Clothes to wear during rad treatments

teensie

I've been told that I will probably be in too much pain to wear a bra shortly after rad treatment starts.  I've had mastectomy so not wearing prosthesis is traumatizing to me.  Any suggestions?

dlb823

Maybe try a soft, front zip sports bra?  I seem to recall that's what I used.   Deanna

3teacher

I read somewhere of a suggestion to cut strips of soft fleece (from a fabric store) to put under the bra. Also read a hint of wearing a very soft tee-shirt under the bra. Guess you'd have to cut up the tee shirt so if wouldn't have show under clothes. (I did find THE softest teeshirts at Target. Morismo (sp?) brand- found them in the large women's size area, go by 1,2,3, sizing. I wear them around the house/bed, they are soo soft. I think, though, they would be way too big for under your shirt, but they sure do work well around the house/comfy.

I didn't do any of those, so only passing on what I've read. I am not wearing a bra- too much irritation. I wear a shirt or dress that is not clingy and take along a sweater to wear over top to "conceal" my flatness. Hope this skins heal soon, so I can get back to normal! Good luck!!

KittyDog

I managed with very bad burns to wear my sports bra every day to radiation.  It can be done.  I will say a shirt that is easy to put on helps a lot.  Now once I got home I lived in a night gown and if I had company that got to see me like I was with a house coat on.

teensie

Thanks so much ladies!!!  I'll try it all and see what works for me.

Letlet

Hi teensie, I HAVE to wear a bra since I had my exchange 4 weeks ago and they tell me to wear a bra all the time up to 6 weeks post op. So far I am at dose #10/25 and I just have minimal discomfort. The only real pain is that I chose 2 or 3 support bras that I wash everyday because they are so heavily greased from the aquaphor that I spread on my skin. Other than that I am fine!

teensie

Thanks Letlet

texaslonghorn31

I too had bad burns from RADS and totally gave up wearing any kind of bra during treatment. I got several soft tank tops a size smaller than I would usually wear and wore those under t-shirts pretty much all the time. If I HAD to wear a bra it was a sports bra with no wire.... good luck!

teensie

Thanks for posting, texaslonghorn.  Love the name.  My best friend lives in Ft. Worth and I went with her to the stockyard.  Super fun. 

Hope you are doing well.  No burns so far, I'm 2 weeks in

Mariangel43

Teensie, I am also looking for those answers. The surgeon told me he would order the prosthesis after my sutures heal. It seems a long way and hurts so much. I will use my regular bra, soft and cotton, until I can tolerate it. Inside the cup of my regular bra I use the nursing pads to fill the bra.

On my own, I will buy a theraport bra which comes with velcro later. Also I saw a pattern for a knitted breast which looks really cool.

Now I am worried about dealing with coldness inside the hospital. I got out of the hospital with laryngitis and cough, and when I returned twice for drainage and sutures' removal, I got thick again. I have read about some creams you can use to minimize rad burns such as Radiaplex, Biofine and Aveeno cream to put on your skin after treatment, so radiation does not harm your skin. As I keep learning about this new journey in life, I will post it.

Thanks.

jensgotthis

I just started radiation and am wearing my post surgical bra that opens in the front. It's very soft and holds soft prosthesis pads. I had a unilateral Mx and have large breasts so I need to eat something outside of the house

Amie0215

Light weight cotton bra with no underwire. Keep cream on it. My doctor gave me Miaderm to combat the nasty skin irritation. So far it is working. Thankfully it is summer so I have been wearing sleeveless shirts and that seams to be helping.

Good luck!

Hopeful82014

Teensie, I found that Jockey's Elance camisoles were extremely soft and silky and felt terrific on my skin. They also washed very, very well (I hung them to dry.) I found them on sale just before starting RT and picked up a few that were 1-2 sizes larger than my normal, so that they would be quite loose. I ended up wearing them all through tx and even using them instead of a nightgown.

I had a lx., so didn't have the issue of prosthesis to deal with but you could try these under your surgical bra to protect your skin.

I really didn't have many skin problems - it turned very pink (but that took a while) and it never broke down or peeled, or turned hot red. I was really concerned about my skin going into tx. as I'm very fair, although my RO assured me I would do well - and she was right. But you never know until it's over just how bad (or otherwise) it will be, so there's always this sense of the unknown hanging over your head - that's one of the psychologically tough things about RT. Good luck with your tx. I hope it works out well for you.

exbrnxgrl

teensie has not signed on to bco for a bit over 5 years, however the recommendations for clothing may help others

Hopeful82014

You're right, Caryn, about Teensie! Oh well - as you said, the posts may help someone else

ICanDoThis

I bought a cheap cotton bra from Walmart that fastened in the front, a size or so larger than I needed,

When the swelling went down, I burned the damned thing.

Felt wonderful

Mariangel43

Hi, gals, how are you? These comments have made me good. I am still looking for things that I need. I went to see the PS and he was very nice. At least I bought from him the surgical bra and he sent the order for the bra with the prosthesis. I started to fight with him because he wants me hospitalized for one day and he is just inserting the temporary implant while for the reconstruction, he will do more cuts and he will send me home after recovery. When I saw the implants I took the one who looks closer in size to my left breast, I told him I wanted one smaller.

I still have hypersensitivity on the skin around the mastectomy and numbness in the wound. Is that alright? Thank you for your input.

Mariangel43

Icandothis, I smiled at your comment. I brought some front-closure bras from non-expensive stores. But I also brough a special bra with velcro and high compression that he put on me at the moment of the intervention (yesterday), I don't know if he wants me to use it until monday or I can take it off after 24 hours. I was desperate to get out of the hospital I was not paying attention, The hospital room flooded due to heavy rains by a vaguada. They moved us from the room.

Frill

I'm so glad to see this thread! I have a uniboob for now (long, weird story) and never even THOUGHT about this issue. I'd feel the same way about not being about to wear a bra right now, even though previously I wouldn't have carried. It's the lopsided thing that bothers me.

I want to be super good during rads because I'm so scared about my skin. I had practically talked myself out of doing it I was so freaked out. If I could just be shirtless and slathered in whatever lanolin, Miaderm, the silver stuff, name it, for 30 days, that would be my preference.

I have a ton of Coobie bras from right after surgery that are super soft and I can get them to hold the prosthesis. They don't have any snaps - slip over my head. I could live with that I guess. I need to check out those Elance camis, too.

I just keep telling myself - this is the last thing, last thing, last thing, last thing. Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up. Only it really isn't the last thing, there's the pills, and one day (over the rainbow) foobs. But this would be the last thing that would have me on that darn train to the hospital all the time. People literally think I work there. I have been asked for my employee discount card in the cafeteria. THAT WILL BE OVER! Lol.

God, please give me back my good attitude and ability to make light of all this the way I was back last October. *That* is what I miss a whole lot.

Mariangel43

Frill, nice to meet you. I read your comment. You didn't tell how many rads you have taken. I haven't started yet my RT because the RO told me to finish with the implant and then go back. She won't touch me before the PS. I am scared that the implant might get damaged with the RT but the PS says then he would put on a new one and get a skin graft for the damaged skin in the reconstructed breast. The breast with a TE hurts like hell and I haven't started RT. I cannot imagine the hurt associated with RT but twice in my life I had burns under the axilla because of the spray deodorant. I will talk to the RO and tell her to reduce the number of rad doses. By what I have seen, the burns start by # 20. If I get a severe burn, I will not let them treat me until the pain in the skin ameliorates.

By what I read, the skin hurts so much with RT that is difficult to wear a bra. Walmart and Kmart have some sports bra with front closure you may wear. To help yourself buy them larger that your size. I am making myself some bras when I get there with soft tissue inside and cotton in the outside and velcro for closure. You can look at some blogs on how to sew homemade bras. I am also crocheting some false boobs with a soft baby material to send them to women who can't afford to buy bras with prosthetic. Since the material is so soft, I might crochet some super soft bras for myself. I have two MOs, one OS (oncology surgeon), one RO, and one PS and have told them all I need a bra with prosthetic and none of them have sent the darn medical order with the justification to the health plan. So I changed my opinion and decided to have an implant.

I see that you will have a LD flap reconstruction. That is exactly the kind of flap my PS will use if radiation damage the skin and the implant. I am not so sure that is good for me because I don't want to develop lymphedema. Anyway, I have two months to think about it. You really have a good attitude about the whole thing. That is good; it'll make you heal faster and better. I read the book "Anatomy of an illness". You should read it. I liked your experience at the cafeteria. Since June, I have been at the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital almost every day and they have not given me even the thanks for sponsoring them. Next time I will ask for discount on the OR fees. Bye, dear, hope to hear from you soon.

ChiSandy

Do not assume you will have unbearable pain. Do not assume you will sail through. Do not assume you will have skin breakdown, but do not assume you won’t. Go into this with an open mind and remember your Girl Scout days--be prepared but don’t be terrified. There is a reason why your RO will be giving you the number and strength of treatments in your plan--and if you quit early you may be doing yourself more harm than good, getting the side effects without the goal of destroying residual tumor cells. Yes, I had only 16 treatments--but they were “hypofractionated” (double strength) and to my tumor bed, not the whole breast. I began getting swelling of my seroma and redness of my skin--but NO irritation and NO pain, no broken skin, no blisters. I used the Aquaphor samples they gave me immediately after each treatment, Aquaphor, aloe & calendula at bedtime, and showered it all off every morning. Didn’t sweat on that side, but if I had I’d have just put cornstarch in a tube sock and patted it on. But "your mileage may vary.”

Your watchword should be “soft.” If you choose to wear a bra, go wire-free (I wore underwires throughout because I needed them for support and I was lucky that they didn’t touch the radiated area) and preferably front-closing or step-in. Avoid irritating seams (clip off & tape over any nylon thread that might stick out) and stiff lace trim. Be prepared for some limited mobility (you probably won’t have any, but it’s good to have a plan). Wear shirts or blouses that button or zip up the front or you can step into. Amoena makes some great camisoles--zip-front with removable “foobs” for mastectomy patients, or step-in with padded shelf bra (with slots to slip in foobs if you need, or light support if you don’t) in a rainbow of colors. So they can double as tanks or shells under an open shirt or jacket. Pricey, but after you’re done with treatment they make great tankini swimsuit tops. If you had lumpectomy and are D cup or smaller, step-in Genie or Coobie bras are great. If you’re bigger, Leading Lady makes front-close leisure/sleep bras in a variety of colors (even animal print) that don’t support a whole lot but are better than “flapping in the breeze.” They come in sizes up to 46F/G/H. (BareNecessities.com and HerRoom.com sell them, as does Roaman’s/Woman Within for the plus sizes). One thing you want to avoid is skin-on-skin contact--you don’t want the underside of your radiated breast touching your midriff, and you want to pad where the elastic bottom band of your bra contacts the crease of your bust. Some women simply take a well-worn, washed-till-soft piece of T-shirt material and tuck it beneath your breast.

Mariangel43

Thank you, ChiSandy. I will look on Internet the bras you recommended. I will need one that I can wear to RT and after final reconstruction. I saw some beautiful ones. The ones I found are cotton and are in constant friction with the skin. I need soft one. The one I bought from the PS is very soft but exerts moderate compression to my thorax and hurts. I will use it.