Hello Sara and welcome to the forum. 

I'm hoping that some of our ladies may pop by to share their experiences with you but in the meantime I wanted to let you know that we do have some information about prosthesis which also has links to external sites on our website here. Have a look through and hopefully you'll find it helpful. 
I'm not sure if you've chatted to your breast care nurse about your concerns but it may be worth having a chat with her ahead of your appointment later this month. It may be that she's able to give you some suggestions. 
Best wishes, 
Jenn
Cancer Chat moderator

Hi Sara,

A very warm welcome to our forum. You will eventually get used to the weight of the prosthesis, but I agree that they are very heavy. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer, first of all I had a lumpectomy 10 years ago. This was followed by a double mastectomy 9 years ago. The silicone prosthesis provided by the NHS, is considerably lighter than it used to be, but it still weighs a ton.

Prostheses are made out of a number of different materials - silicone, foam, polystyrene beads. There are also some 'knitted knockers', which are knitted breast forms filled with bath scrunchies.  These are available from knitted knockers on line. There is no charge for these but donations are always welcome. These come in all sorts of colours, but you can request a particular colour scheme. They work well for swimming too.

Most of the Silicone prostheses are heavy and expensive. There is a ridged silicone one made especially for swimming, but I have never found them very useful, as they're so heavy that you end up with your bust somewhere around your waist when wearing them in a swimsuit. The foam ones have a metal weight inserted in the middle and these are quite good for swimming, so long as you remember to squeeze the water out of your prosthesis as you get out of the water.

I have an old pair of prostheses where the breast form is filled with polysytrene beads. These are lovely and lightweight, but the shape is not as good as the silicone forms. I have tried to replace these from a number of different suppliers, but none of the modern ones are as good. The beads seem much bigger and the forms are filled a lot tighter, making the prosthesis much larger than they used to be. These are great for every day, but not for swimming unless you want your bust up around your neck as the beads float in water.

There is also a breast form supplied by Marks and Spencer, which is made from soft breathable moulded foam and is comfortable to wear. You can use this for all occasions including swimming. It is also reasonably priced, as the forms are ten pounds each. There are mail order companies who supply the prostheses mentioned above. These companies also supply post-surgery bras, tops and swimwear. If you do a search on line you will find them. If you have any problem send me a friend request and I can give you details.

I hope that this is of some help to you and, that you find something suitable amongst this lot.

Please let us know how you get on.
Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Jolamine

Many thanks for your reply I will certainly give the knitted knockers a go have not heard go those before. The M&S Breast forms are not too bad but the trouble I have is trying to match up with my right breast so they look the same size.  Am beginning to think I should have had bilateral mastectomy then I would not have to match left to right.  Still it's early days and I am probably trying to move ahead to quickly.

Am really grateful to you.

regards

Sara x

H Sara,

With Marks & Spencer now selling their breast forms individually instead of in pairs, have you considered wearing two different sizes?

I forgot to say that Knitted Knockers provide an ordinary everyday prosthesis and one for swimming. I don't see any difference in them, but presume that there is. Mention whichever you want when ordering them.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx