Thank You For Your Support

I have a very important milestone to share with you today. It is perhaps one of the most significant days in a woman's progress through a stem cell transplant.

I speak, of course, of finally getting to wear a bra again.

Once I had the Hickman put in, my whole upper chest area hurt, almost to my shoulders. One reason was the two inch insertion scar, another was the general subcutaneous pain from having some tubes in there. I gave bra-wearing a couple of feeble attempts so I'd at least have somewhere to stick the protruding tubes, but it just hurt too d*mn much to have the straps right over the scar area. Never mind that the tubes ended up itching my boobeles while stuffed in said bra. Fuggedaboudit.

Once the scar healed a bit I tried again. But by that point my skin was flaking off from chemo aftereffects, so I was itching like crazy and not enjoying the added irritation of the supporting undergarment. Fuggedaboudit again.

So for the intervening 4 weeks I have been revisiting 6th grade (okay, 7th grade), (okay, kill me now, 8th grade too) and wearing a tanktop (= undershirt) under my shirt. It's worked pretty well, except for the fact that I only wore clothing that could accommodate a tanktop underneath, and I'm certain people were starting to wonder if I'd lost the plot from a fashion perspective (assuming they haven't wondered that for two decades...).

But today, my friends, the bra is back. Reunited and it feels so good, baby! No more fears of inappropriate nippleitis when in the very cold Dana Farber clinic. No more avoidance of white t-shirts. No more feeling like a 6th grader.

Check me out: