BCO UNDERAMOUR advertisement on our threads.

hugz4u

So I keep seeing the pop up of the Underamour Power in Pink clothing that supports BCO site.

If only they would come up with a truncal garment and advertise it then I am sure we would all buy one (or a few) and support the site at the same time.

HOW ABOUT IT BCO MODS. COULD YOU SUGGEST THAT TO UNDERARMOUR. (I'm not yelling, just trying to get your attention)

We have being trying in the past to get them to design us a truncal garment (much the same as the ones we wear of theirs) and so how about putting in a good word for us. They want to make some money don't they. And BCO wants a bit of their donations too! Well us truncal LE girls have just solved both your problems. Yeah!

NatsFan

Agreed!!

Journey

AMEN!!!!

GmaFoley

Yes, I am swelling at night because I can't find a good fitting Truncal night garment! Please, Please, Please!  If you saw my breast in the morning you wouldn't even have to think about it.

Cindyl

Agreed.  I'd never encountered UnderAmour until I landed in my LE PT's office.  I now have a couple dozen different UA tops, none of which is exactly right, but all are closer than most things... If they'd come up with something perfect, I'd buy several.

UA has an email link on this page.  Maybe you should point them to this thread?

http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/customer-service

purple32

Moderators

I so agree !

Would you please reply and let us know what you think ?
THX
*NO OFFENSE at all meant to underarmour , but I just visited with the " SHOP" button, and I dont need another pink shirt.  PLS consider designing the compression Ts the girls here are asking for .  There is a NEED, and you would also profit!

hugz4u

Cindyl, Consider it done, Fired off an email.  Hope others that have been begging for a shirt post on this thread as I directed UNDERAMOUR to this thread. Come on girls I know there are many that have requested this truncal tee shirt before.

Journey

I am getting desperate to find a good seamless shirt with a lower neckline and no logo on top.  I've bought everything I can find in hopes it would do the trick. The best I have found is Underarmour but sadly because of the high neckline and or the logo placement I can't hide it under normal street clothes.  I also wish the short sleeve versions had just a little longer sleeve so I don't have that gap of upper arm bulge between my compression sleeve and the bottom of the shirt sleeve.  On bad days I must wear them inside out because of the seaming irritation so seamless would be a dream.

My issue is my upper back near the arm pit so camis and tank are out for me because they cut into that area and make it worse.  I have to find a compression top with some sleeve to it.  I even took one of my UA shirts to my tailor to see if he could do anything to lower the neckline and he said it can't be done.

hugz4u

Journey, Thanks for input. I ditto you on the design. A cami is great if it is high enough under the arm and doesn't cut me. That would be the ultimate for me. However the tees are good too. Just got to do something with that high neck .Flat seams with a bit longer sleeve would be nice too. Oh I sure hope we get an answer back from UNDERAMOUR.The web site says they answer back in 48 hours. I sent the email to the attention of the design and sales team. Can you imagine the money they would make off of us and the donations that would go to BCO.

I told them that this would be a win win situation. WE WANT SPEACIAL DESIGNED TEES AT LEAST.PLEASE.........PLEASE!

ptdreamers

Agree with all the posts so far. Would love to have shirt with lower neckline, no obvious logo where visible and maybe a three quarter sleeve.

Indomitable1

Ditto. Truncal LE is a significant problem, and more options are needed. I like the specs listed immediately above!

GmaFoley

I agree with ptdreamers. I need a lower neckline xxl size with smaller arms.

Journey

Ladies we have tried to get UA attention before but to my knowledge nothing has come from it.

See my topic "New Type of LE garment" then go to page 7.  This was back in January 2012.

We got all excited that they seemed to be interested but like I said I don't think anything came from it.

Although we are a fierce group - we are a small number when you look at the mass population.  I just

don't think they will be swayed.  We may need to start talking to smaller manufacturers, but then we get into

a very expensive garment that many of us can't afford or can't afford the number of them that we need in a year.

purple32

We may need to start talking to smaller manufacturers

That would  be a shame that we would not be buying from someone who would benefit bco.org

I am hoping the mods can contact them and get back to us .

MODS?

Binney4

Sassybax was interested in the past. Maybe if some of you want to contact them they'd get going on this again? Worth a try.
http://www.sassybax.com/Contact-Us_ep_5.html

I agree it would be great if BC.org could profit from a new product, but bottom line is--we need the garment, whoever decides to come up with it!

Binney

Moderators

Hey All, 

We don't know if it will have any effect, but we will pass on the suggestion!

Thanks!

purple32

Thanks very much, mods- thats all we can ask!

carol57

Hello, Under Armour and Sassybax people, if you are reading this thread! 

I understand that your company mission is to create profit for your shareholders, and designing a garment or two for a special group may not seem like an efficient way to accomplish that mission.  But please keep in mind that we are women who purchase multiple garments to meet our needs, and when we find one that works, we buy it again...and again...and again! We wear our garments daily, and that means we wear them out, so repeat sales should help compensate for a smaller prospective buying group. 

Insurance coverage for medical-grade compression garments is not good, especially for truncal lymphedema garments, which many insurers deem to be experimental. Garment coverage by Medicare is officially denied, period. That means that typically very expensive, medical-grade compression garments are out of reach financially for many, many breast cancer survivors, so we make do with athletic and shapewear compression products not really designed to do the job we need. But a little more design thought can turn 'make do' into 'will do,' and if you offer an effective product, you will have loyal customers for life. Even better, you will have done a lot more tangible good for a group of breast cancer survivors than any 'pink' campaign I can think of!

Hoping you will find good reasons to work with us,

Carol

Joanna66

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum. I am 4 wks post my double mastectomy with Sentinel node biopsy. I don't have LE and was told by my BS that i am at a very low risk for it. I am aware that LE is a lifelong risk for all breast surgery patients, and live in fear of it as i do like to exercise vigorously and do push ups, which i have been doing as soon as i could after surgery, plus yoga, which also involves push up like movements. I keep my arms elevated afterwards. Everyone here seems to be talking about LE therapists, but my question is what kind of doctor is best qualified to evaluate and treat LE? Would it be an internist, a vascular surgeon, or some other specialty? I see a lot of comments here that Breast surgeons are not too knowledgeable about this condition. What kind of doctor is an expert on LE, if there is one? Someone with an MD as opposed to a certified therapist? Thanks.

carol57

Joanna, your lymphatic pathways have been compromised, and weightbearing exercise (including pushups and some yoga poses) signals 'trauma' to the body, prompting more lymphatic fluid to be sent to your arm and torso. Your scarring in the axilla and the loss of some nodes makes it challenging for the body to move that lymph out of your arm, hence weight bearing exercise can be a trigger for LE after node removal.

After SNB your risk may be low, but it's not trivial. I am one of many women in this forum who have LE after 'just' SNB (and I was doing a lot of weight lifting pre-surgery, so was pretty strong going into it, like you).  Most LE exercise experts would caution you about those pushups and yoga moves. It would lower your risk if you put those aside for now, and re-build strength using dumbbells. 

It is recommended to do conditioning work slowly, adding small and measurable weight increments until you are able to approximate the resistance you are putting on your arms and torso when doing the pushup. The good news is that you were quite strong before your node removal, so your journey to being able to do bodyweight exercises safely will be speedier than say, someone who never did a pushup before surgery. Even so, our safe-weight-training guidelines would have you starting with very light weights and working quite gradually to recondition your arm (and its lymphatic pathways) for bodyweight work.  If you PM me, I can arrange to send you resouces that explain the LE exercise/weight training precautions, with references to learn more about them.

To your question, there is no formal LE specialty in medicine.  Two doctors I am aware of specialize in lymphology, as they call it:  Dr. Joseph Feldman in Chicago and Dr. Kathleen Francis in NYC.  Also, Dr. Nancy Hutchison in Minneapolis is a doctor of physical medicine who sees a lot of LE patients in her practice; she is also a certified LE therapist.  There may be other MDs specializing in LE that I am not aware of, but as you noticed in our threads, MDs' and surgeons' knowledge of LE is generally limited.  We consider it a victory if they know enough about LE to realize when it's important to send a patient to a certified LE therapist for a formal evaluation.  Most CLTs are also PTs or OTs, so they have good training in the body's mechanics, although the quality of their LE training is not assured.

Here's where to look for information on finding a qualified LE therapist: http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htm

On the stepup-speakout site, you'll also find wonderful resources you can read, download and print to show your own MD/surgeons, about what we need our healthcare providers to know about LE. This information was written by a doctor who has LE, so she's speaking their language.

Good for you to be thinking about your LE risks.  I sure hope you never get it!

Carol

hugz4u

Underamour replied and said that they would forward my request to the right area. I"ll wait a few days to see what happens and maybe phone them.

Journey, I remember that thread.. we were all so excited. Maybe I can shake them up a bit, Maybe they have a new design team that is willing. I hope!

I hope they read this thread and the one you posted "New type of LE garment" in January 2012. to see how serious we are. There is money for these manufactures to make.

Also Our sweet Josh said that they would be looking into Truncal. 

Josh I know you can't contribute to the posts but I know you are reading them. Remember us. As you see we are so desperate we are trying all angles to get our truncal swelling down. Thanks Josh.

I am wearing a fleexes brand v-neck long sleeve "back shaper" that I ordered about 2yrs ago. They cleared them out and I got about 4 or so. It was a shame they stopped making that design because it worked and was cute. It doubles as a stretchy tee shirt with extra strong elastic throughout the whole back and tummy area under the tee. The sleeves are just stretchy and the bust area is double stretchy material. This is the perfect garment especially since I cut the sleeves to tee shirt length. The compression is wonderful and strong. I sleep in it with a swell spot but it is made to go out in public just "as is" so no double laying or garments. I wish I could order a hundred more.

Maybe I should send it to Josh to view. You girls would love it. The v-neck is not to low and not to high and not too wide of a v-neck. As goldilocks says. It's just right!

Journey

Carol - VERY well said post to the manufacturers who may read this thread. Thank you!



Hugz - wow that garment sounds ideal. Where was that when I was buying everything else on the market?



Ladies let's please keep this thread active regarding compression tops. We need to have one thread an outsider can read about our needs and frustrations. Thankfully the Mods have giving us a home and our own Lymphedema forum to post new topics and start threads just related to our needs. Thank you BCO!

GmaFoley

I just found a Bali tank that has high back and scoop neck... no sleeves but I think it will do - I had to wash before I wear so haven't tried it all night yet ... Problem is I got it at Ross and I think they are getting rid of them... bummer.. I finally find something that might work and can't find it online - that is why I think it must be discontinued..

Cindyl

How do the bali tanks run for size?  I've looked at them, but they don't give you enough to go on for mail order.

GmaFoley

I"m a 2x and the 2x was fairly easy to get on and still has compression.  Finally found a picture.

GmaFoley

Here is the back of the tank.  It will do for the moment but would still be great if we could get something made that we can wear on our arms at night too!

Cindyl

The back looks great. But yeah something with sleeves works better for me as some of my worst swelling happens right in the area where the arm holes are.

Journey

I can't wear that style cami because the edge is right where my swelling is from top of shoulder

to base of armpit area.  It would basically cut the swollen area in half.   Looks cute and might be a great alternative for those with middle back or rib cage swelling.

GmaFoley

I have rib and breast swelling and I have a couple of jovipak rounds I use under the arms for extra help... will try it tonight.. but yes, I have upper arm swelling too so not sure this is going to work .  Again, it would just be nice to be able to have long sleeve something so we don't have to piece-meal our garment every night.

Cindyl

What I want is a high back, 3/4 length sleeve either with a bust that fits well or a wear your own bra style. And if it could be a bodysuit style, that would be awesome.

purple32

Gma

Could you possibly post a link as to where this can be found ?
I like it.

THX