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Local Hospital Giving Away Hand-Knitted Breast Prostheses To Cancer Survivors

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Local knitters are at work helping make breast cancer survivors feel more beautiful.

Knitted Knockers are handcrafted colorful knitted breast prostheses that give a cancer survivor the natural look of a breast and are now being given out at Abington-Jefferson Health.

Betty Cummings, an oncology nurse navigator, says the knockers are lighter than a normal prosthesis and can be used before the mastectomy incision has healed.

"This provides that upfront temporary prosthesis before they can go for a fitting, because it's lightweight, it's soft, it's not irritating to the skin," Cummings said. "Sometimes the heavier prosthesis are a little irritating, they don't work well when women are exercising, so the Knitted Knocker does. They can put that it in there, it's lightweight, it's not heavy, it doesn't move up and down when they exercise."

Cummings says Knitted Knockers was started by a cancer survivor in Washington State. They're available in all cup sizes and they're free.

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