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Wardrobe pics for boobless days

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Comments

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited December 2011

    Yep, I was on top and saw my DH reach for my chest and then the horror in his face when he realized...sigh. Kind of killed the moment, didn't go as well as yours did. Good for you for laughing! That's what the moment needs.

  • Djustme
    Djustme Member Posts: 105
    edited December 2011

    I guess the good part is that both of your DH's actually have moments when they have forgotten - they are not obsessing about the missing boobs!

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited January 2012

    Barbe:  As you have often said, you carry yourself as if you have the best pair out there.  It is just that you made him see what was in your mind's eye.  Just tell him it is a bit like the movie Ghost.

    I think I too carry myself as if I have the best pair out there and as strange as it may seem, I think we sometimes somehow make others see it too.

    Barbara

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited January 2012

    Hi All:  Seeing as this was taken with a webcam, the look leaves a little something to be desired and due to the angle the proportions are a bit off but you should be able to get the idea.

    This is a favorite go to outfit for going flat.

    Over the holiday, I purchased foobs as I had met my deductible, so if you are interested what the same outfit looks like with small foobs, I posted on the

    The Flat Look Vs Prosthesis (with Pics) thread.

    It is my intention to go back and forth with flat as seamlessly as possible.  At nearly two weeks in of alternating, there have been no raised eyebrows.

    Barbara

  • crystalphm
    crystalphm Member Posts: 277
    edited January 2012

    Starak, I am so inspired by your photos!! Thank you so much for doing this and helping me regain my confidence.

    I truly appreciate your posts!

  • starzhere
    starzhere Member Posts: 16
    edited February 2012

    Starak, I showed my husband both pictures of you and asked him which picture of you was the most flattering and he said, "definitely, here."  pointing to pic with white blouse.  I can't believe how much younger you look.  Large breasts can really make older women look matronly.  You look so much more fit without them and I bet you're more comfortable, too.

     ~elaine

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited February 2012

    Thank you Elaine.  I am far more comfortable and without them it is incredibly easier to get more exercise as well. 

  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 757
    edited March 2012

    bumping to help with a recent post (and a "Thank You" to our Mods, for pointing out this thread!)

    otter

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited April 2012

    Bump to help with a recent post.

    Barbara

  • Frapp
    Frapp Member Posts: 343
    edited December 2012

    How come I can see Starks photos but none of the others? Is there some way I can fix this?

  • BoobsinaBox
    BoobsinaBox Member Posts: 77
    edited December 2012

    I suspect the other pics are too long ago and are no longer where the link went to.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited December 2012

    My pics are still in the same spot. See if they show many pages earlier.

  • Frapp
    Frapp Member Posts: 343
    edited December 2012

    I did see yours too, Barb. Sorry, forgot to mention. I'm 5 weeks out of bmx and seem to be having some very short term memory problems. I love both of yor sense of style. How about you both come over and take me shopping? I hope I can figure out how to be as fashionable as the both of you.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited December 2012

    Frapp, the biggest trick is to use patterned fabric. It fools the eye. I now wear skin tight tops because I just don't care and I look so slim. There is no way I'm trying to fool anyone, it's just that I am that comfortable with my look now. But I do still pick tops with patterns, frills, ruffles and wear big, chunky necklaces and earrings to draw the eye up. I have a lot of cropped sweaters to wear over tank tops which is another good look. The arthritis in my neck and upper back is SO much better!! (I'd even had a breast reduction years ago to alleviate it, but this is so much better!)

  • Frapp
    Frapp Member Posts: 343
    edited December 2012

    I'm not missing that 10lbs they took from my shoulders. I stand straighter without back pain. Today I visited my work. I wore a stretch shirt with shiring down the front without my new forms. I know I would feel uncomfortable with whispers of curiosity behind my back and prefer to have it out in the open so I chose to show up today flat. I felt comfortable. I have a picture but can't seem to upload it.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited December 2012

    Good for you!!! What a HUGE step you made today! I am SO proud of you!!!! Laughing

    One of the biggest problems I had was that people wanted to HUG me and that was SO painful!!!! Yell

    You will discover more and more in your wardrobe already, and the stores that will put a smile on your face. Welcome to my world, sweetie!

  • carlads
    carlads Member Posts: 41
    edited December 2012

    Hi everyone,

    I need advice please.  Bi-lateral Mastectomy Dec 4th drains were out this week.  Everything looks fine but I am having a little swelling and soreness since the drains are out.  What should I be wearing?  I was wearing the post mastectomy cami's but no more drains so now I have just been wearing sports bras.  I don't have a compression bra because after I decided no reconstruction I never purchased one..  Any suggestions?

    Thank you,

    Carla

  • Frapp
    Frapp Member Posts: 343
    edited December 2012

    I had my bilat on11/2 and still am not wearing any bras. I tend to wear the mastectomy cami as they seem to provide some warmth and protection.



    barbe, I hear you about the hugs!!! Every one wants to give you one and I find myself putting my hand on their chest so they don't get too close. My breast bone seems to hurt the most.

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited December 2012

    Carlads the only other thing I did was wrap my chest with 6 inch wide ace bandages or ace bandages under the sports bra. This is what my BS had me use. After swelling is down I liked all cotton cami, the very softest I could find.

    Barbara

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited December 2012

    BTW, I HATED HATED HATED the surgical cami and dumped it as soln as the drains were out.

    Barbara

  • moonflwr912
    moonflwr912 Member Posts: 5,938
    edited December 2012

    I am stuck halfway in reconstruction. One half filled te and none on the left. Will be stuck at least a year this way. So I still wear my Cammi. It is an amoena and I really like it, no closures its a stepin one. That way I can wear a soft foob on the flat side when I go out. Gotta make a choice to have the te removed, or go ahead with the one side. I am leaning to try it, as I would have to have an op to remove it anyway. But they won't even look for a year. So I am uneven but comfortable. LOL

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited December 2012

    Carla, you could be developing a seroma (?) now that the drains are gone. Gentle massage directing flow away from the bulge might help. Your body should re-absorb it in time.

  • Erica
    Erica Member Posts: 237
    edited December 2012

    Carla, different surgeons give different advice post-surgery. Some advise compression while others, like my breast surgeon, did not favor any compression garments. During the first month I mostly wore nothing under a tee shirt. From about the second to fourth weeks post-surgery, I had extreme skin sensitivity and was advised by my physical therapist that silk or satin tees would be the most comfortable, since they tend to glide across the skin rather than cling to it. I had some old wintersilks tees and they really helped.

    Barb might be right that some fluid has accumulated under your skin since drain removal. That happened to me and my BS said the fluid (small seromas) would reabsorb on its own, which it eventually did. My doctor said she would only aspirate the seromas if they became large and painful, since there's a risk of infection when aspirating. I think my surgeon is on the conservative side about this as other surgeons don't seem as hesitant to aspirate. Given that you have a sense of swelling plus soreness, you might give your doctor a call and ask what he or she recommends.

    I should add that one of my seromas reabsorbed suddenly after three weeks. The other, though small, took six months to reabsorb and even then a tiny pocket of fluid remained for three years! I had previously had radiation on that side (three years earlier), so I think that may have accounted for the reabsorption difficulty, since scar tissue from radiation may have made it harder for the fluid to find a path out. In all that time, though, I never had pain or infection.

  • crystalphm
    crystalphm Member Posts: 277
    edited December 2012

    Carla, Your surgery is so recent! I was only wearing over sized t-shirts with nothing under them at that point...I also still wear wintersilks (google that) silk Cami's because I only am comfortable with very soft things against my skin.

    be very good to yourself. My doctor did not use any compression, so it was all about feeling softness against my skin...

  • TheBooblessWonder
    TheBooblessWonder Member Posts: 1
    edited June 2013

    Wow, I wish I would have found this site back when I was figuring out my wardrobe options.  I never realized so many women made the same decision to stay boobless.  My doctor made me feel like I was an anomaly just like my cancer.  I might have saved some money.  I became the Boobless Wonder 3 years ago.  I am a self proclaimed clothes hound, so friends received all of my fashion faux pas.  I finally have it figured out.  I admire all of you ladies who made the same choice despite what society tries to tell us.

  • Starak
    Starak Member Posts: 311
    edited June 2013

    TheBooblessWonder - There are wayyy more of us than you might ever imagine. Flat & Fabulous, closed group on FB is now 280+ members and growing daily though some do wear breast forms some or all of the time. 

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited June 2013

    Boobless, less than 30% of Canadians bother to get recon. Most of us are happy to get rid of heavy breasts that were trying to kill us!! I met a woman I haven't seen in probably 15 years on Sunday. She said WOW have you lost weight!!! I actually weigh 30 pounds more than when she knew me, but I pointed out that I donn't have my shelf of boobs that entered the room before me anymore!!! She laughed and didn't get maudlin so it was a good meeting.

  • crystalphm
    crystalphm Member Posts: 277
    edited June 2013

    Boobless, I am glad you found us now! lots of us going flat, choosing no recon and not even wearing fake boobs...Just being ourselves and enjoying life as best we can.

    Good to hear from you!

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited June 2013

    crystal, glad to hear you have adjusted well!! It's nice in the summer to not have the weight on my chest. Strangely, I still sweat along my bra-line in the front (if I wore a bra, which I don't)!!!

    I met a woman I haven't seen in 10 years and she said "OMG, you've lost a TON of weight!!!" I'm actually 30 pounds heavier than when she knew me. I explained that it's the loss of my heavy chest that makes me look slimmer. She responded well, so the comment was appreciated.

  • crystalphm
    crystalphm Member Posts: 277
    edited June 2013

    Hey Barbe, I missed you, our paths haven't crossed in a while so good to see you.

    I never explain when people tell me I lost so much weight, I just smile and say "It wasn't easy". :-)