Finally! A Comfortable Bra for Women After Breast Cancer Surgery

"I loved how it felt secure but not overly tight. I really liked that it would fit well under clothes and still looked fashionable and not at all like what I received at the hospital," Anjali Karamchandani, 32, of Edgewater, NJ told the New York Post, Karamchandani had a preventative double mastectomy after testing positive for the BRCA2 genetic mutation, which puts women at risk for breast cancer.

The typical treatment for breast cancer includes surgically cutting out the tumor from the breast. In some cases, where doctors can cut cleanly around the lump, they will do a lumpectomy, and leave the rest of the breast intact. In others, a full mastectomy, or removal of the breast or breasts, is necessary.

Depending on breast size, family history, and other factors that put women at high risk for recurrence, patients may opt for a more aggressive surgery. Sometimes, women will choose to get a mastectomy “prophylactically,” meaning to prevent the cancer before it starts because they have a high risk of breast cancer in their family.

The bra has features like mesh lining to make it more comfortable for women who’ve had reconstruction, and the pockets in the lining can be filled with ice and cooling packs to help with post-operation pain.

Care + Wear’s co-founder and CEO Chat Razdan says that the company asked for patients’ and breast surgeons’ help with the bra’s design and had them test it once they had the prototype for the wire-free bra, made of nylon and spandex.

The velcro clasp is also important for some women who have had breast surgeries. "I loved it," Kelly Thomas, 34, told The Post.  Thomas was one of the first women to try out the bra. "I wish I'd had this after my mastectomy. It was so easy to put on since it's fastened with Velcro and, after breast surgery, you don't have much arm strength."

Tiffany Dyba, 36, a breast cancer survivor who’s spoken before to SurvivorNet, approves of the bra as well. "I wish it was available after both my surgeries! The color was very sleek and the style was functional, but also very nice."

The Care + Wear Recovery Bra is the latest in lingerie for women who have just had surgery. SurvivorNet has also spoken to women who have wanted better bras to fit their new bodies well after their cancer operations.

“I think out of all of the side effects, everything I went through, the most surprising for me was really how differently my body changed so dramatically and so quickly that I couldn’t even wear clothes that I wore before I was diagnosed with cancer,” says Dana Donofree, who started a line of bras for women who have had surgery when she felt that there weren’t any sexy bras that fit her new body.

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