Thursday, March 7, 2013

My prosthesis has a hole in it!

Sadly we get this call at least once a day. Amoena breast prostheses are beautifully made by hand by ladies working in their German factory. The are soft and designed to mimic a real breast, especially in feel. If someone hugs a prosthesis wearer, they won't know you're wearing one. They are that good. However, the same qualities that make them like this also mean that you need to take lots of care of them. One area that catches some ladies out is this: Amoena warrants their prostheses against manufacturing faults for 2 years. If you manage to puncture the prosthesis, then that is not a warranty item. Much like getting a nail in your car tyre. The tyre shop will not replace your tyre because it is punctured. It is an area that is outside the control of the manufacturer. Here are a couple of pictures of a punctured prosthesis. In this case, the damage was done by the pin on a corsage of flowers. Other causes of punctures can be carrying thorny cuttings when you are gardening, or wearing brooches or name pins etc. One of the "natural enemies" of the breast prosthesis is the domestic cat. We have lost count of the number of punctured prostheses we have seen with multiple holes from a cat's claws. Can you see the tiny dark spot that is the puncture? Below is a close up of the puncture in the prosthesis. As you can see.. the smallest hole in them causes an immediate leak of the whipped silicone oil inside the prosthesis. While prostheses are robust, one puncture can be the ending of them. Also if you like swimming, you should use a swim form, especially if diving deep in the pool. They are designed for water immersion and have special grooves in them to allow water to drain away quickly when you get out of the pool. So remember, keep all sharp objects away from your prosthesis and it will give you a good service life. It is also very important to wash it every second day at least to keep skin oils form ageing the envelope material. We have seen some really dirty prostheses come into the shop.. keeping them clean extends their life. Catch up again soon. Debra

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Stuck in Melbourne

So I flew to Melbourne last week to attend the breast care nurses conference. Learned a lot. As I have elderly relatives here i thought I would spend the weekend with them. Head off to the airport tonight and my flight isn't on the departure board. So what's going on? Well Virgin have cancelled my flight. Excellent customer service in not advising me earlier. To their credit they have put me up for the night.. but now I won't be back at the boutique until late tomorrow morning. Virgin have all my contact details.. one short phone call earlier in the day and I could have made other arrangements. You need to lift your game Virgin! Not good enough! Some of us have small businesses to run.. and our homes depend on it! Cheesed off Debra