what do you wear when exercising?

I don't know that I have a good solution. I'm not sure if you can hurt silicone foobs. I am a bilat DDD and my foobs are heavy and tend to bounce a lot which is a different problem. I tried the Jodee Permaform bra as the foobs are built into the bra. The cups do have some weight, but it tends to ride up. I have tried one band size smaller and it helps but is very very tight and not to comfortable. 

I don't use forms when exercising - too hot. 

The one advantage of having had a mx is that I don't have to deal with breasts when exercising ever again.  No more bouncing, no more feeling like they will smother me when I do shoulder stands.

Frani, you can puncture silcone foobs.  They are not gauranteed against such damage.

Michele, I know you said that the gym you go to is connected to your work, but I suspect that most people wouldn't notice or care if you went flat there.  

Lisa-e, I never thought about puncturing a foob. I would be mortified to be seen in public without my foobs. Must be a vanity thing with me. Erica, where did you buy the Still You Tank Top?. Do they ride up with foam forms

I don't know if it is different for those who have had a bilat. mast.  I had a single mast. so I always wear a form, except when I am sleeping.  I use the swim form when exercising.  It seems to fit the best in a sports bra.  I have 3 favorite sports bras:  The first is the Naturalwear G330.  I have it in gray and love the color.  I have also used the Anita sports bra-comes in white.  Not sure what the style number is.  But my new favorite is the Anita sports bra- style 5527.  The one I have is mostly gray, with black edges and also has some orange around the cup.  I love the way it looks and feels.  I am sure it is psychological but I always have my best runs in that bra.

I also love the Still You camisoles.  It's the only thing I wear that is soft enough for my radiated skin.  I wear it even though I have had reconstruction.  You can buy them on Amazon.  They are pricey; but the only thing that makes me feel good.

Michele,

Some fitters do carry Still You. I first saw them at the Friends Boutique at Dana Farber Hospital in Boston. If you order online, you can return it if you didn't like it. You'd have to pay return shipping, but since the camisole is so light, it could easily be shipped back in a lined envelope, so that wouldn't cost too much. 

The Still You Tank Tops are expensive, but they hold up quite well. I machine wash mine, but then air dry it. The ones I bought over three years ago are still going strong. 

Still You recommends wearing the cami with its Illusions forms. I've tried that, but find they droop a little. I prefer wearing the Still You Fiber Pads or Amoena 126 Leisure forms. I also recently tried the new ABC 916 Memory Foam breast form and that works great, too. Virtually any unweighted or extremely lighweight form should work.

Regarding trying on products, of course that's the best if you can find them locally. I've resigned myself to ordering some things online and returning them if they don't work out. I would never order a mastectomy product online unless I knew I could return it. Doing this has paid off for me. My favorite bra is an Anita bra (recommended by Carol--the Nastasja) that I ordered online and that I've never found at a local shop.

Erica, you have a great site there! I have a question for you and others about the Still You bra, though. Although the straps look thin (which is great) the top edge of the cups sections looks like it goes up pretty high. The mastectomy bra I bought (see my post about "workable solution for bra/port conflict") is the Classique #769 but as I explained in that post, that strap still hits the side of my port which makes it too uncomfortable for me to wear. I like the straps on the Still You, but the other issue is that if the cup part is too "high" (the top edge of the Classique front JUST barely touches the lower edge of my port) that would hurt also. Do you know if the top edge of a 34A Still You bra comes up higher than the top edge of a 34A Classique 769?



I have the removable fiberfill forms from the Amoena Hannah post-surgical cami that I could put into the Still You bra; I'm just looking for a couple of appropriate bulges underneath out-in-public spring and summer tops, is all.



After my port comes out in a year or so, I'll be able to wear the Classique but unfortunately not until then because it's just not worth the discomfort vis-a-vis the port area. If only the surgeon had put the darn thing in about another 1/2" toward my 'center'!! **&*&%$#!!!!

Hi Barbara/Erica (sorry for the name confusion; is it Erica as in "heathers"? ;-) ) -- Actually my question was about the Still You Bra (http://stillyoufashions.stores.yahoo.net/stillbra.html), not the Still You Camisole. I'm looking for something to wear during the spring and summer without having to add a second layer of clothing which is what a camisole would do. I want to be able to wear just a bra and a top, rather than a camisole and a top.



But because that Still You Bra looks (from the photo at least) as if the front/cup section comes up high ... of course it's impossible to tell without a photo of it actually on a person, drat it! .... I was wondering if it does indeed come up higher than the Classique 769 or whether it's just the photo making it look so, well, "big and chunky". It does look (to me anyway) more like a sports bra design than a normal bra, with those wide-looking sides and front -- almost like it's midway between a bra and a mini-cami. But again that could just be the type of photo. I wish I could find a photo of it actually being worn by a model!



Also, one of the Google links from "Still You Bra" says that this is a "step-in" bra, although none of the other sites mention that. Does it really not have any hooks?? In that case I wouldn't want it, but you'd think that if it was a step-in, it would be mentioned on the manufacturer's site.



I found another site with some Classique bras on sale and noticed their #740 which appears from the photo to have a narrow strap. Are you familiar with that model? http://www.womanspersonalhealth.com/bras/back-closure-bras/classique-bra-sale-going-now

The sale bras are "no returns" so even at $20 each I'm hesitating a little (no insurance). Looking at the different models including my #769, I'm wondering if the shop gal was fibbing when she said that one has the "narrowest" straps because a couple of those other Classique models sure do look like theirs are thinner than the 769's....



Thanks again for any input/info!

Barbara, thanks so much for the "inside info" on the Still You bra; you're right, it's definitely not something that would work for me and I understand why it's not one of the items you include on your site!



I called my local mastectomy shop and asked about the Classique 740; the gal there said that was one of the bras she'd given me to try on during my fitting and I didn't like it. After she mentioned it I did recall her bringing out another Classique model and looking at the 740 picture again I realized she was 100% right about that. I probably tried on a half dozen bras that day and the 769 was the only one that felt comfortable on me, although I'm not crazy about the snug fit... she said I "absolutely need" a 34 even though after wearing a 36 for the past several years the 34 feels constricting. But she insisted that what I found "comfortable" was not the proper fit for a mastectomy bra which must not only fit very snug around the chest but the breastforms must also fit tightly into the bra pockets. That's how I ended up with an Amoena size 4 form and a 34A Classique 769 bra.



I really like that Nastaja #5362 you linked to!! The straps are definitely narrower than the Classique 769 and it looks as though the cup shape might work too. If the bottom "band" area is as stretchy and comfortable as the 769, it might be perfect. I think I'm going to order one and cross fingers that the fit is as good as it looks on the photo... looks like it's cut low under the arms too, which is another plus. And it's on sale now too! Thanks so much for your help!

The sensitivity issue is one that I did bring up to her for sure, because I've always had sensitive skin before and now after the surgery even more so. I had to stop wearing the Amoena Hannah post-surgical camisole because my skin was reacting to the Aloe and Vitamin E that's in their fabric, and now I just wear a longsleeve or short-sleeve 100% cotton voile button-down shirt next to my skin and under a cardigan (it's still chilly where I live).



The fitter was really obsessive about the breastform having to fit into the bra cup 100% completely so that there are absolutely no wrinkles that might show under my clothes. I did tell her that 95% of my tops are prints, not solids, and that I really do not care one bit if my apparent boobs/bra isn't a 100% smooth surface... but she kept saying that it's all part of getting the proper fit without the forms moving around or the back riding up. I was always midway between and A and a B cup but when I tried a "B" form, it looked too big for me ... so I went with the A. But I will admit that when I did wear a 36 bra, which felt comfortable on me, they always rode up in the back and I wondered why! Ooopsy.



After all the back-and-forth about the "proper fit" (me saying I didn't like the tightness and her saying that anything looser would be the wrong fit) I ended up taking the 34 bra and mentally deciding that if I get really annoyed with the fit I will just buy a pair of those bra-extenders to convert it to a 36! It just wasn't worth the hassle, especially since they are the only mastectomy boutique where I live (they have 3 locations but it's all the same company) and the department stores either don't carry mastectomy bras or they just have regular salesclerks who are clueless about them.



You mentioned not having to squeeze the form into the bra pocket, so I have a silly question: Is it "normal" for some of the outer (underarm) part of the breastform's triangle to stick out of the pocket opening, even though the rest of the form is in its proper place? Because that's how they end up when put inside my 769. Just curious, because from a comfort point of view I would think that having fabric between every part of the silicone surface and one's skin would be optimal, but maybe that's the way all pockets are designed?

Unfortunately there are only 2 local hospitals that have breast care boutiques and this same company is who runs them. They have 3 locations, one in two local hospitals and then the storefront location which is the one I went to. I first went to the one of the hospital ones because it's close to where I live, but was completely turned off by their space (it felt like an overgrown closet) and the saleswoman/fitter who worked there. Their other hospital location is about 40 miles away and not at all convenient to get to. So I went to their storefront location which at least is a normal size, and not too far way (about 20 miles). But that's the sum total of the in-person boutiques where I live.



The funny part is that the original bra she tried on me was a 34B and I thought it was fine cupwise but the fitter kept insisting that the Size 4 form was too small because the outside of the cup "should not have any wrinkles in it" after the form was inserted, because the wrinkles would be visible under my tops. I kept telling her I didn't care about that but she insisted on ordering in the A cup #769 instead, which she didn't have in stock at the time. When I went back to get those she said that it was now "correct" (that the bra cup fit 100% tightly over the form). I did ask whether the form ends should stick out so much but she said they are "all like that". Apparantly not, and I thank you for the tip!



I just started a new thread about forms because I am really questioning the so-called necessity for the silicone ones for me. I'm now also questioning my choice of bra, and am wondering if I should also say I want to exchange the A cup for the B cup that I originally tried on. I'm wondering too if the tightness overall would be a bit less with the B cup bra than with the A in that model?

Take a look at the following website --- www.janacsportswear.ca       A lady on a different thread said she bought the prosthesis from there ($55) to use when she swims.  I ordered a couple today to try. (They are NOT just for swimming, by the way.)  They also sell exercise sportsbras.  (The site was started by a BC survivor.)  Just another option to look at.