Have you noticed? Some people can’t resist standing too close in public places. Paige More, a breast cancer previvor — she underwent a double mastectomy in 2017 after learning she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation – hit on the “breast” way to insist on social distancing: “Made this mask to wear to the grocery store,” she says in the Instagram post (below). “When someone tells
View this post on InstagramRead More me my mask has boobs on it, I kindly tell them they are Foobs and if they can see them they are too damn close and to pleaseee back the f up ???????????? ”RELATED: Coronavirus Guide For Cancer Patients
Foobs, as Paige and other women who’ve undergone breast-reconstruction know, is shorthand for “fake boobs.”
Inspired to Found ‘The Breasties’
More’s mastectomy experience inspired her to co-found “The Breasties” along with three other breast-cancer survivors. The group accomplishes their mission — to empower women affected by breast and reproductive cancers – through free retreats, wellness activities, events, and an all-inclusive resourceful online community.
For now, The Breasties have suspended their Camp Breastie retreats, offering online events instead.
Paige More says she and her co-founders were inspired to start The Breasties for younger women touched by breast cancer.
At the time of her surgery, more told PEOPLE she’d undergone genetic testing at 24, because her father’s family had a history of breast and ovarian cancer. More’s test came back positive for BRCA1 with the news that she had a 50-65 percent chance of developing breast cancer.
RELATED: Nina Garcia: A Personal Choice
"I really was scared,” she said of the decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy. “Was I making the wrong decision? But this is the best choice I've ever made. I no longer wake up worried that this is going to be the day I get cancer, or the day I find a lump. I look in the mirror and see my scars as strength, and I see the new shape of myself. I saved my own life. There's nothing sexier than that."
After More posted her Foob-mask, her pal Dana Donofree, founder of AnaOno Intimates, a lingerie line designed specifically for cancer patients, followed suit with her own ‘foob mask’ (below).
Donofree, an advocate and board member of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, founded her line of cancer-friendly undergarments after she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma at 27, “out of my own necessity and desire for pretty, sexy, beautiful lingerie during a recovery period that was everything but.”
I made it my mission to design specifically for those who've had breast reconstruction, breast surgery, mastectomy, or are living with other conditions that cause pain or discomfort.”
Dana Donofree on how breast cancer impacted her body. She founded her lingerie line, AnaOne, to meet the specific needs of breast cancer survivors.
“I made it my mission to design specifically for those who've had breast reconstruction, breast surgery, mastectomy, or are living with other conditions that cause pain or discomfort.”
“There’s not a moment I don’t see it,” says Donofree told SurvivorNet, of the changes cancer has visited on her body. "I couldn't even wear clothes that I wore before cancer." Dana was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before her 28th birthday. "I couldn't even wear clothes that I wore before cancer," Dana says.
AnaOno’s product line addresses both women who have chosen reconstruction and those who have chosen to remain flat.
"All I wanted to do was feel feminine and feel sexy … cancer kept taking things away from me, I wasn't going to let cancer take this from me," Dana says.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
