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Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
AFTER losing part of her breast to breast cancer more than two decades ago and later losing her husband to cancer, a fire began to grow in Patience (Pat) Madambi’s soul to find a holistic way for women who would have lost a breast or breasts to cancer to deal with the loss without affecting their self-esteem.
For many women, the sudden loss of a body part is life-changing. Some hide behind baggy clothes that slouch towards the side where the breast was removed while some try to maintain the old look by stuffing their bras with socks and pieces of cloth to recreate the shape of a breast.
Pat who is a trained and certified pre and post-mastectomy fitter is, however, committed to helping survivors of breast cancer.
She is offering a lifeline to those undergoing the traumatic effects of surgery by providing breast prostheses and pre-surgical soft forms that stand in for the removed breast. “When I had a part of my breast removed (lumpectomy) there were no options to cover that gap that was left on my breast. I just had to heal and remain with that scar but now we have many options for women, you can get a partial form to put where breast tissue was removed and you look normal again,” she said.
Through her organisation, Lady Tabo Mastectomy Boutique, she said they were offering pre and post-mastectomy care in the form of mastectomy bras, breast prostheses, compression bras, and anything that helps breast cancer survivors to heal more comfortably.
The silicone prostheses will be for long-term use while the pre and post-surgical soft form will be for use during the healing stage after breast removal which is short-term (six to eight weeks).
“Treatment of cancer is not solely medical but cascades further to psychological treatment. When a woman goes through a mastectomy, it’s a big life transition as breasts are what women identify with as a huge part of their femininity. But when these are amputated, it breaks down their confidence and they feel less feminine. We help in restoring their confidence in particular and enhance that femininity,” she said.
She said women who undergo a mastectomy need to continue wearing the clothes they used to wear before the procedures and remain comfortable.
“A lady who has gone through a mastectomy will start to wear baggy and shapeless clothes to cover up the missing breasts and they are usually not themselves. We want them to continue life as before despite the transformation. We want to assist women in this area because in the past a lot of survivors have relied on donated, used breast prostheses. These will have been used for two to five years and reached their lifespan. But when someone receives that form they use it effectively for six to 12 months before it breaks. The breasts are sometimes too big or too small for the women so we are coming in to fill that gap,” she said.
She said her company had entered into a partnership with a manufacturer of breast forms in Ireland called — Truelife which would help bring the breast forms to Zimbabwe.
“It has been a two-year struggle trying to get a manufacturer to agree to come to the country and make these breast prostheses and anything around breast care in Zimbabwe. We are happy we found one, the breast prostheses will now be readily available in Zimbabwe and ideally we would want the organisations that work with the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe to assist them in securing the breasts for their clients. We expect the first shipment to come into the country in a week or so,” she said.
She added that breast cancer impacts a large number of women in Zimbabwe annually making the need for support critical and the availability of the products will make women more comfortable despite their struggles with the disease.
On the cost of the breast prostheses, she couldn’t give a figure but preferred to say it would be cost-effective.
“Bringing in breast products directly into the country means that the price will no longer be prohibitive because a lot of women were traveling to get breast prosthetics fitted outside the country meaning that we are cutting the cost of traveling and any other costs that speaks to those services. Putting in the importation costs of these prosthetics we will try to keep costs within reach. Before this, I was importing from agents in South Africa and it was quite costly, with the most basic going for US$144 to
US$177 per breast form. Now we are looking at reducing that to less than half of that cost,” she said.
A mastectomy bra has a pocket that the breast form is slid into and is secure as it does not shift or fall out when one is active.
“We are hoping to make mastectomy bras a common thing that a woman who goes through breast surgery knows that there are products that can assist them to balance and maintain their looks as if they still have their breasts. We have done a lot of work trying to talk to medical aid societies to see if this can be included in their packages where the client pays a percentage for the service and the medical aid pays the rest. It is something they can work on, we will see how this will go,” she added.
She said the products were quite necessary and appealed to the Government to assist in making their importation less costly.
“It is very psychological. It would be wonderful if the Government could assist in bringing in these medical products in a cost-effective manner,” she said. -@NyembeziMu
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