Let's talk bras

^^^agreed!

I'm just excited to buy a pretty bra instead of the industrial bras I've been in!!

I didn't buy a bra for post surgery. My doctor provided me with two of them. He supplies Veronique 454. Since I've been wearing a 42, he put me in an XL.

I've bought three bras post-op. one is a Barely There soft bra from Walmart in an XL, and two slightly different sized bras (40 d and 42c). Each fits differently, and each day one is the most comfortable. I didn't switch into them until after my 2 week post-op appointment.

I hope that helps.

I have a question...I was looking at surgical bras online and one place says to order it for the size that you are pre-op. Is that TRUE? That sounds very strange to me. Also, how on Earth do you know what size to buy if you're buying before your surgery?

Ok, I have a bra that I do not recommend - Warner's 01298. It was really comfortable when I tried it on but it has these bumps in the cup. (Website description - Molded, contour wire free cups have a lightly padded bump along bottom of cups.) Today was my first day in a "real" bra post surgery and now I have weird ridges on my new boobs. I know that it will smooth out and it is just fluid moving around but I don't mess with my shape! I was really tired when I was shopping last night and didn't even think about it...oh well, I will be able to wear it in a few weeks.

I'm 2 weeks post-op and still wearing the surgical vest. I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow and am really hoping that he will give me the OK to wear something other than this vest. It comes up pretty high under my arms and high on my chest and is pretty difficult to hide. If he gives me the OK, I'm going shopping immediately. Thank you for all of the recommendations in these postings!

I'm 3 weeks post op, and my surgeon told me I could start wearing sports bras...problem is, many of them have back closures, or have too much compression (think "uniboob"), contain underwire, etc.
I hit the jackpot at my specialty bra shop (I'm sure most of you already have a favorite shop, since department stores don't carry our ridiculous pre op bra sizes, like my own 38G!) Anyway, the wonderful ladies at Ruth's Lingerie in RI pointed me to the mastectomy bras...they had a ton of styles, and I found one that was super comfortable with good breast encapsulation, a little compression (to help manage with swelling), and front closure. It was pricier than a sports bra at $34, but I found it later online at 2/$47.12 and bought 2 more in different colors...here's the info: ABC Leisure Mastectomy Bra Style 110 at metromedicalonline...I got an additional 5% off with a retailmenot coupon code: fiveoffcj2009
You'll want at least 3 bras in rotation (I still wear the surgical bra around the house or for sleeping) because you'll need a clean one every day, and bras take a while to air dry...also, if you're draining/oozing/leaking in the first few weeks post op, you'll be changing and washing your bras more often.
Hope this helps!

thanks for the pointers, ladies. i'll be cehcking in with the PS tomorrow to find out how long i'll be in ace bandages and probably pick up afew sports bras online. i did get out to Kohls and picked up a different barely there (clasp back) but having trouble really thinking that these little stretchy things can actually hold whatever i'll be left with. visualizing what i'll look like has been pretty hard for me to do... I started out in junior high with D/DD and only got bigger..... just a few more days before i find out for real !

Kohl's has a great sport bra. Barely There style 4076. The XL stretched out enough to cover the big girls before they became little girls. I had 8 pounds removed 1 month ago. The bras still fit after reduction and are very comfy. I used 2 of my older ones after my 1st week post-op, I would just wash the bra out in the sink with a bar of Dial antibacterial soap and hang it up to dry. Never put these bras in the dryer, they will lose elasticity. Hang them up wet on the hanger they come on when you buy them, they dry overnight and are snug again the next day.

JC Penny has zip front sports bras. I found a pretty sports bra at walmart. I'm only 9 days post-op and still need the compression from my surgical bra. The sports bra yesterday felt like I was too floppy.

I found something exciting today and remembered this discussion, so I wanted to share. I have not been buying bras yet, I will wait until after surgery for that when I know better what feels comfortable for sure.

But I have been peeking around, and I noticed a lot of places that people have been recommending wire-free nursing bras. I figure "what the heck?" and try one on while I am at Walmart today just to see what they do.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bestform-Maternity-Nursing-Softcup-Cami-Bra/20526191

for some reason online it only comes in plus size, but I tried on a small in the store, and even HUGE and saggy like I still am, it was very nice. Held me in, seperated stuff, and had a back closure. That is high on my list since I know I wont want to be pulling things over my head.

Anyhow.
I just figured I'd share. Its like, 12 bucks, has the cute cami lace line, still gave a good amount of support and compression even on my sloppy 30Fs, and was super comfy. I'd give it a look at your local walmart. ;)

You might not be in sports bras for months. I moved on to a non-underwire regular bra at 3 weeks because the sports bras were rubbing my incision lines.

I'm only 4 days post op so I'm not into the sports bras yet, but I bought some front closure sports bras from walmart that were suggested to me by some other ladies on this site. They are about $10 each and come in white, black, beige, and grey. The straps aren't thin like a normal bra but also not thick either. The material seems thin and they seem comfy. I would think it would be pretty easy to wear under any type of top/dress. Best of luck

This troubled me too! I'm definitely a fashion girl, and getting all dressed up and knowing I look amazing has always been one of the ways I can change my mood. The idea I would have to settled for whatever his bras that were 10x worse then the huge bras I wore with my H cups really depressed me (probably more then it should have). I'm now about 4 months out and have been back in normal bras for the last month, but before that I went for gap body pull over sports bras (http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=64741&vid=0&pid=807495). For me they were great. Comfy, low cut enough to wear under about 60% of my wardrobe, and their tiny straps which come to a V in the back looked cute poking out of a lot of things. At the time they were also available in a bunch of fun, bright colors. However, I did have a LOT of swelling. They did not provide compression, but that was OK with me and my doc. I would say they are best for once you are a few weeks post op, rather then right away.