Update on breast cancer survivor

I saw the same breast cancer survivor this week, and examined her, told her she's doing well, all that. She complained about her breasts again, reminded me of something I had blown off before, that the surgeons had told her that there was nothing more that they can do to make her look better.
Before we parted, I shared with her the insight I had developed, that I thought it was okay if she wasn't all that happy with how her new body looked.
That moment was probably the highlight of an otherwise tough week--her sheer joy of being validated. She exclaimed that even her husband told her she ought to feel lucky to just be alive--*nobody* had the nerve to tell her it's okay to feel let down about how her body looked.
I think the larger lesson here is something I've learned a few times: we shouldn't be too quick to minimize people's thoughts as inconsequential or wrong. Even irrational thoughts are true in the person's mind. My dad's death taught me that even though your impulse is to silence the nagging worry, sometimes you need to meet it and say, "well, you certainly seem to feel that way." It takes a little courage to do that.