Everyone focused on my physical recovery.
The surgery had gone well.
The treatment was working.
The medical reports were encouraging.
By all accounts, I was healing.
Yet something still felt broken.
I was anxious.
Exhausted.
Emotionally overwhelmed.
The experience had changed me in ways I did not fully understand.
That was when I met a counsellor.
At first, I wasn't convinced I needed one.
After all, my body was recovering.
Shouldn't that be enough?
It wasn't.
During our sessions, I learned something important.
Health challenges affect more than the body.
They affect confidence.
Identity.
Relationships.
Emotions.
Mental wellbeing.
The counsellor helped me process fears I had buried.
Grief I had ignored.
Questions I had avoided.
Slowly, healing became more complete.
Not because the past disappeared.
But because I learned how to carry it differently.
Mental health support is not a luxury. It is an essential part of recovery. And every woman deserves access to it.