Swimsuits?

I have a hard time finding swimsuits (I prefer tankinis) that come up high enough. I was lucky someone told me about TYR high neck tankinis. You can find them online. They have the thin foam pads which I sew in place. Then I insert the foam foob and sew a few stitches around the outside of the foob so I can remove it, but it won't move around. The foam foobs are the best for swimming as they are much lighter than the silicone ones. Also the silicone forms are hollow and if someone happens to hug you, or you lie down on your chest, you get the dreaded "foob fart"!

Thanks for posting the link to pinkbeachswim. I hadn't been aware of them before. For those of us who haven't had reconstruction, though, only a couple of the suits there seem to be designed for non-recon women. Others are for those with various types of recon.

You might want to check out the Swimsuits section of my non-profit website, BreastFree.org, where I provide links to the biggest mastectomy swimsuit manufacturers. And also check out my BreastFree Blog entry, Swimsuit Edition, Breast-Free Style, where I discuss the challenges of finding swimsuits after mastectomy without reconstruction.

In that blog entry, I provide links to some of the newer swimsuit companies designing for breast-free women, including an Australian company, Jamu, and also Veronica Brett, which lbrewer mentioned above. Plus, you'll find a link in my blog to Hapari. They design cute tankinis which, though originally designed for women with breasts, have pockets for removable cups that can work with breast forms. The company is now aware that many post-mastectomy women are interested in their suits and are happy to be helpful. In my blog, I also detail my own success finding some great regular suits that happen to have removable cups, which I've used to insert my breast forms.

Barbara 

I do a lot of water aerobics & swimming so I need a good comfortable durable suit with a shelf bra. I took my regular speedo like suit (dolphin chloroban conservative cut you can get from keifer.com). I sewed in one of the prothesis pockets and sewed snaps on the seam. Then I take a large surgical glove ,tie off all the fingers, turn inside out, fill with water & tie shut. You have to experiment with how much water to put in and don't get much air in there or it gets too round. Snap the glove into the pocket and you are good to go.


I know it sounds crazy but it works great if you are a C cup or smaller.



It looks totally natural & is a good weight -it doesn't pull the suit down which is important when you are jumping around. Just make sure you snap or pin the pocket shut because I have had it pop out during vigorous exercise. Also the water in the glove evaporates over time so you need to replace it every so often.

Water aerobics is great exercise for bc survivors,don't let swimsuit issues keep you out of the pool.

Mthomp,perfect idea to start this thread..I have had one fill on the TE and I am planning a vacay in July to go from FL which will be hotter than a steam room then over to San Fran and we wanna go to LA and Mex cause fiance's from East LA and has relatives up and down the area. Dunno what I am gonna look like by July. And wouldnt you just know,I had a fly buy one ticket and get a free companion ticket and it expired the day I gotta outta the hospital and now I just found out! We are totally bummed out about it but cant find anymore offers like that one. Thinkg of using Southwt since they dont charge to check a suitcase. Just hope I have leave left to get off work to go. Then I need more leave to get my implants at the end of this yr. These are great ideas for the suits tho. Really appreciate it. I need my top to stick out and my tummy to lay flat so getting a suit is a major task since right now I have the opposite problem LOL!  If anyone wants to come to FL I suggest going to Disneyworld in Oct or Nov,crowds are gone and the weather is cooling off a little. My fave is the white beach in St Pete tho,I am not much of a carnival ride person at Disney. 

Thank you for starting this thread. I have been struggling to find a bathing suit.

I had an existing tankini with pockets for inserts, but the opening was too small for a foob, so I used a bath puff (as suggested on http://breastfree.org).

I have a question on foam forms for swimming. Do they get heavy when soaked in water? How well do they work as swimming foobs? Are swim forms the best for swimming?

Thanks. 

The foam forms do stay wet and that's a drawback if you want to sit around in your suit after swimming. Even so, I've found my foam forms don't feel nearly as heavy as my silicone ones (which are small, only a size 2 or 3) even when wet. I still opt for foam even though I have silicone.

lbrewer,i looked at the veronica brett collection of suits cause I had a few fills and have plastic breasts at the top,trainwreck at the bottom which PS will fix at exchange. Thx for the link,it didnt even come up on my internet searches I had been doing. The suits are gorgeous! What I usually do is shop and find a lined suit I like and just stuff between the lining until I get my exchange but then the summer will be over.

Brcapooh,

The foam foobs do get heavy when wet, but not as heavy as silicon. When I get out of the water, I wrap a towel around myself, and use my arm (under the towel) to press some of the water out of the foob. I like the foam foobs best for swimming. You need to have more than one if you will be using them two days in a row, as they do take time to dry.

fyi, I just noticed that Hapari is running a 30% off sale on some of its swimsuits. They're not a mastectomy suit company, but many of their swimsuits do have pockets for inserts (they even sell silicone inserts). Their suits are cute and many are modest enough to provide just enough coverage without looking dowdy. I've tried on a couple and the sizing didn't quite work for me, but as we're all different, I think some of you might love them. I spoke with a salesperson on the phone and she said they've realized there's a market for their suits among women with mastectomies and they'd like to be as helpful as possible.

I hadn't even noticed that they have a mastectomy section now. Thanks for pointing that out!

mary, that sounds like a winning combo. I think I need to find some stores where I can look, touch and maybe even try on some things. I have not worn swim wear for 20 years and I need a lot of cover, but I am considering trying it again.

I still wear the swim suit I had before my mass.

River-Rat, didnt know JCPenney was having a sale. I know Sears will have one for swimwear when the fall comes. I got a swimsuit for $25 at Bealls Outlet,it has got ruching on the front,yay the better to camoflage the big tummy I got from taking it easy after surg and all the weight gain from the Arimi and in addition I subscribe to the theory that if my estrogen is low or non existent,my body goes looking for food to eat to make fat to make estrogen from. I could be wrong but I read that somewhere.  The suit is lined so next project is to find a way to get the chickn cutlets to stay in there. Maybe make sure the lining over the top area is secure with a tiny hole to squeeze the cutlets into.

I wear foam prothesis to swim and I get them from J C Penney(Jodee) mastectomy bras, forms, swimsuits, I wear one piece with tankini like bottoms, they have several types.  God Bless msphil(idc,stage 2,3 nodes, L mast, chemo and rads and 5 yrs on tamoxifen).  

Thank you to issue such a discussion.I am also looking for do not use silicone swimsuit, but has been difficult.My friend recommended smalltao.com, I can not believe the quality of the Internet, this is a problem.Whether your bathing suit in a department store to buy?But this is a little expensive for me.