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tahar ben jalloun
to stop the spread of the
disease and then a breast
replacement…” She explained
this in an everyday tone as if
she were not been concerned.
On the day of the procedure,
I spent a long time in the
hospital hallways imagining
her with one breast. A few
months later, after recovery,
she triumphantly entered my
office, opened her shirt, and
said: “This summer, I will be
topless on every beach that
you take me to.” We laughed
and celebrated. The aesthetic
surgery imitates nature’s
perfection. It was impossible
to tell which breast was fake.
It was me and no-one else
that made the final decision.
Ablation, or, to use the proper
term: a total prostatectomy.
I had been told everything
about the surgery and I
knew perfectly what the
procedure implicated, even
about the paralysis of erectile
function. My empty body will
no longer be oxygenated,
etc. When a patient chooses
prostatectomy, the doctors
prepare them psychologically.
Professor J. F. personally spoke
to me about this. He took care
of me and reassured me: “We
will take care of things one
at a time. It’s lucky that we
met each other. There will
be some inconveniences but
all will eventually return to
normal. It’s important to be
patient and to tell yourself
it could have been worse…”
He showed me the results of
the multidisciplinary doctors’
meeting which expressed the
need for surgery.
I asked several of my doctor
friends and they all agreed
with the decision for surgery.
That is, until I ran into one
of my former university
professors on a bus; he made