While some side effects of cancer are well known, others such as skin rashes and changes to nail colour can come as a shock, damaging patients’ self-esteem.
Often people simply want to feel like themselves again, which can be challenging following a cancer diagnosis.
Our health and well-being pop-up on Tuesday 8 March is bringing together a range of experts to provide holistic advice and guidance for those wishing to remedy the side effects of cancer.
This includes The Bra Sisters – two breast cancer thrivers and former patients of The London Clinic, Kate Courtman and Sarah Mountford.
Both Kate and Sarah had negative experiences shopping for bras following their mastectomies. They formed The Bra Sisters to transform post-mastectomy bra fitting, with a positive and personal experience and fashion-forward underwear.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of our work is normalising how bodies look after surgery,” says Kate.
“There tends to be this collective fear and shame that not having breasts somehow makes someone less of a woman, which is obviously not true.
“We’ve found that helping clients overcome that fear can sometimes lead to a new form of confidence and empowerment they perhaps didn’t have before their treatment or surgery.”
As well as providing breast cancer survivors with physically supportive bras after surgery, The Bra Sisters’ aim is to help people find bras that make them feel confident and beautiful.
“We’ve managed to help our clients avoid having the bra fitting experiences we had, which were dire,” says Sarah.
“We can both laugh about how terrible our experiences were after surgery, but that’s not always the case for everyone. We want to help create more positive experiences.”
The Bra Sisters will be joined by The London Clinic's new Health and Well-being Therapies team, plus headwear experts from Raoul Wigmakers and HeadWrappers.
“Our vision as an independent hospital and charity is to provide ongoing services that will provide support for patients, beyond the treatment itself,” says Dr Nalishebo Elliott, Head of Patient Experience and Quality Outcomes at The London Clinic.
“Our belief is that no one should have to compromise on feeling their most authentic self, and we’re proud to be hosting this pop-up to show patients and their loved ones that help is available.”
The pop-up will be located within The London Clinic’s new Healing Through Arts, Music & Culture gallery space at The Duchess of Devonshire Wing, 22 Devonshire Place, London, on Tuesday 8 March, from 9am to 4pm.
Bra fitting services with The Bra Sisters will be open to the public and patients of The London Clinic. To book a bra fitting in advance, visit www.brasisters.co.uk.
