Bras 101: The Great Post-Exchange Debate
Comments
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Sounds like she takes money from customers AND from the insurance... which is fraud.
Anyway -- FYI -- I forgot to say: don't freak about the cup size. Implants tend to require us to wear larger cup sizes but how we LOOK is not that big!
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I agree with Lilah I was surprised that I needed a D cup I looke more like a C for sure.
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Fragrantroses: I'm speechless....I can't believe what you went through.....
T
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The bra fitter didn't tell me what size she gave me until after I had it on and was delighted with the fit. Turned out it was a 34DDD. I never would have guessed!
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Fragrantroses:
My heart aches when I read what you have gone through! Bra fitting after breast cancer is such a sensitive time... you are really exposing yourself intimately in an attempt to normalise your experience & recovery... and I'm really glad to hear the sales assistant was more savvy to this, and supported you as you should expect and deserve. it's good that you came hear to share this experience, and not sat with it, feeling upset.Dispite all that, I hope you are happy with your new bras and are feeling lovely...
Regarding bra sizing,: though I am at TE stage, I have been fitting bras on myself (Im a qualified bra fitter) and obsessively stock-piling lots of lovely bras during the summer sales (!) I have noticed that the width of my implant 13.cm corresponds to a 'd' cup, even though I havent the volume to fill it. And like Carroll & Lilah say, I look more like a 'c' ... Underwire widths assume that as the breast root width increases, then the volume increases. which is not always the case, as is our experience.
Warmly
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Carroll: You posted some time ago about the getting fit & losing weight... I was moivated by you, and now am trying to get back into exercise, and continuing with healthy eating - just not as much! How it is going? Any tips to share would be most welcome! Thanks!
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Buddah I am so glad my words ecouraged you. I am doing pretty well losing weight. I am doing weight watchers. I lost weight with the program right before my diagnosis so I know it works. I lose about 1.3 on average a week so down 4 pounds now. My exercise has been troublesome. I got a personal trainer and 2 days after my first workout my right knee swelled up. I have a syst with fluid behind my knee that will flare up. I suppose from doing all the squats, lunges and steps I did. So it will be hard to get back to my fitness level if I have to limit the use of that knee. I feel very weak and out of shape form not exercising for so long. I am trying to get an orthopedist to see if I can do anything for it and how to prevent aggravating it. Weird though I have not heard from my trainer since the first work out, you'd think she would be checking on me.
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Carrol - Well done you on the weight loss! I hear WW is a good way to deal with the psychological aspects of weight too, so all the best with what sounds like a good decision.
Im sorry about the setback! Ive had a similiar knee problem that can flare with exercise too. I must warm up & cool down, and it was recommended by physios to work on my core stability & streength and build the muscles around the knee in order to protect the delicate knee joint. Maybe its to get a personal trainer who is physiologically aware and will pace you into the exercise too.
A few thoughts... Have you considered yoga? It may be a joint-gentle way back into exercise. Its not as cardio focused, though it is a good all over body workout & is great at strengthening more gently then some gym based exercises. And perhaps go easy on the forward lunges & step machines til you've had the joint assessed. (I worked as a physio for several years, it was one of the exercises I would prescribe.)
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what a story! She definitely does not deserve our business...but what a drag that you had to go through all that time, and arguing. we have enough to deal with!!
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buddah yeah i love pilates and zumba, yoga not so much, although they ahve one yoga that is just a gentle stretching one that is nice to do after zumba, so I may jsut try to go to classes more instead of using a trainer. I was hoping haveing my butt kicked would excelorate my weight loss but not if I am down for a week after. It's really hard though since I usuall work during the class times so mabe only on my days off. Oerhaps that is best anyway since I am on my feet all day at work.0
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Carrol and Buddah, you are both motivating me just by talking about it. I lost almost 30 lbs on WW 6 years ago before I got pregnant with my daughter. It was great, I loved the online tools. I was just talking to friends yesterday about going back to Zumba. I loved it, then stopped going when I got dx. Definitely time to go back.
I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Wacoal. Hopefully the next few days, so if I like it,I can order another before the Nordstrom sale is over.
Happy Friday everyone!0 -
Soma is launching a brand new bra. Not sure if it is good for us though. It's called sensuous sides. It's dsigned to compress your sides where many times it can overflow under the arm pits. I treid it on and it's very high in the arm pit. But as an employee I get to buy one at 65% off so I will ge tit and see how it feels after I wear it for a while. It's an underwire with a lined cup and it just has an extra thick panel on the sides. Looks very well made. I'll let you know how it goes. I mknow some PS tell patients to look for side support.
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Carrol, when PS say side support, they mean in the sides of the cup to maintain the position of the implant. The Chantelle C-Chic 3582 is an example of side support in the cup. Good band suppport is also very important, of course.
Having said that, a bra with taller wings on the side is very good news for we patients who have developed truncal LE. My therapist told me to look for bras with higher sides and/or wear inserts to create the coverage and provide supportive compression.
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Monday thanks for the info that will be useful to me i helping customers with LE. I love that I can now offer this option.
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Hey, Janiceg44! (hope I got that right
. You asked about post exchange bras for uni's the other day - just now catching up, sorry! That's a great question. Perhaps LILAH will have some great advice, but she also has a gummy, which behaves a bit differently in a bra......
Let's remember the primary reason for a bra in the first 3-4 months post-exchange: to allow the pocket to form in the ideal position. The best bra to accomplish that is an unlined underwire. To even the sides, you could use a small pad - like the ones that come in some workout tops/bras - to help "round out" the implant side for casual/around the house wear. Since the pad isn't connected to the edged of the cup, showing affect the underwire's ability to snug up to the implant. For occasions that require it, then a molded bra for short periods would be ok- I just wouldn't do that several hours each day. Definitely sleep in unlined. Now if your PS is a NO wire doc, then it's less of an issue. In that case, the bra is more for support than shaping, so molded is less of an issue. Does that make since?
Not sure if there's a perfect answer for you, but hope that helps a little0 -
Fragrantroses - BLESS YOU, sweetie! What a HORRID experience! at least the fitter was decent-thank goodness! Yes, RUN from that place; even buying online with help from us is better then that!
Carrol2 - will look for that bre in my local store so I can report! I can imagine how the side support could definitely be beneficial to many, especially since lateral migration of implants is so common (curved ribcage +round implant = sliding! ). Have you ever thought about trying Jazzercise? Yes, I'm an instructor (for 15 years:) so take that for what it's worth , but it's a great workout that includes not only dance-based INTENSE (if you choose) cardio, but also 25 minutes of strength training that is physiologically safe; all routines are approved by an exercise physiologist. Just a thought......0 -
val61 I have not tried jazzercise at least not since the 1980s and I don't thik it's the same now. My gym does not offer it but they do have zumba which I really love. Plus they have it in a low impact of high impact version. It's very sexy moves really gets my energy up, and they have one that adds weights with it. Maybe I will look for a jazzercise class somwhere to try for a change of pace. I am very uncoordinated, it took me a few classes of zumba to get a good work out where I could do all the moves, not sure if jazzercise would be the same for me. I think the bottom line though is if the instructors are good and my gym they are really knowledgable and high energy.
That new bra is not out in the stores yet i thik it goes out next week. They shipped it too early and told us to hold it, so I got a sneak preview. I get to buy one as an employee at 65% off so I am goning to get one ans see how it is and I will let you all know.
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Greenmonkey. Thank you so much for sharing your photographs. That is very bad and kind of you to do so. I am sorry you went through so much but your final implants look great and very natural. Do you have the round silicone or the gummies?
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Unbelievable! I am sorry you had to go through that. What a mess. I am convinced since have BC that everyone is crazy. People don't know what to say out of their mouth. A coworked asked where I had been recently and I told her I had the exchange. She asked if she could touch my breast? OMG! Its exhausting.
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fragrantroses- There are no words. ((((hugs))))
greenpeace - i actually had a waitress at a restaurant that I used to frequent, who knew about my situation, ask to see them! O_o. I couldn't believe it.
Huge Freya sale going on at figleaves:
Kayb - I don't know your size but Sopia is on clearance.
http://www.figleaves.com/us/search/freya-30d/#term=freya 30d&dept=&category=&subcategory=&answerhandle=&searchhandle=&pageno=3&sort=8&pagesize=28&colours=&sizes=&brands=&maxprice=100&multioptions=&deptcat=21234&minprice=20&islmin=20&islmax=100&fo=Department--21234~&cups=&bra=&clothing=&cosmetics=&shoes=&mensclothing=&productid=&productcolour=&bboost=&gender=WOMENS&rating=undefined0 -
I have exchange surgery tomorrow. I'm so tired of thinking about it! When I asked my PS if he wanted underwire or soft bras on me when I get to that point ( he told my sister soft) he said he would have to decide after surgery. odd!
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Lisa -- that may be because it depends on what sort of pocket work he does / doesn't have to do...
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Carrol - how's the new bra?
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I love that feature in herrom.com where you get to play paper dolls with bras and clothes. The feature that lets you see how that bra looks under a tshirt vs a button up blouse vs a scoop neck. Pretty cool.
I'm wondering if someone can confirm this. I was told with Goddess bras because they are European that to get the proper US fit, we need to go down a band size and up three cup sizes. Is this correct? So if I'm wearing a 42DDD/F Goddess bra then I would want a 44D in another US company?0 -
Lauren ok so I got the bra and I wore it once so far (Soma new sensuous sides). It's very tight, you have to go up a size in the band. Since I was not told to get side support by my PS that does not make that much differnce to me. It's very high in the arm pits, so it does hide side boob fat. It is also high in the cup near the straps so under some tanks it shows. The shape looks good, a little bit minimizing on me though. I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars. One star off cause it's not too comfy, and one for the fact that it shows in some of my clothes. I still really love the vanishing back bra best, it looks great and is really comfy, second choice is the ravishing plunge push up, cause it gives me the best shape.
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fragrantroses - I don't know. I do know that some styles vary and I know European sizes ARE different on cup size but not usually on band size. The guides are herroom are right on, though. Have you checked to see what they say?
kayb - Sophia is the only Freya bra that hurts me on the sides....there is something different about the side wires in that bra...it hits me right on my drain scars. I have the briefs...they are so pretty! Have you tried to find them on figleaves? I haven't tried the shop you're asking about.
http://www.figleaves.com/us/product/FRA-AA4805/Freya-Sophia-Brief/?size=&colour=Multicoloured0 -
How soon after capsulorrhaphy & exchange is it generally recommended to start wearing an underwire bra?
My left implant has been in since Sept. & I just had my right implant switched out yesterday. (After several issues with my rads side healing, I had an adjustable saline implant put in in Feb. & just had that one switched out for a silicone implant.) PS said it was fine to wear underwire as soon as I could tolerate it. I do have lat flaps on both sides if that makes a difference.
I have 2 Freya bras & they do not feel any more uncomfortable than the surgical bra I was sent home in.
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How tight should the band in a wireless bra feel?
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Carrol - sounds somewhat uncomfortable. And not such rave reviews. I won't check that one out then.
I got the Shimera bralette. I love it. Like I'm not wearing anything at all. Which basically I'm not. I took off my Chantalle yesterday and I felt so free. I keep thinking I'm wearing a band size too small, but when I got measured she convinced me that's how its supposed to fit and it will loosen. How long does that take, because its pretty uncomfortable???
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Lauren, im wondering the same thing about band size. Thanks for the tip in bralette. What size are you, and did your PS say no wire? Im liking the wacoal awareness wireless, but its not pretty. It comes up kind of high too, but will be good under sweaters in the fall.
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