Post-Treatment Looking For Bras anything but sports bras

It really seems to depend on how large you are - of course, this depends if you had a bi- or unilateral mastectomy.  If you're a full-breasted woman, there seems to be more non-underwire bras that have enough coverage available than someone who's an A/B.  Warner's, Barely There and Maidenform have some nice bras for the less full woman.  Bali has more for the full figure.  The only way you can really tell is to go try some on with your form and see if they're going to work for you. 

I finally got my form 2 weeks ago, along with a couple of mast bras, and I'm now checking out regular bras to see what works.  I'm a large A/small B.  I have found one Warner bra that actually works very well, and feels very comfortable.  I'll go back this week and buy it, since it wasn't on sale when I tried it on.

Good luck!  I'm sure you'll find something that can work for you.  I'm with you about the mast bras.  Most are really uncomfortable for me, and I hate the way they look.

I'm a big fan of the Nordstrom's lingerie department as well. I first went to the store at the hospital and, while the woman was very nice, they didn't have much of a selection in terms of bras. The fitter at Nordstrom's was so wonderful and patient. Be sure to make an appointment ahead of time so they can match you with someone who knows how to work with mastectomy women. She brought in a ton of different bras and forms and was so helpful but also very matter of fact so I didn't feel uncomfortable.

BTW, shrink, that story is absolutely hilarious! My Mom once went to Costco and one cashier shouted over to the other, "Hey! What's half of two dollars?"

You might check in the yellow pages for a mastectomy apparel store. There is a store here that specalizes in fitting breast surgery patients called Silhouettes. They have a variety of bras and forms to help fit. My breast surgeon actually gave me their business card. I unfortunately do not have a nordstroms close to go to.

Sheila

Also look in the yellow pages under prosthesis to find a fitter.  A great mast bra if you are small is the ABC bra for petites, I think it's style number 105.  It's not your grandmother's bra!  It looks like a normal bra and isn't huge like so many mast bras are.  I'm an A/B, and it's the first mast bra that really works for me.  You can also try some of what I call "little nothing" bras.  They are sometimes made of microfiber and are usually very inexpensive, so you can experiment.  Look at Target, Kohls, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.  I wear two at a time and put the form in between the two bras.  I put a few stitches in the top of the bras to hold them together so the form can't slip out the top.  The band at the bottom helps keep the form in place.  I have also heard of women finding a bra they like and if it's lined, they cut open the lining and put the form inside.  Don't wear an underwire, it can lead to lymphedema which you really don't want.  If you like a bra that has an underwire, take the underwire out.  I use nail clippers to cut a slit and then slide the underwire out.  Good luck in your search!

I had a bad experience with the Nordstrom in Columbia, MD.

At the time I went into Nordstrom, I had a mastectomy of the right breast.  I was well endowed and went into the store looking for bras with a D cup.  I found only two styles that had D cups on the racks.

I asked the young lady if they had bras with D cups in the department and about the service of having a pocket placed in one side of the bra.

She looked down her nose and me and explained that I was not the "demographic" which Nordstrom wished to have for that particular store,  my size was not available and that the store did not sew pockets into bras.

So folks, be careful of what Nordstrom you wander into. 

Sassa, I'm totally surprised by bad attitude at Nordstrom.  They're always the best in customer service.  You should do them a favor and report the incident. That young "lady" needs to learn a lesson in human relations.

Sassa, your experience with that sales person at Norstrom definitely warrants a phone call and letter to the manager of that particular store and to the main office.  Hopefully you have her name, or remember the date and time you were there.

This is not a typical event to happen at Nordstrom, and that salesperson was not a typical employee.  Nordstrom indeed prides itself on top notch customer service. 

I am sure a letter and phone call by you will either have this woman lose her job or send her into a retraining program, either one of which she needs so no other woman will have to deal with her attitude.

I found the ladies at Nordstrom fabulous when I went there for pre-mast chamis, they had a lovely private room they took my sister and I into for trying on cami's, and they were the ones who told me the insurance company would pay for them or I would never have known.

So sorry you had to encounter this idiot.  Hope she gets fired or at least retrained.

p.s.  Letters and complaints to the higher ups really work!!  They are read and acted upon. 

I had a horrible experience at one of the onc appointments I had made for a second opinion.  He was one of the doctors at the group our daughter practices at.

The receptionist was nasty and mean.  Obviously the doctor was running late, he had a waiting room full of cancer patients, one of whom was an elderly man in a wheelchair, whose wife was concerned about how much longer they would be waiting since her husband was feeling ill.  The "b&^ch" told her to just park it and wait her turn.

I then walked over to her and told her how rude she was, and asked her how much longer I would be waiting.  She told me when "she had time" she would check.  I told her I was leaving.  She told me I could not leave but had to wait.  I said watch me leave.

I left.  I got a call on my cell phone from my daughter ten minutes later apologizing (the onc had time to run to her office and apologize for the way I was treated (?)) and she was telling me how upset the onc was and would I come right back and he would see me immediately.  I said no, I will never go to that doctor and trust my life to him when he could not even run his office properly and employed such rude and insensitive people when he was in a field where people needed a little kindness, not to be told to "park it" and wait.  And if she were one of my employees, she would be immediately dismissed for cause.

Well, the woman was fired--No, I don't feel at all badly that she lost her job.  I feel happy that this doctor's patients will be treated with respect by her replacement.

hello all. i had my surgery 14 yrs ago, still cancer free Praise God, I get my bras from JC Penney, called JODEE catalogue, I get the bras with pockets in them to hold my prothesis for L mastectomy. I love the ones i get with a camisole, made into the bra, BEAUTIFUL. God Bless Us All. msphil

Thanks for the tip, msphil. There's no Nordstrom around here (I think the nearest one is 90 miles from here) but there's a Penny's in the same town as my oncologist. And I like the Jodee bras! I saw them last summer, before my diagnosis.

Onebad, I had a similar experience this past Friday (2/1) dealing with my new oncologist's scheduling clerk. We've had a series of snowstorms (the last one dumped a foot of snow on us overnight Wednesday), and the only road between my town and the oncologist's office (40 miles away) has been frequently closed due to blowing and drifting snow. We're expecting another tonight and I can't get a ride to the doctor's office on Monday and probably shouldn't drive myself (a stick shift in a snowstorm two weeks after a mastectomy - my surgeon would not approve.) 

The Clerk was fairly nice until she pulled up my file, which clearly indicates that I am on the state medical assistance program. Once she had that info in front of her, her attitude changed dramatically and she was as mean as a snake to me. She suddenly couldn't reschedule me until MARCH. I was livid. "Well, maybe we could squeeze you in on the 13th," was her response when I suggested that it was dangerous for me to try to drive it myself in bad weather, and for me to wait much longer for continued treatment. 

I am going to call my surgeon's office and see if THEY can get me rescheduled sooner. 

This clerk is going to get the most ferocious dirty look I can muster when I get there, and if I still have PMS, she may also get a piece of my mind.

I would change oncologists - this will be my initial visit - but these are the best in the area, and the nearest other oncologists are about 90 miles north - into the teeth of the bad weather.