I will admit, one of the first things I did when I found out I was going to need a mastectomy was search for what type of bathing suits were out there.  This was before I knew anything about surgery or reconstruction.

Turns out there are quite a few post mastectomy bathing suits available, but I don’t need any of them.  Honestly, I could wear a bikini and you wouldn’t be able to tell I had surgery.  (Not that I’m going to do that, but you get my point.)  I am very thankful for the plastic surgery options that are available.

Last year, because of radiation, I just bought a couple rash guards to wear to swim in.  So the swimsuit dilemma didn’t hit until this year.

This year, for some reason, I felt this huge need to hide my port because it looks really noticeable to me and I think it looks funny.  So I went on the quest for the perfect bathing suit.  Ugh!  I was looking for one that not only hid my port, but something black or gray, wasn’t low cut and preferably had a some sort of cute skirt on it…all while not looking like an old lady bathing suit.

After about $500, lots of laughs while trying suits on, and tons of returns to amazon, I finally ended up with this one that fits all of those requirements and was relatively inexpensive!  Hooray!

The skirt is actually a tennis skirt with ruffles and the top is a workout shirt with cute double straps in the back.  I gave up shopping for actual bathing suits after buying and returning so many!  But hey – it works and I’m happy with it.  I think Tom might have thought I was a bit crazy…but I’m thankful for his input.  And our oldest daughter was home for a lot of the laughter as I tried some pretty hilarious looking ones on.

I don’t know why this was such a big deal to me this year, but it was.  Now I’m ready to enjoy the lake with the girls.