Bra recommendations

cse70

Never thought I would asking this question! I have a large mass and will have right mastectomy next month. I tried to find a front closure bra today and the ones I tried are too small due to the mass. How do you plan for a bra post-op? What did you do to prepare? Thanks for your help!

Kicks

If you live in a larger town/city, there should be Mastectomy Salon with a Certified Fitter to help you. A talk with the BC Nurse Navigator at your Facility will have info also.

I didn't buy any new bras before my UMX. I just wore the same ones for a while using a 'soft fluff' that the local Cancer Society sent me in a 'Survival Kit' they sent. It was about 3 months post surgery that I got my 'good' prosthesis and mast. bras.

I had no issue with fastening my 'old' bras so no reason to hunt for a front closure. But suppose that if I had, I'd have hooked in front ant then turned it around. I would think that just get. The size thar you usually wear as only one side will be removed and the other staying the same if you are set on getting a front hook.

It was 10 days before the 'strapping' was removed so was just strapped down flat, not ju d t on surgery side but other side too.

MinusTwo

cse - I agree with Kicks. No point in buying a bunch of things before you know what you will need. I used bras from WalMart for a while, cotton & front closure. Then I used Danskin sports bras. Then I went to Nordstroms, where they have trained fitters for mastectomy patients. The thread below isn't particularly active, but if you read through it there are lots of suggestions about bras that have worked for some of our sisters.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topics...

Di2012

This is my favorite:

no hooks....soft.....right after surgery I used mini pads or medical pads to cushion the new incisions. (Nordstrom Rack, 4.97!)

Di

another brand is the COOBIE bra very much like The Nordstrom Rack bra.

Kicks

Nordstroms - what are they? (😏) Haven't seen one of them in decades since we moved out here on the edge of the Prairie/foothills of He Sapa (Lakota for Black Hills). When we lived in Puget Sound area, they were there.

Kicks

For me, sports bras don't work. Pros. is there looking like it should but they 'squarsh' remaining breast so it looks like it was the UMX side.

MinusTwo

Ah ha - since I had a BMX I was remiss in not considering the unis. Sorry Kicks.

I an REALLY happy with the Wear Ease Sydney Bra, which I wear 24/7 since it has compression for my truncal & breast LE. It does have pockets on both sides, so you could use a prosthesis in one or both sides or none. It's nice and stretchy and you step into it and pull up - so no compromises with arms above the shoulders., That said, I certainly wouldn't spend much money for 6 month until your swelling goes down. You really won't know what you will need in the future.

When I left the surgical suite, there was already a surgical bra placed on me. And I got a second one from the hospital, just in case. Maybe that will be the case at your hospital.

Di2012

Kicks...I went to North Jr high for a half a year, and a full year Rapid City High School in my sophmore year......Dad was working on the minuteman missles.....I loved RC!

Kicks

Think Vet Wrap or a stick to itself Ace bandage. When I came out of OR, that's how I was strapped down. No bandages to change, nothing to do (except keep drains drained) til I saw Surgeon. Did surprise me when he removed it as there were no external sutures and had been no signs of 'discharge'. There were internal sutures but only surgical glue externally. Guess in a way, I shouldn't have been surprised because he had used surgical glue when he put my port in for neoadjuvant chemo but I was.

VA buys my mast. bras but I see some cute/pretty cheap bras in WalMart sometimes that I can't pass up on - so I get them. The 'uplift' bras usually have 'pads' in them that can be taken out leaving the pocket they were in that is good for a pros. to go in. Can always sew in a 'pocket' if need to.

I'm on the smaller side ( 32/34; A/B) depending on the cut of the bra. When I first saw the fitter, I was told that nobody gets underwire bras so I went ahead and got non- underside ones. Well, I've always liked underwire bras and did not like what I got that weren't. Now she always orders in underwires for me to try on and I get the ones I like best. I'm just saying this to show that we are each so unique and need to be who we are/go with what is right for us - not necessarily what is 'right' for anyone else.

Kicks

Di2012 - Was your Dad AF? We live fairly close to Ellsworth now.

Sons went to RC HS after we moved here, back in mid 90's after Hubby retired Navy. When we first moved here we lived across from South Middle School.

One thing I really hate about here, as I get older' is the brutal winters for us oldsters.

We lived on Whidbey Island for 12 yrs while Hubby was stationed at NAS Whidbey.

Di2012

Kicks,

my dad woked for Boeing, but worked with the AF at Ellsworth AF base.....one day in the winter, in a blizzard and he was on I 90 in his little renault and a gust of wind blew him & his car off the freeway...a few cars saw him disappear into the snow filled ditch and luckily they stopped and dug him out. (He tried to get out himself and the snow was packed around the car).....I know about SD winters!

I see Puget Sound and Maury Island out my windows, ( my neighbors across the street are waterfront) much further south than Whidbey Island...

Di