Retail therapy

Decided that I needed to update the underwear stock today. Not to add anything lacy and pretty, you understand... but the existing basic sports bras that I have been using are nowhere near new, and have a number of seams that chafe in places that I would really rather not. At the moment I am surviving with a dressing tucked in between the scar and the bra, which is less than ideal as it tends to escape. The wound left after the surgery starts right up in my armpit, goes down until it's level with the nipple, where it goes horizontally across the side of the boob and does a quick loop all the way around the nipple. So there's plenty of scar to chafe. However, everything in that whole area is a bit battered and bruised, and does need to be supported all the time, and the Lovely Breast Care Nurses are adamant that a firm bra is to be worn night and day.
So, in a moment of genius (or so I thought) I remembered the concept of the "sleep bra". Now, up until this last bout of being cut up I haven't been the kind of girl who wears a bra in bed... well, not for more than a few minutes anyway. But many years ago when I was a young new mum I discovered that you could buy a really soft bra designed to give support to heavy boobs during the night. So, to the consternation of DH I marched into Mothercare this afternoon.
It took me ages to find what I wanted, but eventually I ended up in the changing room with one of the sleep bras, a nursing bra and a "firm support pregnancy bra".
The sleep bra didn't come with any seams - nor did it come with any fastenings, it's more of a supportive boob tube than a bra - it was a struggle to get it on with my arm in its current state, and once in place it performed very little useful function. It would have been better in a smaller size but I would never have got it on - it might all have worked better if my arm had been a bit more flexible than it is but I am working against a challenge in that department which the average new mum doesn't have to face.
The nursing bra has an elastic strap which links the end of the shoulder strap to the bit that goes under the boob - designed to hold it all in place while removing most of the cup for access purposes. This strap just happened to land on a stitch in my case, but was going to chafe anyway.
The pregnancy bra was just like any other bra... with a lovely stiff seam between the edge of the cup and the side. This seam just happens to be on top of the wound under my arm. Not close to it, right on top of it - even trying it on for a few seconds was uncomfortable.
I decided that the maternity section was a lost cause, so extracted myself from the shop with some speed. I don't particularly want any more kids at this stage in my life, but being surrounded by maternity dresses and baby clothes was rubbing my nose in the forcible ending of my fertility just a bit too much.

Next stop was the department store next door, where there was a large array of sports bras. Trouble was they all seemed to be for ladies who are much more blessed in this area than I have ever been... I couldn't find anything smaller than an E cup! So I decided to ask the nice ladies (who were scarily young) for advice. I outlined the problem and they came up with a couple of possibilities, plus their variant on the "nursing bra" theme.
I toddled off to the changing room with instructions to "give me a call when you're ready and I will check the fit". Item one was a soft moulded cup t-shirt bra - no seams at all in the cup, lovely - but that all-important seam under the arm was there - and this one seemed to have some kind of boning to hold it firm. I suspect it might have been the most comfortable bra I ever wore, if it hadn't have been for that seam which was - you guessed it - right on top of the scar. Bugger. The next one was very similar, slightly softer cup with the seam in exactly the same place. Last option was the nursing bra. This looked like a good bet, as instead of the elastic strap there was an inner cup made of soft cotton, with a large hole over the nipple. Good attempt but the inner cup tended to move about rather, and the edge of the nipple hole (which was overlocked) managed to catch some part of the scar whatever I did.

So, I had tried on six different bras, and every single one had a big fat seam right on top of the scar. I am sure that I can't be the only person who has a scar like this, so surely there must be a solution. The only avenue left now is to go to a specialist mastectomy bra shop, which looks like Monday's entertainment.
I wonder if it's possible for the surgeons to move the incision a bit further back so that it's not directly under the main seam on every bra on the planet? I don't suppose that too many breast surgeons have ever experienced this challenge!
After dutifully following me around the shops for an ultimately unsuccessful session of retail therapy, I thought that DH needed a bit of a treat, so we took a swift visit to the power tool section of a local emporium to look at drills. He claims to need such a thing for work... a likely story. Said emporium happens to be next door to a bike shop where a good friend of ours happens to be the sales manager, so we popped in to say hello - would have been rude not to. And there in the showroom is this Ducati SS600, red and shiny and at a very interesting price. I didn't let DH sit in "the chair" next to the sales desk - but I suspect that I might be in trouble...