This blog isn’t about that time at the racetrack where you picked the winning horse on a feeling instead of studying the facts. It’s about breast cancer patients and posture.
I’ve worked with a trainer for years and still must remind myself to stand tall with shoulders back and down, chest out, and chin high. It’s even harder to do with a large incision on your right breast that extends to the back of your armpit. There’s a tendency to “hunch” for relief and protection.
I told SW, the nurse navigator, and said my solution was not to wear a bra so that I could hunch even better. She cut me off mid-sentence: “Now we have to have the bra discussion,” she said. First, not wearing a bra helps gravity’s pull but not you, the breast cancer patient. Bras provide support and help in standing tall. Because when it’s all over, you still want the posture your trainer worked hard for you to have. SW even gave me a variety of post-operative breast cancer bras to try. (Grist for a different blog)
The truth is that since my surgery I find myself unconsciously hunching over: at the table, at my computer, at my piano. Even with these special bras. It must be a natural tendency, but I’m working to avoid it. I imagine my back will also thank me down the road.
On a scale of 1 to 10, this was a 9. I will never list 10 until this all over. So 9 is good.
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