Today is the sequel to the last piece about the prosthetic breast.
Two weeks after the operation I went in for the consultation, and today I want to describe how they rebuild it to match my own chest
using the technique they call premium colouring.

How I arrived at a prosthesis, and the account of it,
are in the previous piece — do read it.
↓ ↓
A prosthetic breast — a new breast, a journey towards a new me, Vol. 11

In that piece I also wrote about why I did not choose reconstruction.
Hospitals still tend to present reconstruction as the main option,
and I was lucky: a leaflet I was given at the hospital
led me to this company, Natural Breast Co., Ltd., and to their prosthesis.
That is how the connection came about.

The fitting stage alone moved me. (And this is still only the fitting.)

I had been content to stay without a breast, so why did I end up choosing a prosthesis?
I wanted to fix the shoulder pain and the way my body had gone out of true.
I had tried all sorts of things,

from about ¥4,000 on Amazon at the cheap end
to around ¥30,000 from an underwear company.

But getting the balance right is difficult. They simply drop into the bra,
so they shift as soon as you move.
And nothing covers the décolletage. No good for a hot spring or a pool.

And then I found the adhesive prosthetic breast.

What I feel the advantages are

◎ No reconstructive surgery, so much less strain on the body
◎ It copes with weight changes and with how the body changes in future (a breast dropping)
◎ Not only the breast — the nipple can be rebuilt too

And above all:it comes back looking exactly like my own breast.


Not just the colour of the skin and the nipple — even the blood vessels are reproduced, following those on the breast I still have. That is the premium colouring, and it is astonishing.

It takes about three hours, with a professional colourist working carefully, as though painting a picture.
Parts of the technique are confidential, but with the company president’s permission I am able to show this.

 

From here it goes through the coating process and reaches me in two weeks.
I will report again.

I know there are people carrying a sense of loss after losing a breast.
Going to a hot spring or a pool, even being in front of people — it is a delicate thing to hesitate over.

For my own part, finding a prosthesis that puts no strain on my bodyand makes my heart lighteris something I am genuinely
glad of.

I have a great deal more to do out in the world yet.
Which is exactly why I want to name the people who supported this new start of mine.
Natural Breast Co., Ltd. — website

0120-66-1167

Do have a look.

If my experience brings even a little courage or strength to other women dealing with breast cancer, that makes me glad. And by putting the motorsport challenge out there, I hope to keep driving alongside the people who understand and share how I want to use this life of mine.

The journey to a new breast and a new me has hard stretches in it, but beyond them lies new hope, and beauty.I hope this is a piece that gives someone the courage to take a step.

Thank you, from the heart, for reading to the end.