Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Update from Brittany

Hi everyone!

I’m really sorry I ended up disappearing for so long. I’ve been dealing with an incredibly sucky, stressful series of events, including my partner being laid off and unemployed for a period of time, my grandfather’s death, depression, a dying computer, severe hair loss (caused by anemia and fixed now, fortunately) and more.

Several of you have reached out to me personally to ask if I’m ok and tell me you would love it if I started up blogging again. I was really touched by that, and if it weren’t for you guys sticking with me and reminding me that you really liked my blog and that I’d helped many people, I might not have come back.

Thankfully, things have improved for me a great deal, and I want to start writing again. However, things are going to be changing a bit around here.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve had mysterious health issues for a long time. Since I now have better insurance than I’ve ever had, and live in a much larger city than I used to, I’ve been putting more effort into figuring them out. I found out that I’m allergic to dust mites and cats, among other things, and I am going to be having allergy shots to treat that. I also found out that my hypermobile joints have probably been the source of many problems. I don’t have as much stability built in as somebody with normal joints. So I’ve been doing physical therapy with a specialist in hypermobility syndrome.

Physical therapy has done great things for me. My posture is better, I’m stronger, my endurance has improved, I feel lighter on my feet. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in my whole life. However…

I still have shoulder and upper back pain.

So, after quite a bit of research, thought, and consulting with my doctor and physical therapist, I’ve come to the inevitable conclusion- that the size of my chest is a big contributor to my upper back problems, and that a breast reduction might help me a great deal.

I know that this might be very surprising to many of you. I did not come to this decision lightly. I’ve tried so many different things over many years to fix my problems. I haven’t ever had general anesthesia before, and I’m terrified of surgery. But at this point, realizing that it’s likely that one simple surgery and a few weeks’ rest will permanently fix my problems is a huge relief.

I will still be an unusual bra size- no surgery I know of could substantially change my ribcage size, (and most people who are what is considered a “healthy” BMI have correctly fitting band sizes under 32, anyway) so you needn’t fear that I won’t be able to discuss bras and clothing as I always have. If anything, my ability to do so will have improved- I’ve outgrown most clothing companies at this point, even large-bust-friendly ones.

I’m hoping that in writing about this process from the perspective of somebody who understands proper bra fitting, I will be able to provide useful information to others who might be considering this choice.

I’ll be writing quite a bit more about the factors that led me to decide this was the right choice for me, so stay tuned.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Hello again!

It's me, Laura. I know. Not Brittany. I promise, she's alive and well! She's usually the one who posts the interesting articles & such through our Facebook page. I still have not locked her in a closet, promise. It's hard to imprison someone when you literally live on the other side of a giant country from them, strangely enough.

It's difficult to blog when you don't have a whole lot to say. I wear Kris Line bras pretty much exclusively these days, find them to be incredibly consistent in sizing and quality, and haven't kept up with what other brands are doing. I felt like I covered that in the last update, so for the sake of not being repetitive, I didn't feel the need to review each bra in detail.

The one exception to my Kris Line collection is a Curvy Kate Luxe strapless in 34H, which predictably is too small in the cups but is the most comfortable strapless bra I've had in a long time. I needed to buy it for its convertible straps, since my bridesmaid dress didn't cover as much of my shoulders as I thought it would. While the quad boob is definitely real, it's not noticeable at all under the dresses I've worn it for and it gives a lovely round shape. It gets uncomfortable after several hours, but what strapless bra doesn't?

If you want really cute swimwear that can technically fit your big boobs but doesn't provide underwire support (i.e., if you want to go lay out and/or simply be fashionable, as opposed to swimming laps and playing volleyball), check out Rue 107. They have some really adorable designs. Even if their tops don't fit or you don't want to take the chance, you can buy a pair of bottoms! They make sizes 2-24, so they're inclusive of a lot of customers.

That's about it from me, for now. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and is excited about the year to come!