I'm a Surwor!

Before the day of surgery, I was told by many to bring a snap/button shirt. You just can't wrangle into a regular shirt after a double mastectomy. (I guess you could if you had to, but why do that?!) They were all right! I brought one (the only one I owned) along with me and it worked fine. I also purchased three others from Goodwill so I'd have a few others to use while my arm mobility was limited.

Problem is: I'm not as much of a fan of snap/button-up shirts as others may be. For whatever reason, my shirts are 95% pullover shirts. Including short sleeved shirts.

Enter another survivor's blog. Thanks to Jo already having been through her surgery, she found a creative way to make it look like she was wearing a pullover shirt even though she wasn't! Jo is awesome and inspiring - in so many ways. She's also crafty and I'm SO glad I read the particular blog about re-engineering shirts right before surgery. Check it out below or on Jo's blog entry about "mastectomy style":

Step 1: Take any shirt you're willing to forever alter. Use scissors to cut the back side of it vertically - all the way from the bottom hem to the neckline.

Step 2: Using your choice of fasteners (buttons, velcro, safety pins), apply in several places along the back side - enough to keep the shirt on you. 

Mom and Sandy chose to use sticky velcro.
Worked like a charm (but does not survive washing, fyi).

We applied thee velcro down from the neck a bit
so it wouldn't be too tight around my neck.

Step 3: Have someone help you get on and fasten your shirt and you're nearly ready. Just don't forget a shirt or hoodie to go over the craft project. (Espeically if you have nonsense words on the back like mine.)

Enough velcro to make the shirt stay on.
But not too close to the bottom hem for comfort when sitting down.
Anything pulling on my drain grenades = not cool.
Who knew I'd be a BC Surwor?  :)