Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Quest for Over the Shoulder Boulder Holders

This is one of my shorter posts, but I wanted to share my experience!

In order to give my new gals the best support possible, about two weeks after my revision surgery I went to buy some new over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders. Previous to my mastectomy all of my bras had underwire. Following my mastectomy up until my revision surgery I had the hardest time finding bras. That was for a couple of reasons. Following these surgeries my plastic surgeon told me I can’t wear underwire for at least 6 months following my last surgery. Also, I was totally uneven and both sides were not the same size. Because of this, I was not able to just go grab any old cup size. A bra with cups would not fit correctly because one breast was high, one was low, one was longer, one was rounder. So I had bras that were triangle shaped, like Hanes, and because I still had a decent amount on top, they had to be XL “triangle” bras. They probably didn’t really offer the best support possible, but I didn’t exactly have a whole lot of options because sports bras didn’t exactly fit either.

Needless to say, I was extremely excited to be able to finally go shopping for new bras, since I actually had two breasts that were pretty much the same size and mostly even. However, I didn’t know what my actual bra size was anymore. I knew walking into the bra store the first thing I was going to need to do was get sized. So, I found a girl dressed in black with a pink tape measure and asked if I could get measured. She gave me my new measurements, which were not exact. You know, where they say you could either wear this cup with that band size, or this band size with that cup. I really started confusing the poor girl when I started asking some questions to clarify which size would be better for me. When I asked her a couple questions, she asked me what size bra I was wearing right then. I told her I wasn’t exactly wearing a “real” size, that it was just a “triangle” shaped bra. A bit bewildered, she then said, “Ok, so what size bra do you normally wear?” I knew that this was probably going to happen, but it was still a bit awkward to try to figure out the best way to explain to her why I had no idea what size my breasts were. And let’s just say that’s unusual for me – I haven’t so far had too hard of a time sharing my journey with others. So, I told her, as uncomplicated as I could, that my problem was I had had a double mastectomy with reconstruction and so I honestly had no clue what my size was. And that was also why it didn’t matter what size bra I used to wear because they were totally different now. She was pretty young and I think she either had no idea what I was trying to explain or was just really unsure of how to act after I shared that information with her. She pointed me in the direction of the couple types of wireless bras they carried and I told her I was good and thanked her for her help. Poor girl! Bet she didn’t think about having a customer like me when she started her job! Who would have thought it would be so complicated to buy a plain old bra? Anyway, overall, I was just happy to finally be able to wear a real bra with an actual size that fit both breasts! Just like so many other times along my BRCA journey, small wins make me feel very victorious! :)

I am 4 months post-revision surgery. Things are going great! In my previous post I mentioned that the lefty scar had already moved about a centimeter. I have not noticed any extra movement since then! I also have not noticed any movement from righty! It is such a relief, considering after the mastectomy and the exchange, I had falling, wandering implants pretty much right after each surgery was completed. Needless to say, I am extremely happy! It’s looking like I may actually be done with my surgeries for awhile! Yay!!

Until next time, here's to symmetry, comfortable bras and moving forward! :)

2 comments:

  1. Yay!!! I'm so glad to hear such a positive update. And as if bra shopping wasn't already frustrating enough(the only thing worse is jean shopping!).

    Amen for moving forward!

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  2. The positive update you've been waiting for, Kir! :) I totally agree - I hate shopping for jeans, it always makes me mad! Thank you so much for your support! :)

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