Baldie One Boobed Babe Goes Swimming

This week I went swimming again.

Like most things since the diagnosis, a visit to the pool is rather more complicated these days but at least I’m allowed in the water again.  For the three months since the operation, I’ve been banned from so much as a hot bath, first because the mastectomy scar had to heal and then because I had a PICC line inserted for my three sessions of FEC.  So, sadly, even though we did make it to our special place in Portugal for a few weeks in the summer, I had to watch enviously as the kids swam in the river and the sea.

But now I’m back.

So, permission granted.  Next thing, logistics.

For my baldy head, I wore a swim cap.  This worked remarkably well, my husband swore that you’d never know there was no hair underneath even if I did look a bit of a prude in a pool where swim caps were not mandatory and only the old biddies wore them.  I wore my cute peaked hat for the walk down to the swimming baths so that I didn’t have to stuff my wig into my swim bag and revelled in the fact that I didn’t need to bother with shampoo and a hairbrush for after the swim.

For the missing boob, a gorgeous new swimming costume in shades of pink with a pocket for the prosthesis.  I swear that this is the loveliest swimming costume I have ever possessed (though I have to confess, it was also twice the price of any previous cozzie but these days I feel I deserve to be spoilt a little.)  Dare I say it?  I actually feel quite sexy in this costume which is quite something for a bald lady with one boob.

And yet it is also comfortable, in fact I barely noticed the prosthesis, and I felt totally secure when swimming (which is a relief because I have never forgotten the story about the woman who went swimming and her prosthesis slipped out and sank to the bottom – she eventually found it being used as a Frisbee by two boys.  She was so embarrassed that she went home and abandoned it.) 

I swam, sat in the whirlpool and even did the super-enormous slide with the kids (one hand firmly on my cap when I swooshed into the pool at the end so I didn’t frighten the little kids with an accidental view of my baldie head). 

There was only one place I felt held back by the consequences of Cancer. The pool we visited happened to be in Germany, so of course the communal showers afterwards were full of uninhibited, utterly naked German ladies of all ages (my nine-year old daughter watched with a horrified expression and eyes as big as saucers).  Needless to say, I was not about to show off my mastectomy scar and so I showered demurely in my costume and swim hat among the naked ladies.

But, honestly, would I have thrown caution to the wind and stripped naked with the rest of them if I had not had a scar to hide? I guess we’ll never know.

And, to her enormous relief, nor will my excruciatingly embarrassed daughter.

Wigged and Boobed: Getting the Prosthesis

After one more trip down to the lovely boutique providing Everything For a Lady with Breast Cancer, I am delighted to announce that I am now fully wigged and boobed.

The wig I bought at the weekend has worked out very well indeed; I've even had compliments for my new hair style from people who don't know about the Cancer.  So I went back this week to pick up my new mammary prosthesis.

Getting the prosthesis didn't take long as there wasn't much choice: apparently I can't get one that sticks to your skin until I've completed all the treatment.  I was, in any case, rather cynical as to whether that actually works - can it really retain it's stickiness?  Imagine the humiliation if it fell off!  But I was reassured that they do work well, especially for someone small breasted like me and with a scar that has healed neatly.

In any case, for now I have a silicon gel prosthesis that slips into a pocket in a mastectomy bra.  The only choice was whether to take one slightly smaller or one slightly larger than my remaining breast.  A no-brainer, I figured.

Then onto the fun part!  I chose new bras, which do need to be a little sturdier than what I usually wear, but don't feel grandma-ish.  And my new swimming costume is super-cute, no-one would ever guess that it is a mastectomy costume.

Finally, I took my new boob out for a test drive.  

Being small breasted has made it relatively easy to disguise the mastectomy over the last few weeks, simply by not wearing a bra and padding out the missing side with a cushion-boob pinned inside baggy clothes.  But the price was that I had almost no shape at all.  So it was great to be able to slip into my old tops again and fill them out properly.  Most of my old wardrobe is wearable again, with the exception of strapless evening wear, and one or two tops might need adjusting as the new bra is quite large and tends to show.

The prosthesis isn't heavy at all, the bras are comfortable, and my 8 year old daughter snuggled in for a cuddle and declared it to be suitably squishy.   After wearing it most of the day, the scar can feel a little uncomfortable but I think that will pass in time.

So all in all, a great success.  And I can't wait to try out my new costume...