What Is It Like to Shop for a Bra After a Mastectomy?
Key takeaways:
Bra shopping after a mastectomy is often emotional.
People recovering from breast cancer may need to avoid underwire bras to protect healing tissue.
Three breast cancer survivors shared with GoodRx that specialized bras gave them confidence but came with challenges, including cost and comfort.
Life after breast cancer surgery and treatment often brings unexpected challenges. One of the hardest is finding bras that fit and feel comfortable for a body that has undergone changes.
Whether adjusting to having one breast, no breasts, or reconstructed breasts, bra shopping can be an emotional experience. It’s deeply connected to physical needs and self-image.
Here, three women share their experiences with post-mastectomy bra shopping. They talk about their moments of empowerment and comfort but also their struggles to find what works for them.
Embracing a new definition of beauty
The night before her 38th birthday, Rachel Marx of Pittsburgh felt her life change. While in the shower, she found a lump in her breast. She didn’t ignore it and scheduled a doctor’s appointment. Things moved fast. Soon, she learned that she had breast cancer.
After chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, and radiation, Rachel decided to have a unilateral mastectomy. Losing a breast was emotionally painful.
“My breasts were a part of me,” says Rachel, now 46. “They were part of my sexual pleasure. They were part of my dreams of motherhood. They were parts of the physical body in which I experienced the world. The idea of losing them, I thought, meant losing all of these things.”
She had planned to have a mastectomy that included insertion of an expander for an implant. But her body rejected the expander, leaving her with one DD breast and a flat chest on the other side.
How can I get a free or low-cost mammogram? This guide offers resources for affordable mammograms, a crucial step in the early detection of breast cancer.
What’s a good timeline for mastectomy recovery? Here’s some practical advice for recovery, including how to manage pain and resume daily activities.
What is it like to have breast cancer? Read insights from someone who faced emotional and physical challenges.
Bra shopping after the surgery was hard for Rachel. It reminded her of the ordeal she had as a teenager finding bras for her larger chest.
“Growing up, my mom would take me on bra shopping trips once or twice a year. I’d trudge longingly past the racks of adorable, sexy 34Bs and land gloomily at the display of beige, matronly 36DDs,” she says.
She hated those trips but also felt like she was part of a special group of women with big breasts who understood both the burden and beauty of that size.
After her mastectomy, Rachel felt she no longer fit anywhere. “I was stuck wearing tight sports bras or sad, drooping bras with an empty cup,” she says.
Things changed when she found AnaOno, a company specializing in post-surgery bras. Her favorite, called “The Rachel,” has a single adjustable cup made for women like her.
“The key is to not expect bras to fit like they used to,” she says. “Once you accept that, you get to have fun again, playing with different styles and materials.
Rachel now uses her Instagram feed to inspire other women to embrace their bodies after surgery.
Finding empowerment in a new body
When Marianne Sarcich was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, she had a mastectomy. She says she wasn’t attached to her breast and wanted to get rid of the cancer quickly.
Still, her emotional healing took time. For the first year, Marianne avoided looking at her chest. Things changed after she got a 3D nipple-areola tattoo.
“When I got the tattoo, the emotional healing was so phenomenal,” says Marianne, now 59, of Wilmington, Delaware. “Suddenly, I could look [at myself] again.”
Feeling more confident, Marianne began bra shopping. She followed her plastic surgeon’s advice to avoid underwires. Her surgeon explained that the loss of breast sensation from surgery could prevent her from feeling if an underwire came loose and penetrated her breast. Finding bras that fit her new body helped her feel like herself again. She also discovered AnaOno and even modeled for the brand. She says the photo shoot made her feel amazing.
Marianne urges others to seek help while adjusting to life after surgery.
“That’s one thing I didn’t do,” she says. “But now I know there were so many people in my support community who could have helped me work through that sooner.”
Facing financial frustrations
In 2021, Christie Burns, 54, of Wilmington, Delaware, had a single mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
She underwent a deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction, using her abdominal tissue to rebuild her breast.
The physical and emotional toll was heavy. Christie remembers feeling like she was just “going through the motions.”
Bra shopping after the surgery was both positive and frustrating. At first, she had a good experience at Jay Ann Intimates, a specialty store that helped her prepare for surgery and pick a prosthetic breast after surgery.
But the bra shopping experience grew frustrating and expensive, she says.
“Medical insurance helped with the first set [of bras] when I needed a fake breast to fill in the reconstructed side,” she says. “But once that is over, it is beyond frustrating.”
A third surgery changed her breast size, making it even harder to find bras that fit.
Christie says there should be more financial help for survivors to cover the cost of specialized bras that provide both comfort and support.
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