Detective who was only bald mum in playground after chemo ‘more confident than ever’ due to quirky breast inserts

A police detective who was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy to remove her right breast has discovered a newfound confidence by wearing quirky patterned breast inserts, and now feels “more confident than ever” in a bikini.

Lisa Coxon, 37, who lives in Tean, Staffordshire, with her husband, Jordan, 40, a gas engineer, and their two sons, Ace, four, and Jax, seven, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in August 2020.

Lisa had chemotherapy treatment which made her lose all of her hair, and in April 2022, she started having seizures at home, and discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain – it remains incurable but treatable through radiotherapy.

In April 2021, Lisa had a mastectomy to remove her right breast, which she found “really challenging”, especially because of wearing a heavy, uncomfortable NHS prosthetic breast insert, and she struggled to find any swimwear or lingerie that “catered to younger women”.

But, in summer 2022, Lisa discovered Boost – comfortable, light, stylish silicone breast implants that come in a range of colours and patterns.

Boost helped Lisa become more body positive and improved her confidence – she was able to wear a bikini comfortably without feeling self-conscious, which helped her feel “liberated about (her) body”.

“I feel liberated about my body – I’m so happy that I’m still here and that my body is still working to keep me here.”

In March 2020, while on maternity leave, Lisa had pain in her shoulder, and put it down to tennis elbow.

Lisa enquired about getting physiotherapy, but because of the pandemic restrictions, she found it difficult to get the support she needed.

She said: “The pain was unbearable – I wasn’t aware that you should even check your armpit for breast cancer, I always checked by breast.

“My doctor said if the pain gets worse, to come back in a few weeks, but three days later, it was at the point where I was taking painkillers and couldn’t sleep because of the pain.

“I have really dense breast tissue so it wasn’t even picked up on the mammogram or the blood test, or an ultrasound, it wasn’t until I had a biopsy in August that they officially told me I had it.”

Lisa later found out that she had triple negative breast cancer, which is the most aggressive form, and soon began chemotherapy treatment which made her lose all of her hair.

In April 2022, she also started having seizures at home, and discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain, which is incurable but treatable through radiotherapy.

She said: “It was absolutely horrific – even just picking them up from school was hard because no one else could do it for me when there were household bubbles.

“I had to stand in the playground being the only bald mum, and it was all just a lot to handle.

“It was just an absolute logistical nightmare, as well as all the trauma – I just had a baby and now I had cancer.”

She said: “It was really challenging – there was no swimwear or lingerie catered to younger women that looked great and made you feel good.

“I felt like a lot of swimwear was catered to older ladies – it was all very high neck and quite formal.

“I wore a NHS prosthetic breast but it was huge and heavy and weighed down all of my bras and swimwear – you couldn’t wear a triangle bikini top for example.”

“I had to try to focus on the positives and get creative with my clothing – I’d look for things that had a nice shape and were a bit sexy or lacy but maybe had underwire in so I could easily slot in the NHS prosthetic boob but it felt like a huge challenge and took a lot of adjusting.

“It was also hard to wear in terms of exercise – it would chafe.”

Then, in summer 2022, Lisa came across Boost, silicone breast implants that come in a range of colours and patterns.

Lisa said: “I saw the company on Instagram and they had loads of funky designs so I decided to get one.

“I treat them as an accessory – I mix and match the colours with different bras and bikinis, it’s great.”

She said: “Although I don’t care what I look like as much after cancer putting things into perspective, I used to feel like people were staring at me for not having a boob, but now they’re staring because the Boost insert looks so interesting.

“I feel so much more confident in public now, it’s changed my life and I would recommend them to everyone who has had a mastectomy.”

For more information, visit: wewearBoost.com