COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Losing a body part — a limb, a finger, a breast — is never easy.
"When we have parts of our body amputated, there’s something missing," Stephanie Keaty, 58, of Hayden, said Tuesday. "When breasts are amputated, as in a mastectomy, something’s gone."
Keaty underwent bilateral mastectomy operations not once, but twice following her initial breast cancer diagnosis in 2005. She opted for reconstructive surgery but had to undergo another procedure to have her implants removed when the cancer returned and metastasized.
“I lived for 11 years cancer free and then in 2019 started having some back pain," Keaty said.
The best option following the second diagnosis was to have the prosthetic breasts removed.
“I was flat at that point,” she said. “As a woman, we’re used to wearing a bra, we’re used to having different size breasts at different seasons of our lives."
She said a lot of amazing women out there choose to forego breast reconstruction following mastectomies.
"That’s who they are, kudos to them," Keaty said. "Cheers to you and how you want to live your life and wear your clothes."
But that wasn't the right choice for Keaty. She prefers the cozier alternative of Knitted Knockers.
“Someone had given me a pair of boobs after I had a bilateral mastectomy the fall of 2019,” she said. "That’s when I was hooked."
Knitted Knockers are handmade knit breast prostheses that fit into regular bras and help women who have undergone removals feel whole again.
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