Support & Resources
Things We Love in March
Things We Love in March March 18th, 2019 As we approach the first day of spring, it’s a perfect time to look at renewal and hope. We’re always watching for what’s positive in the world, and here are our favorite recent events and findings to remind us that every day there are so many reasons to be thankful: We hear a lot about the challenge and discomfort lymphedema after breast cancer surgery. Even when a patient does everything ‘right,’ they can still develop this condition. However, two recent microsurgical options are presenting a solution to this painful problem. We’re hopeful that more surgeons will consider these options in treatment. Learn more about how some doctors are now treating lymphedema. When faced with chemo, this patient had a little fun with costumes to stay positive and put a smile on other people’s faces. We love her spirit! Read the inspirational story of this survivor and fighter. Out of the the 36th AnnualMiami Breast Cancer Conference® comes positive news: “If there is a theme for this year’s conference, it’s a move away from a one-size-fits all approach to breast cancer in favor of a very targeted one. We are treating breast cancer much more specifically then we ever have,” said Patrick I. Borgen, MD. This includes major developments in diagnostics, new and emerging targeted therapies, immunotherapy, imaging, and surgery, Borgen noted in an interview in advance of the event. And there’s more progress on the breast cancer front: a new drug has been approved in Australia for women with early stage HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer. This significant development may reduce risk of recurrence, and we are grateful for the new hope that it gives women battling this type of cancer—and we hope it become accessible for more women around the globe. We wish you a beautiful spring!
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Giving Back to Gilda’s Club
October 5th, 2019 When we think about cancer, it’s about understanding symptoms, hearing the diagnosis or enduring the treatment. But the experience, of course, goes beyond that. There is intense stress on the family as well as emotional stress as a person with the diagnosis feeling like life is on hold. Gilda’s Club provides a unique support system. “No one should face cancer alone. These simple words sum up the Gilda’s Club Twin Cities’ philosophy.” This goes for everyone impacted by cancer—people living with it, as well as their friends, families and even caregivers. Those affected receive social, emotional and psychological support from licensed mental health professionals. This unique and important perspective is why we’re supporting Gilda’s Club with a donation of 5% of purchases on our site during October and learn more about this community of hope. Please join us in supporting this worthy cause.
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The Bonita Bag aka Lasagna
2.0 November 19th, 2019 Where did these names come from, you might ask? Well, I’ll start with Bonita. It was our mom’s official first name, although she went by Bonnie, and we wanted to honor her memory as she was initially a breast cancer survivor, who later had it come back and ultimately passed away from it. But let’s not focus on that—my mom was a fun-loving, caring, kind, woman with a great sense of humor. She was a social worker and had a big heart. Even during her tough times she still liked to laugh and enjoy time with her family and (oh and shop and eat chocolate!). This company started because of her—we wanted to design a better product for women and it developed into our post-surgical bras, with us now focusing on the Larissa Bra (my sister’s nickname from my mom 😊). From there we knew that women were always getting food as a way of people wanting to help, which is great, don’t get me wrong, but you can only handle and freeze so many pans of lasagna! Hence our nickname for the Bonita Bag—Lasagna 2.0. We wanted to put in practical items that women could appreciate during their recovery from surgery so we carefully selected things we felt would be best! Our bag includes- gift certificate for a Larissa Bra water bottle with a bendy straw (so you can use it while laying down!) mini fan that can hook to your phone cute pen (it has a smiley face and a stethoscope so yes, it’s cute!) and journal (great for taking notes at appointments, writing down questions, making lists, and/or doodling when you’re bored and can’t move about as you would like to) and how can I forget the 7 day pill box that allows you to pull out each one individually so you don’t have to lug the whole thing around! It really does make a great gift alternative that friends/family can pitch in for a give as a group that has long term meaning and support to a loved one in need ❤ If you have questions or need more info, please feel free to contact us as we are always happy to help and be a resource as well!
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Easing the Pain of Radiation
February 28th, 2020 A Partner in Radiation RecoveryWe Support Comfort During RadiationEasing the Pain of Radiation Many women going through the radiation process for breast cancer find themselves uncomfortable due to skin feeling sunburned and/or discomfort with scars from surgery. They need a bra that is going to be comfortable that they can wear when working and functioning in everyday life. So when we were approached by Toray, a Japanese company that is an innovator in technology including fabrics, we were excited about a role in helping them develop the HugFit Radiation Bra for women to wear as an everyday bra while going through this process! Its features include: a unique blend of buttery, soft fabric seams on the outside of the bra so as not to irritate sensitive skin pockets for puffs or prosthesis (also on the outside of the bra) the ability to keep creams and oils on the skin without getting onto clothing We’ve learned a lot during the development of this bra and are taking in feedback so we can make it more supportive for larger-chested women, hence the limited range of sizes at this time–currently it’s available in medium, large and extra large. Please bear with us as we work to design a better product to help women be as comfortable as possible during this tough process. Check out the surgical bras we've developed to help ease the pain. We welcome your questions or comments below.
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