Beauty and the breast

Updated On: 30 October, 2009 07:37 AM IST | | Alisha Coelho

On Breast Cancer Awareness Day today, affluent survivors choose reconstruction surgery over cheap prosthesis

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On Breast Cancer Awareness Day today, affluent survivors choose reconstruction surgery over cheap prosthesis

The small circle of sponge has been used by thousands of women as a breast prosthesis across India to restore dignity, but it's fast losing out to surgery.
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On Breast Cancer Awareness Day today, survivors say they're thankful for the prostheses, but are glad reconstruction surgery has come along.

For 28-year-old Deepa Sharma (name changed), breast reconstruction was the only option.

"The prosthesis was like having a ball of rubber stuck to me. I could afford surgery and the scarring doesn't bother me," she said, adding that surgery for one breast cost around Rs 70,000.

But at the Indian Cancer Society in Parel, Lolita Saletore often has the pleasure of witnessing a breast cancer survivor's face light up once she helps them put on a prosthesis.