Bras 101: The Great Post-Exchange Debate
Comments
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"You should neither be asked to nor agree to lift, remove, or raise any article of clothing to reveal your breast prosthesis, and you should not be asked to remove it."
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/breast_prosthetic.shtm
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Thanks, DLL66! When I traveled a few weeks after my exchange surgery, I told the TSA fellow that I'd recently had surgery for breast cancer and wasn't sure I could lift my hands over my head for the full body scan. He was wonderful and very kindly got me over to a regular metal detector right away. The absolute truth was that I probably could have raised my hands that high but I was worried that the implants would somehow show up on the x-ray and cause a problem. I just didn't want to deal with that possibility that day. Since then, I've gone through the full body scan at airports with no problems. I do carry my implant cards when I travel just in case there's a problem or I need to see a doctor while I'm away from home.
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CJRT. I don't think you should be guilty for playing "the cancer card" particularly when it is appropriate. You were recovering from cancer surgeries. It is funny how sometimes people avoid us though. I remember getting a call from someone wanting to sell me a Time Share just about 4 days after finding out I can cancer in the breast and 2 lymph nodes. I lost it while she was rattling on about the benefits of time share ownership...I mean ugly cry. I was crying to her about how I just found out I had cancer and I didn't have time to listen to spiels about time shares because we had a family history of cancer, but people don't get cancer in my family, they ddddddddiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee from cancer in my family. Now I'm afraid I'm going to ddddddiiiiiiiiieeeeee. She suddenly told me to "uh, have a nice day?" and bailed. lol
My insurance company does not advertise what they cover about bras' and prosthesis. But it is federal law they MUST carry cover the prosthesis and the bras as well..Under the WHCRA, mastectomy benefits must cover:
Reconstruction of the breast that was removed by mastectomy
Surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to make the breasts look symmetrical or balanced after mastectomy
Any external breast prostheses (breast forms that fit into your bra) that are needed before or during the reconstruction
Any physical complications at all stages of mastectomy, including lymphedemaAs you can see, reconstruction must be offered and covered by our insurance as well. Now insurance companies might have rules about what constitutes a covered bra...it must have pockets or you must have prosthesis...
After I have had to deal with the bra Nazi, I found that it's most helpful to call the insurance companies....member benefits lines to "find out what's covered." Tell them your physician will write the prescription (must have one) but he/she needs the wording to write. Breast prosthesis or breast forms (Mine - Anthem Federal requires the words "breast prosthesis") Then when it comes to the bra, find out how many are covered. You need to know because some of these store owners want to be a "provider" but don't want to provide the benefits. My insurance company covers 4 bras yearly. I can buy 4 in December and 4 more in Jan if I want. But the Bra Nazi yelled at me that I was incorrect because Medicare only covers 2 a year. Well....I'm not ON medicare, and ANTHEM covers FOUR bras. If your bra has to be mastectomy bras, if you have a supplier who is willing to work with you, they have ways of getting around it. Like a friend who "sewed" up some pockets and uses them in the fitting room. She pinned the pockets into the bra and viola - mastectomy bra. She writes the order and charges them to the insurance and then unpins the pockets from your bra for you to take home. But your insurance is also required to cover what you need for reconstruction, so if the doctor writes a prescription for "reconstruction bras", my insurance covers bras. But you do have to ask for the specific wording. THEN ask WHO is a local provider for your insurance company. Most people have at least a few providers. Hanger Prosthetics is one for me as well. But I was already aware their mastectomy supplies were bare bones, old lady bra forms. They mainly make braces and replacement body parts like hands, feet and such. So my insurance company gave me a list of who are providers in the 50 miles radius from my home. Then I CHOOSE to go to one before I found out she was such a bra Nazi "You will get no bra you don't pay for first." But I knew my insurance covered bras 100%, and she argued they do not. So I called my insurance company and put them on the phone with her. She yelled at them. Then later the manager called me back and told me to come in at a certain time of day because she (the owner was senile, and totally out of touch) left every day at 1 pm. If I came in after 1 pm, she would fix me up.
I have to get bras that I can wear a prosthesis with. I got the pur fit prosthesis that fit in front over your reconstructed breast to give projection in a bra (until I have fat graphs). They fit in ANY bra so I was able to choose ANY bra they carried. I personally kept my choices under $75 because I knew the manager was working with me and the insurance. I suspected that if the owner saw a HUGE insurance write off the manager would catch hellfire. So out of diffidence to her, I restricted myself. I have however warned other women in the area who are having mastectomies how hard it is to get your bras there. The other place here in MidMO is where I got my first set before reconstruction. REALLY nice woman who has NO clue how to fit bras or reconstruction efforts. You tell her what size you want to be and she will order you the forms and bras for that size. She has no clue if it's appropriate or not. So I went to the Nazi's shop. The manager knew the bras and how to fit...but she wound up fitting me too large because she was nervous about getting close to the implant. But the owner was SUCH a bad trip, she'd have made a nun curse. My first visit where she screamed and through a fit about providing my bras with insurance, I left in tears and literally shaking.
So you have to be your own advocate even when dealing with the people who are supposed to be compassionate to our challenges.ETA - If I have a specific store I want to go to, I asked my insurance company specifically. For instance, I wish to go to Nordstrom's in Chesterfield MO. Are they providers? Then if they say they are, then you can be more assertive with the store personel when you have been specifically told they are providers for your insurance.
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CJRT. I don't think you should be guilty for playing "the cancer card" particularly when it is appropriate. You were recovering from cancer surgeries. It is funny how sometimes people avoid us though. I remember getting a call from someone wanting to sell me a Time Share just about 4 days after finding out I can cancer in the breast and 2 lymph nodes. I lost it while she was rattling on about the benefits of time share ownership...I mean ugly cry. I was crying to her about how I just found out I had cancer and I didn't have time to listen to spiels about time shares because we had a family history of cancer, but people don't get cancer in my family, they ddddddddiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee from cancer in my family. Now I'm afraid I'm going to ddddddiiiiiiiiieeeeee. She suddenly told me to "uh, have a nice day?" and bailed. lol
My insurance company does not advertise what they cover about bras' and prosthesis. But it is federal law they MUST carry cover the prosthesis and the bras as well..Under the WHCRA, mastectomy benefits must cover:
Reconstruction of the breast that was removed by mastectomy
Surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to make the breasts look symmetrical or balanced after mastectomy
Any external breast prostheses (breast forms that fit into your bra) that are needed before or during the reconstruction
Any physical complications at all stages of mastectomy, including lymphedemaAs you can see, reconstruction must be offered and covered by our insurance as well. Now insurance companies might have rules about what constitutes a covered bra...it must have pockets or you must have prosthesis...
After I have had to deal with the bra Nazi, I found that it's most helpful to call the insurance companies....member benefits lines to "find out what's covered." Tell them your physician will write the prescription (must have one) but he/she needs the wording to write. Breast prosthesis or breast forms (Mine - Anthem Federal requires the words "breast prosthesis") Then when it comes to the bra, find out how many are covered. You need to know because some of these store owners want to be a "provider" but don't want to provide the benefits. My insurance company covers 4 bras yearly. I can buy 4 in December and 4 more in Jan if I want. But the Bra Nazi yelled at me that I was incorrect because Medicare only covers 2 a year. Well....I'm not ON medicare, and ANTHEM covers FOUR bras. If your bra has to be mastectomy bras, if you have a supplier who is willing to work with you, they have ways of getting around it. Like a friend who "sewed" up some pockets and uses them in the fitting room. She pinned the pockets into the bra and viola - mastectomy bra. She writes the order and charges them to the insurance and then unpins the pockets from your bra for you to take home. But your insurance is also required to cover what you need for reconstruction, so if the doctor writes a prescription for "reconstruction bras", my insurance covers bras. But you do have to ask for the specific wording. THEN ask WHO is a local provider for your insurance company. Most people have at least a few providers. Hanger Prosthetics is one for me as well. But I was already aware their mastectomy supplies were bare bones, old lady bra forms. They mainly make braces and replacement body parts like hands, feet and such. So my insurance company gave me a list of who are providers in the 50 miles radius from my home. Then I CHOOSE to go to one before I found out she was such a bra Nazi "You will get no bra you don't pay for first." But I knew my insurance covered bras 100%, and she argued they do not. So I called my insurance company and put them on the phone with her. She yelled at them. Then later the manager called me back and told me to come in at a certain time of day because she (the owner was senile, and totally out of touch) left every day at 1 pm. If I came in after 1 pm, she would fix me up.
I have to get bras that I can wear a prosthesis with. I got the pur fit prosthesis that fit in front over your reconstructed breast to give projection in a bra (until I have fat graphs). They fit in ANY bra so I was able to choose ANY bra they carried. I personally kept my choices under $75 because I knew the manager was working with me and the insurance. I suspected that if the owner saw a HUGE insurance write off the manager would catch hellfire. So out of diffidence to her, I restricted myself. I have however warned other women in the area who are having mastectomies how hard it is to get your bras there. The other place here in MidMO is where I got my first set before reconstruction. REALLY nice woman who has NO clue how to fit bras or reconstruction efforts. You tell her what size you want to be and she will order you the forms and bras for that size. She has no clue if it's appropriate or not. So I went to the Nazi's shop. The manager knew the bras and how to fit...but she wound up fitting me too large because she was nervous about getting close to the implant. But the owner was SUCH a bad trip, she'd have made a nun curse. My first visit where she screamed and through a fit about providing my bras with insurance, I left in tears and literally shaking.
So you have to be your own advocate even when dealing with the people who are supposed to be compassionate to our challenges.0 -
Fragrantroses- I appreciate it so much!! I have to get my kids ready for bed so I can't write much right now, but I GREATLY appreciate all of the information you gave me. Thanks so much for taking the time to give me all of the details, so I know how to navigate things. Have a good night!
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CJRT do not feel guilty at all. You were recovering and sometimes it's ok to ask for special treatment. I say milk fo anything you can. Most people will be very sympathetic even bill collectors.0
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Aww, Call me Rosey. I told the manager at the big shoppe that I had been stubborn about sticking to my guns because this woman (the owner) was a provider for my insurance. But what she was doing was making women pay up front, then having the women file the insurance. When you are an insurance provider of Durable Medical Goods, or actually any medical services, you have a contract with the insurance company. You can charge $100 for that service, the patient may have a $20 copay which brings your charge to $80. Then the contract states the insurance company will pay $40 for say a bra, and the owner of a business or clinic is supposed to WRITE off the remaining $40. When I told my insurance company she was making people pay for their mastectomy products up front, they were like "oh no, she didn't." Because she violated the contract. She would be having ME pay for a $100 bra that is supposed to be totally covered but I would wind up paying $60....the $40 she was supposed to write off AND my copay. My insurance pays at 100% so I don't have a copay or deductible, and that woman wasn't going to let me walk out of the store without paying for them up front.
Because I knew in advance how my insurance worked on this, I went toe to toe with her and insisted she HAD to accept the insurance payment as payment in full because that was the contract SHE signed with Anthem. She was foaming at the mouth she was so mad. She's older than dirt - arond 88 they told me. She refused to let me have the bras. Anthem went off on HER and told her she could be fined by some department of the government because she was committing insurance fraud. The manager called me later after the owner left and told me to come back in after 1 pm - when the owner leaves for the day. She apologized and told me she had never been aware they were providers for my insurance company, but Anthem had stayed on the phone with her and walked her through the process.
I told both the Manager and the insurance, that the whole time I was going toe to toe with the owner over whether she could withhold services because I was paying with insurance - my mind was on the women who were coming in to that store weeks after a mastectomy. They were leaving in tears because their insurance said the mastectomy products were covered at 100% but the owner was telling them they had to pay up front. My total charges were $887, and I'm not someone who has that laying around just to buy bras and breast forms. A lot of women left upset and sick because they didn't know where they would get the money to pay for all this upfront. This wasn't my first go around so I KNEW she was doing something that was very wrong. And that made this normally, funny but reserved Rosey very ticked off.A mastectomy was such an emotional assault against my sense of femininity, that I NEEDED gentle care and concern. I NEEDED that first set of mastectomy bras and forms to feel girlie. This woman's business practices have been robbing other new mastectomy patients of these things and I was mad for them. My name might be mud now. I tell new mastectomy patients to go to the pharmacy where I got my first set if they are a simple BMX or UMX for bras and fittings. I tell people to avoid the bra shop unless they are prepared to go to battle against the ole battle axe. But now my insurance company is monitoring the store and even THEY are telling women to go after 1 pm when the owner goes home. The agent at the insurance office told me this woman was so senile she forgot what normal business practices were. Ugh. I feel my BP going up just remembering the ordeal. It's not my nature at ALL to be confrontational with anyone, but like I said, I just saw in my mind - myself the spring after my rads were over and I was healed enough to get forms and bras. I wouldn't have had the money to pay for it all upfront. I would have left in tears thinking my insurance company had misled me. So I stayed and fought with the dragon. But by the time I got in my car, I was teary, and shaking. My INSURANCE company called me to ask if I was okay. Yes, it had been that bad. 4 women had come into that little boutique and scurried out while the owner was screaming at me for "taking the bread out of her mouth!" oy vey.
Sorry to write so much. But if it helps someone else, that's why I did it.0 -
Thank you Soma ladies for all the great info. I went to the outlet mall and went to the store and bought me a bra and some wonderful panties. I told a freind about the soma bras and she is very large chested. Anyway she came home delighted with the bras she found there as well.
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Sherryc, did you check out any of those vanishing edge bras? Can you give a review if you did?
I sure to wish we could tag a member when we want them to ask a question, instead of wondering if they will ever see it.0 -
Sherryc, did you check out any of those vanishing edge bras? Can you give a review if you did?
I sure to wish we could tag a member when we want them to ask a question, instead of wondering if they will ever see it.0 -
Rosey - Thank you again for all of the information. So sorry to hear how stressful and upsetting that your experience was. I guess we can chalk it up to the owner being so old and senile (potentially), or may she was just a miserable person to begin even when she was younger. I just don't understand how someone whose business revolves around women who have gone through something so traumatic and life-altering can be so insensitive and nasty. I guess you either have empathy or not, but it always surprises me the type of work some people that some people choose. As hard as it was for you, you are right about it being harder for others, especially those at diferent points of their journey. It is wonderful that you "fought" for them, too. At certain points, it's as if we don't have any more "fight" in us.
I had a horrible experience with getting my wig (which I guess has me paranoid when it comes to the bras). I went to this wig place in a mall by me that advertised in my cancer center's newsletter that they specialize in women going through chemo. I went there alone and had to wait about 5 minutes before anyone helped me because the women there were all eating lunch in the salon chairs where the customers normally sit. When someone finally helped me, she showed me a bunch of hideous fake looking crap before showing me a great human hair one. She then proceeded to ask if my husband was with me, so I told her he was working. She then "informed" me that I should get used to doing things alone because "men tend to leave" during BC. Her exact words! They took my insurance information and told me that insurance would reimburse me for 80% of the wig (since I had a 20% copay). I was starting chemo the next day, desperate, and thought I was getting a good deal with the floor model being 40% off, so I bought it. All sales final! When I got home, I looked online to find a picture to send to my sister of the wig. I had a hard time initially finding it because they cut the tag off but when I did, I found out that the retail price was actually $200 LESS than the sale price I had paid. So I got ripped off after having been told my husband would no longer want to be with me. I was so angry and repeatedly called, giving them the benefit of the doubt that maybe the prices had been mislabeled and they would correct it. After dodging my calls, I finally got a message saying I would get a $50 credit. With chemo starting and with the hassle of having to bring my 2 kids with me if I went back, I gave up. I wish I would've done what you did fighting for others. I made up somewhat for it later by telling my cancer center about my experience and telling the plastic surgeon's office when they called me to ask me for a wig store referral. I directed them to an amazing place that I later found for a second wig.
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Ok ladies I am a Soma sales associate. If anyone needs help feel free to post questions here or PM me if you like. I can also offer you ways to save money at Soma if you PM me.
Sherry and Rosy I can tell you I have several vanishing back bras and I love them. They are very comfy and give me a very nice shape. I am lucky though my new foobs look very natural so I can wear any Soma bra, and yes I have tried them all.
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Rose I did not buy the vanishing back, but I told a friend about the soma store and she went and that is what she ended up with and loves it.
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Rosie,that is outrageous! Those shopkeepers are too much,maybe she is still living with her horse & buggy.
Hope the air goes ok,yep before my bmx me & fiance went to what is supposed to be cancer support group. The women there told me that first you lose your hair then your husband gets a girlfriend and leaves. They just kept telling me how sick and awful it would be and so I cried hysterically before the bmx and then for 3 days afterward,dr finally gave me a weeks worth of Valium after the bmx and a pain pump and sent me home. My fiance has been more than supportive thru all this but my German shepherd just falls asleep and snores. Wish I were snoring,its after 11 pm here.
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Carrol - how do Soma bra sizes run? I wear a 36DD in most bras... if I were to order a Soma on line in that size, would it fit? (I realize this may be impossible for you to answer, but thought I'd toss it out there
Also, ladies -- I just flew to Denver this weekend and had to go through one of those super duper screening machines (don't remember what they are called -- but the ones where you have to raise your arms up) and it was my first time ever. I was a bit nervous but it was a non-event as far as my implant goes. They actually just wanted to wave a wand around my wristwatch (metal) for some reason. I don't think they care about breast implants?
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Lilah, that is great that you didn't get hassled by the TSA. A woman in my church was totally humiliated by them in the St. Louis airport. She went through the screening booth and someone actually called out, "another boob job here." So she was taken to a room and asked to DISROBE for the female attendant. Something about the fact they can see you have an implant but not if it's outside the body (prosthesis) or actually implanted in the body. You know how those sneaky terrorists sneak hazardous chemicals on board inside the implants of women with breast reconstruction...right? shesh. If you have an prosthesis they make you take it out for them to massage it to make sure you haven't pushed something inside the silicone. St. Louis is awful. I live between St. Louis and Kansas City, nearly exactly. I haven't heard about anyone in K.C. being assaulted like this.
However I came in to declare the need to write a BRA LAW. Each manufacture should make all their bras the same size or declare the difference. Yep, I got stuck. I bought a bra online from Amazon. It is pretty, I'm loving the champagne shimmer color and I only paid $21 for it. I ordered the size of band that is properly snug on me...42. But THIS bra is so stretchy it could have fit around me AND my husband. Okay maybe not that stretchy. But I'm not sure even moving down to a 40 would have been small enough. I can't tell if the cups were smaller or if the bra is too stretchy to keep it in place. Like an arogant fool, I was so sure it would fit that I cut off the tags before putting it on. So I can't return it. So I'm shaking my head about HOW the same company can have bras with such different fits. I realize that a molded cup is going to fit different than a minimizer, and a minimizer fits differently than a 3 part cup. I realize a SOMA bra will fit differently than a FREYA bra. But it seems to me that all Freya cut and sewn bras should fit the same, and all Freya molded bras should fit the same and all Freya plunges should fit the same. But that would make it too easy wouldn't it. There is a conspiracy to keep us GUESSING what our bra size is. And it's an OUTRAGE I tell you, an OUTRAGE. Bra's are not like men's atheletic cups. They mark them all as SUPER LARGE and every man buys that size and even when it's too big will never admit it. They just stuff their cups with gauze and strut like it fits. Women are more truthful and sensitive. We want our bras to fit. We may want a wonderbra that adds 2 cups sizes, but we still want it to fit!
Carrol, I just learned on the internet there's a SOMA boutique about an hour away. I'm going to be moving in about 30 days so my bra shopping has to halt. But I'm thinking that for Christmas, Maxine and Glinda are going to try out some new SOMA housing. So to take advantage of your discount, does the purchase need to be online? I have a friend who raves about the vanishing edge panties. Up til now, we thought the nearest was in North county St. Louis which is about a 2.5 hour drive and longer in StL traffic. So she shared with us in our Bible study she had prayed for guidance because it was a LONG way to drive for panties that were pricey panties at that. So after prayer she went to Bible study and we came across this scripture. NOW it is taken way out of context for this purpose and keep in mind that in Bible times, a "girdle" was a loin cloth, under garment type thing. We read Jeremiah 13 and she burst out laughing, hallelujah the LORD was telling her to go buy her panties!Jeremiah 13:1 Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.
he he
I'll have to do a Bible search about bras. Maybe there's one I can show my husband to support my need for bras. Although when I told him to ME, beautiful bras were like medals awarded to me for outstanding bravery in the battle of breast cancer...he BOUGHT it. I mean hook line and sinker. Which is the truth. I feel like every beautiful bra is a celebration of what I went through and now I get to rejoice a little (even if I don't feel perfect in the boobage department.) So buying a bra that makes me feel beautiful, girlie and feminine is like a triumph. He actually got teary and told me to keep buying as many bras as I want...so long as I budget for them and don't steal from peter to pay for my bra addiction. 0 -
Rosey - that's great! I was never a pretty bra girl. One black/one neutral/one blue - that's it. Now I can't wait to get my fitting next month!!! I need a medal for bravery!
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JamieB86 - I probably spent the first 30 years of my bra lifetime, wearing whatever Walmart carried. Cheap and replaced them twice a year of so. Then a year before I was diagnosed I went to Cacique (Lane Bryant Intimates) and got fitted for a bra. It was a BOGO so I bought 2, one for sturdy daily use and then one hot momma plunging number. I was hooked and went back to get 4 more. I felt so pretty and supported. I don't know HOW it happened, but my breasts were on a race to cross the belly button first. So lifting them up where they were supposed to be was enlightening. In fact the DAY before I was diagnosed, I had bought a fun print one that was yellow with red and pink lipstick images all over it.
But now...oh mercy. As soon as I was healed enough from the exchange to attempt a bra, I was shopping for pretty bras. No more plain "daily" bras for me either. I bought several minimizers for daily use - they fit my flat fronts the best. But there's laces and prints on them. I love the support of the cut and sewn bras.
So girls, go pick out your medals for outstanding bravery and courage in the face of battle! I just got a red one today in the mail. It's rather plain, called a Tuxedo bra, it has a satin strap that might remind you of a tux lapel. But I'm wearing it over this nappy tshirt and I'm giggling inside because it's RED!0 -
Now THAT's the attitude, fragrantroses!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!
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You go girls! I am just a plain bra person,like the cheap Walmart bras cause I am 3 wks out and dont know what happens when they "settle" which i guess is PS speak for drop&fluff stuff. I had some white lace ones and some gorgeous beige with black lace trim before all this junk happened and my friend told me well just cut the end off and take the wire out. I did but the bras dont fit right,the cup barely covers anythg,they seem pointless so will try out the links after they take the final position to replenish the lace and satin in the new size. I am still lopsided but they have fluffed officially to a B in sports bras so I am hopeful to get my C eventually. I still cant get over the slope or lack of it and how they look like they are 14 yr old in clothing! What is up with these new foobs?
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Awful that the woman was done like that! Yeah,like I am gonna have my implants laced with something and how am I gonna get them to detonate at the time? Good grief its ridiculous,oh yeah the stuffed prothesis is really dangerous! I wish I could take those terrorists and give them a quart sized bag of food only for a day, thats what they deserve for all the trouble they caused the whole world and people trying to travel to see their loved ones. They wanted to change the world and they did for the worse so hope they are happy! It didnt change the wars and conflicts,it accomplished absolutely nothing good for the whole word,the US or the future. Peace,love and understanding is what is needed but if a simple family can not get that how can countries or even the world? Glad our route does not include Missiouri or there abouts. I know the TSA are just doing their jobs but cancer victims really? Are we the problem?
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Does anyone ever not wear a bra to bed? I've been wearing surgical or sport bras to bed since bmx in august 2011 but want to see if not wearing any bra to bed helps the sore rib problem I've been having. On the other hand, I don't want to do anythingw that might ruin the great looking new foobs.
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shore1 - This summer has been the first time that I've tried not wearing a bra to bed...exchange was 2 years in July. I didn't like it. I was achey.
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I never wear a bra to bed anymore. Not since about 3 months post exchange.
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I don't wear one to bed anymore either. I am 3 months out and think I stopped around 1 month.
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I am nine months out and do wear a bra to bed (wirefree though) because my right one still seems to want to wander out to the side.
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I'm learning that lesson that just because a brand fits in the style, doesn't mean it will in the same brand but different style.
My radiated breast has EXTREMELY sensitive skin/touch issues right now. The bra I'm wearing has lace from the bottom center and then up along the top edge of the cups. I'm fine on the non rads side, but it is making my rads side sting and itch. I have deduced that it's the seam bothering me. Got ideas on how to lessen that? I'm willing to stitch something over the seam, if someone has tried that. Althought I may just do it to see myself. I think I can put a thin piece of cotton jersey over without causing more iritiation. Just wondering if anyone's actually done that.0 -
I'm learning that lesson that just because a brand fits in the style, doesn't mean it will in the same brand but different style.
My radiated breast has EXTREMELY sensitive skin/touch issues right now. The bra I'm wearing has lace from the bottom center and then up along the top edge of the cups. I'm fine on the non rads side, but it is making my rads side sting and itch. I have deduced that it's the seam bothering me. Got ideas on how to lessen that? I'm willing to stitch something over the seam, if someone has tried that. Althought I may just do it to see myself. I think I can put a thin piece of cotton jersey over without causing more iritiation. Just wondering if anyone's actually done that.
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fragrantroses - I don't know but there are some ingenious women on here so I'm sure someone has. You do need to baby that rads skin. Could you lay a gauze pad on there to keep it from chafing?
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Shore -I did not initially wear bra to sleep in until I had really bad pain in my right rib and the PS finally realized my implant had bottomed out. He fixed it with alloderm and I have worn a bra almost every night since and it has been 2years. Fixed the rib pain but with the implant weight I feel better with bra. Even after my recent elbow and rotator cuff surgeries my DH had to put a bra on me before I would leave hospital. Actually used my old surgical bra once with its Velcro straps and a strapless after shoulder surgery. I usually only wear under wires even for sleep.
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