Radiation and wearing your bra/prosthesis

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About to finish up chemotherapy and will begin radiation sometime mid to late October.   While looking at a couple of different sites, I've read that many are unable to wear their normal bra and prosthesis during the time of radiation treatment because of pain or to prevent rubbing against the radiated skin.   If this is the case, what do you wear to get needed support?  I had a unilateral mastectomy and am a D cup.  Wearing a camisole might not be supportive enough for me-especially at work.    Your suggestions are much welcomed. 

Comments

  • jancie
    jancie Member Posts: 2,631
    edited September 2010

    By total accident because I wasn't paying attention, I ended up buying two maternity bras because I couldn't find anything else without underwire or a ton of padding.  They are comfortable although quite ugly.

    I didn't wear a bra during radiation.  It was much faster to just rip off my shirt and put a gown on.  I brought aloe vera lotion with me daily and would put that on right after radiation.  You need to get the natural stuff without any chemicals as the chemicals have drying agents.  The stuff I got was actually brown in color and I got it at a natural health food store.  At night I would slather on some aquaphor which is sticky but at night it doesn't matter.  I am very fair skinned but never peeled or blistered even after 30 treatments.

  • vhqh
    vhqh Member Posts: 535
    edited September 2010

    I was forbiddent to wear a bra during treatment and you will get tender enough that you will not want to.   I work in a prison and had a unilateral also.  I covered my lopsided and braless appearance by wearing a loose cotton solid colored t-shirt with a variety of plaid button down blouses worn as jackets.  Also had a couple of lightweight jackets I used.  If anyone noticed they didn't say anything. 

  • KittyDog
    KittyDog Member Posts: 1,079
    edited September 2010
    I have the exact same case as you. UMX and a D cup. I bought a MX sports bra. I wore it everyday to Rads and soon as I came home, it came off. My skin held up until week 4. Week 4 I had redness, Week 5 skin started blistering. Week 6 Third degree burns. It wasn't comfortable but I just couldn't got bra less into the hospital where my Rads. was. A nice long walk.

    Wishing you the best.

  • Melinda41
    Melinda41 Member Posts: 672
    edited September 2010

    I am also a D cup uni and I finished rads about a month ago. I wore my bra and foob almost all the way through. Actually, I think I did wear it all the way through rads, but there was one weekend after it was over that I didn't want to wear a bra. So I just stayed home in a loose, busy patterned shirt when I needed to run out.

    I was concerned about having to go braless since I do have the one big floppy boob. I was prepared to wear a soft tee shirt under my bra if needed, but I never burned that bad.

  • 3monstmama
    3monstmama Member Posts: 1,447
    edited September 2010

    I didn't wear a bra during treatment or the first weeks after.  I bought a bunch of Hanes white men's tshirts and wore those under everything, even at work.  As things progressed, I had to modify them a bit because everything started feeling a bit constricted.  So I ripped off the necklines and the binding on the sleeves.  During zaps, I used calendula creme a couple times a day.

    I managed to only get a couple of real burns at the end and they healed up very quickly.  I will say that the week after Zaps ended hurt more than the during.  For that I took ibupropene.

    4 months out, my skin looks really good and I attribute that to the amount of air I got during treatment.  The nurse told me that people get problems when their poor zapped area is all bound up and sweaty plus the inevitable rubbing from the bra straps.  Thanks to my tshirts, I never had that problem.

    one other thing I did:  I have a private office with a door.  I would go in and lock my door and pull up my shirt.  I figure, hey, its the 28th floor, why not give the seagulls a thrill?  But I do think it helped to be able to let some air in.

  • Otterchica
    Otterchica Member Posts: 2
    edited August 2016

    I have this same question. Thanks for the ideas. I will have a bit more of a problem since I work in the tropics and the office is not air-conditioned. But, really I guess I can just ask the office staff what they prefer the floppy one boob lady or complications to my skin from trying to cover it all up.

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