CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Bertha Ponce caught it early.
"By the 29th of April, they diagnosed it. It was cancer, but May the 25th, I didn't have a breast already. Everything got moved immediately," said Ponce, a Breast Cancer Survivor.
After a woman gets a mastectomy, they have an option: get reconstructive surgery or a prosthesis.
"I don't need a breast," said Ponce, "we can go without. That was my choice, but then eventually, 'wait a minute, now I need something to make it even.' That's where Amy comes in".
Amy Goldson is a Certified Mastectomy Fitter for the Breast Friends Program of the Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation.
"This is an energy cosmetic. You see the little bumps there? This is for an very active woman," said Goldson.
She's the only fitter in the entire Coastal Bend. The next fitter is in the Valley or San Antonio.
"I'm usually booked out six weeks on those Thursdays. Tomorrow, I have fittings all day long. I have 15 women scheduled tomorrow and each fitting takes 30 minutes on average," Goldson added.
She said a lot of women go without prosthesis.
"Number one, maybe they didn't have transportation to travel to one of these other places which are not local are far away. Number two, they don't have insurance. Number three, they have insurance but it's not really good insurance and the copay is still hundreds of dollars." She added, "after going through all of the tests, all the surgeries, all the medications, the chemotherapy, what is left?"
One prosthesis and bra are $467.
"They roll up a sock, they make a little bean bag. They get crafty. They do what women do. We do what we gotta do," said Goldson.
Because of Breast Friends women can get the support they need for free.
"Their clothes fit, they can go get groceries, they don't feel like people are staring at them and most importantly, they hug their grandchildren or their loved ones and not feel a void there. It feels real".
More than 1,000 women were fitted by Goldson.
"They're from all different walks of life, they're all different. However, they all have one thing in common: they traded their breast for their life, and I'm here help them now that they've made it through that part. I'm here to help them be able to continue on," said Goldson.
The program is fully dependent on donations from the public.
If you would like to donate, you can stop by the Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation, or call and ask for Amy with the Breast Friends program.
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