Feeling challenged by clothes shopping?
I'd like to reach out to other women who find it hard to buy clothes because of changes to their bodies brought about by breast cancer. I'm almost 60 now and have lived with a mastectomy for over 20 years, with a handful of those years as a younger woman dressing around a reconstruction that I had removed back in 2006. I have felt quite frustrated over this entire period with how hard it has been to find clothes with high necklines that don't gape and that also disguise the imbalance I have in my breast shape and nipple outline. I've never regretted having the mastectomy - but have been really surprised at how down I would get with clothes shopping, for I consider myself to be a fairly strong and resilient person. Over a decade ago now I surveyed 423 affected Australian women about difficulties they experience - and realised some of us live with quite a significant and silent problem. About two years ago I approached the fashion industry to see what could be done for us generally, after struggling for months to find an outfit for my daughter's wedding. I met with some very supportive retailers and from there sourced a web developer to build a fashion site tailored to our needs. It includes a filter that enables browsing by selecting for a whole range of design features that women after breast cancer seem to look for but struggle to find - e.g. loose sleeves for lymphoedema management, high necklines and disguising patterns to name a few. The site is called Pink Collective Styling and it's listed within the BCNA Service Directory which is found under the Menu Tab "Understanding Breast Cancer", then selecting for "Find Services & Support Near You" and then "Physical Appearance Support". This has just been a subject that has got under my skin over the years because I feel it's an unnecessary burden to have layered on top of all the tough decisions that go with breast cancer and getting on with life. I am keen to hear from anyone who can recommend a fashion label or retailer that you've found offers a great range that 'works' for your needs so I can continue to grow the site and make it as broadly useful to the breast cancer community as possible. I'd also be very keen to hear where the site doesn't quite cover your particular needs if you too find clothes shopping a struggle. Julie
Long messy ramble - fertility after BC - needed a vent (thanks & sorry!)
Well once again I havent stopped by here for a while. I have been feeling too sad and needed to get my thoughts sorted out a bit better before trying to write it out. (this website is very cathartic) In December I decided to be proactive with the idea of starting a family since I had been given permission to stop taking Tamoxifen (Yay!). I excitedly went and had a blood test to see what my ovarian reserve was like after chemo/zoladex/radio. Unfortunately the results were so low we were told that we would have to do IVF as soon as possible at a cost of over 12k (which we dont have) but the specialist wanted me to have another blood test in Feb 3 days into my period to see if my AMH results improved at all. I had the original AMH test very soon after finishing tamoxifen and my Dr thought it may have influenced the results. My result in December was: 2 At my age (37) it should have been between 17 and twenty something (27?). This news was just heart breaking. I know that IVF doesnt work for everyone and is a crazy emotional rollercoaster that costs money we just dont have. I started looking into accessing my Super which apparently you can do for IVF and there is some company that helps with the from at a cost of $200 Anyway. Waiting for Feb to have the blood test was a long wait so we decided to just give it a go naturally in the mean time. I started taking the right vitamins and ditched the condoms. I had been feeling a bit weird and started to wonder if we had managed to beat the odds so off I went to buy some home pregnancy tests. They were positive! Straight to the GP the next day to confirm with a blood test and yup. I was pregnant. We just couldn't believe our luck! Being pregnant after BC treatment automatically deems you 'high risk' so I tried desperately not to get too excited but it was just impossible not too. When you can feel your body changing there is no way you can not think about it and all my blood tests were coming in with good numbers so things were going well. Being high risk means you get sent for ultrasounds much sooner than normal so we had four all up. At the 3rd we got to see a little squiggle with a heart beat and by ultrasound 4 its little heart had stopped. I think it was called a missed miscarriage. Its when the baby stops growing but your body doesn't realise. I was still getting all the symptoms of being pregnant but it wasn't ment to be. The standard next step is to wait 2 weeks to see if your body passes it all naturally, if not you need to go in for a procedure. It was the hardest 2 weeks ever. I couldn't go to work as I was convinced the final part of the miscarriage would start while at work and it takes me an hour to get home on the train - there was no way I was going to spend and hour on the train bleeding and bawling my eyes out! I ended up needing to have the procedure which went well. By that point I was just happy to get closure on that front. So it has been two weeks since the procedure and I now have my annual boob ultrasound and mammogram next coming up next week. While I was pregnant my 'normal' boob was crazy tender where as my operated on boob was just occasionally feeling weird. Since my hormones have been coming back to normal I have had a whole bunch of pimples and my operated on boob has been feeling weird more frequently under my scar. I am so emotionally spent that I am now stressing more than normal about the upcoming check up. I was only pregnant for 2 months but my cancer was hormone positive. I have read stats that pregnancy doesnt cause cancer but as I said, I am emotionally wrecked at the moment, the combo of hormones and not sleeping doesnt help! I havent had time to fully process the miscarriage yet. I know it sounds dramatic but I am scared that this was our one and only chance. I have always been a very positive person and after going through BC I thought everything else would be a breeze. I couldnt have been more wrong. It has taken me awhile to figure out why I am not handling this as well (hahaha) as I did BC but I realised that my escapes during treatment were facebook, tv & movies. It seems at the moment every facebook post is another friends pregnant belly, pics of adorable babies and people posting about how amazing it is to be a parent. TV and movies are just as bad! While I was pregnant I was researching baby stuff online and now all my pop up ads are baby related. There just seems to be no escape! Logically I know that we can try again and IVF might be an option money permitting. I also know that if we cant have children it isnt the end of the world - I mean. I beat BC! I should be happy right?! I guess I am just grieving. Looking forward to progressing to the angry phase instead of sad. There is no real point to this ramble. I was just hoping that having a little vent would help. I thought things would be easier since treatment finished but I guess the roller-coaster ride continues.
