Monkey lets me sleep the drugs have an awesome time kicking up some pretty bonkers stuff. My favourite so far involved me sitting on top of a giant plastic boob taking part in some sort of carnival, I think I may have been the carnival Queen. The boob Queen. My giant boob float passed along the street, music blaring, people cheering. Then I woke up. Complete madness. But who knows, maybe my subconscious has struck on to something, in years to come there could well be a Breast Cancer parade and there I'll be, on top of my own giant Lefty, cheering and smiling. (Ok, might be time to come off the painkillers.)
The next operation should be pretty straight forward, well, as much as any operation can be I suppose. They'll take out the temporary implant which has been stretching the muscles and swap it for the permanent one which should look more realistic in shape - so less like a weird water balloon with a side pump thing under my skin. I'm very happy about this, that pump has been quite uncomfortable and strange, especially when I'm doing my exercises and can feel it moving about. Blurgh!
They'll go in through the same cut as before and then it's simply a case of whipping one out and putting one in. Then Bob's your uncle, new bouncy Lefty. Then all that's left to do is the decoration, the cherry on top if you like, which should be done in time for Christmas. Jingle bells all the way.
So really, I shouldn't really be fretting about it at all.....it's a simple swap the boobie job. But I am. I really am. C-Monkey keeps reminding me of the pain, that horrible pain that I woke up to after the first operation, the weight of it all crushing down on me. How battered, bruised and savaged I felt. How alien and broken my body felt. The sane side of my brain, the one that doesn't belong to C-Monkey, knows it shouldn't be any where near as bad, how could it be, surely the worst bit has been done already? But I can't shake the fear. And it's exhausting. Will there ever be a time in all this when I'm not afraid? Afraid of the next step, afraid of more news, afraid life as I knew it will never quite be the same again.
Fear is a funny thing. Not really funny ha ha, that would be wrong, more funny strange. It's probably one of the emotions I've felt most during all this. All consuming fear. Yet people keep telling me how brave I'm being. I can't quite reconcile that as most of the time I don't feel brave in the slightest, most of the time I feel small and frightened. I think I'm pretty good at being outwardly okay and maybe that's the thing that jars because there are so many times when I'm not, okay? In these moments, I'm a bit of a mess, blind panic, fear or guilt ripple through me and just swallow me up.
Yeap there's that word again guilt. Guilt and fear. They have become C-Monkey's evil sidekicks. For every positive feeling I get, every time I feel happy or upbeat, he'll lob a guilt ball in my face and suddenly I'm covered in it. Horrid sticky guilt over everything, the good diagnosis - why am I ok when so many amazing women aren't, guilt for making such a fuss, guilty for not being better yet, guilty for not wanting to see people sometimes and just hide away. But mostly, mostly I feel guilty for putting my family through this. I hate that it has upset them so much, that they've had to worry so much, that it's affected them and made them so sad. I wish everyday that it didn't happen, everyday, not for me but for them.
But I'm over the worst and it shouldn't come back (touching, or rather gripping, the wooden table as I write that) so I need to start letting go of the guilt, the fear, the worry and stress and try to be the brave person everyone thinks I am.
I also need to stop staring at other women's boobs. Yes staring, unashamed starting. It's something I've realised I do now! I'm like a dirty old man, or rather a dirty young man, actually, just a man. Any man. I am suddenly fascinated by them. And they're everywhere. You can't move for boobs. I'm serious. Big ones, small ones, perky ones, saggy ones. They are all glorious and just...everywhere! Boobs really are brilliant. Well done ladies. I promise I'm not being a pervert, of course I am looking with a slight envious curiosity but mostly I'm wondering if these women have had breast cancer. Because you really can't tell. My friends keep telling me that they can't tell, that I look ok, that 'they' (my slightly strange not quite matching pair) look normal. Which is crazy considering I feel like I'm walking around with a giant neon sign above my head that says - 'One boob, she's only got one real boob'. But they're right. When I'm dressed and now that Lefty is a bit more pumped up, you can't really tell.
Think about it, women who've faced their own horrible C-Monkey are walking around every day, right now, all around you and you can't tell! It's like an amazing secret society of strong, beautiful, determined women with wonderful boobs. Real ones, fake ones and even those that are gone but not forgotten. They are everywhere and it's marvellous. But you can't tell. You don't know who these wonderful women are. And there's something really powerful in that. One day I secretly hope someone catches me having a good old look and gives me a little nod or wink that just lets me know - yeap I'm one of those ladies and so are you, well done.
Either that or I'll get arrested for being a bit of pervert...