Mastectomy Supply Store

     This is a "leisure prosthesis" essentially a cheap nylon "falsie" filled with tiny weighted beads. This is for after surgery before you are healed completly and can move on to the silicone "real looking ones". Price $255 EACH...yes, that's right, not for a pair EACH so that is $510 a Pair for just these. In roughly thirty days I will graduate to flattened scars and healed better with less swelling and then be able to get the" real silicone" fake boob inserts...
     So, today Steve had a rare morning off so we headed to Latrobe to the Mastectomy store there...there are only two with good selection nearby,one in Latrobe and one in Pittsburgh,still a good driving distance but I was desperate.
      The gave me two bras to bring home from the hospital the first 7 days I wore a thing that looked like a corset that was a compression wrap that velcroed in the front... it looked cute enough they must of seen me coming cause it was even pink with roses on it. but it was torturous, it pushed on the drains sticking out of my sides and the edges had velcro that rubbed my skin raw...so my sis found me a tank top that was loose enough to get over my head without lifting my arms and that is what I wore for seven days underneath the compression corset. It had little loops that you safety pinned your drains too so they didn't pull out accidentally...(and trust me as painful as they were that was a BIG concern to me) I was allowed no tub baths as the drains were essentially open and the incision was glued closed where my mastectomy was done so soaking that would have opened it up. So it was quick showers ONLY. the drains were then once you were undressed and ready to shower not hooked to anything which panicked me every time, so i would hold them like precious cargo until they were safety pinned to something. They sent me home from the hospital with what looked like a garter that you could hook around your waist and then pin the drains to. Well I did do that but that was still a challenge as then the tubing stuck out and if bumped or if God forbid pulled it was terrible. I actually caught the loop of tubing on the doorknob one day and thought I was dying... So from that day on I made sure all tubing was tucked up under whatever I was wearing.. After 7 days of agony I called the hospital and they said oh sorry we forgot to tell you that you could remove the corset after 48 hours!!!???? Anyways, a hint to anyone else that goes through this. I found it easier and better to hook the corset thing around my neck like a choker, it was not tight and much more comfortable than around the waist. then i hooked the drains to there... that freed up my arms and sides and reduced the slack of the tubing....I also found that if I only ran a small amount of tub water i could sit in the tub and shave my legs as the water was far shallower than would have touched my drains and nowhere near deep enough to open my incisions... 
    So, anyways back to the bras, the hospital sent me home with two white mastectomy bras they had fluff filled falsies to put in them. She gave them to me two sizes larger than my normal size as my drain sat under the elastic on one side. they had velcroed on pockets to put your drains in so that noone could see them when you went out.And trust me no one would want to see them they would get filled with orangish fluid and tissue and clots and all kinds guck...
    Long story short I was wearing these things to Dr's appointments. They were driving me crazy since the falsies were made of fluff there was no weight to them so that and the combination of the bra being to big meant the bra rode up and down all day long rubbing me incessantly.  On my scars, on my drain ,under my arms...Ugg.
    So, today was the first day we could get to the mastectomy supply store. I had to get some bras that fit properly and didn't rub me raw every time I wore them. I cant go bra less because even a shirt rubbing causes me nerve pain, and if I bend over all of the shirts gap and ALL of my scars are visible , so not wanting to frighten small children I wore the crappy bra.
   We walk in and first thing i notice is all of the clothes etc are for normal people, not mastectomy patients like me...I look at a bathing suit $88 and hideous at that! they did have a good selection of affordable wigs...
   So after a long wait. A lady came out and took us into the secret inner chamber ....where all of the falsies and bras were...and I might mention none of them were priced. She measured and fitted me for the bra first then the leisure prosthesis pictured above. I was so hoping to get everything I needed today as chemo starts in ten days and I don't know if I will be up to the long drive and the trying stuff one, but that wasn't gonna happen cause she wouldn't sell me the real prosthesis till by scars go down cause they would rub. So as she went in and out of the room Steve was looking at prices $100 to $200 per bra!!! and by the way they looked exactly like a Walmart bra but with a pocket big enough to hold the prosthetic bean bag.
    I asked about tank tops thinking it would be nice to have something to wear in the spring with no bra needed and thin straps and to wear under things to cover my scars. They looked just like the 2 for $10 tank tops at Dots...they were $55 each because of that special little pocket!!!
     I think it is an absolute sin that this stuff costs this much, there is nothing else a woman who has had extensive surgery as I have can do...not for vanity sake cause if I could I would go without the bra, but shirts of any kind hurt touching there and NONE of my old clothes fit and as i said all the scars show.
     I do not know what women without insurance do...I swear this is number 1000 of a long list of issues I would love to fix after this mess is over. It should not be this hard or expensive to get the things you need especially when you are so busy with appts ,surgeries etc...i had 23 appts in 30 days and MANY surgeries and procedures.
     You mean to tell me that Walmart cant look at one of these bras and make an affordable version? 1 of every 8 women will end up with breast cancer in her lifetime... WE need this stuff accessible and affordable!!!
     But, I am lucky in the sense that my deductible had been met...And even though we have received astronomical medical bills today I left there with 4 bras and a set of bean bag falsies... We didn't have to pay anything as the insurance deductible has been met... But for 4 bras and a pair of freaking BEAN BAG FALSIES the insurance was charged about $1100.00!!!!! What in the world is wrong with this picture.
    So, we are back home the bra I wore out of the store fit well and did not rub so for that I am very grateful. But for the rest WHAT A RACKET!!!