Tag Archives: in petto

Foobs

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I don’t like selfies – the self-absorption and self-obsession and megalomania behind them – and I don’t like photos of myself. Also, if people knew how stupid they look while making selfies, they would not be making them. But in this case, I thought one was justified.

I had been to Hempel’s In Petto in Steglitz (“Fachgeschäft für Brustprothetik”) to pick up my sickness-insurance-sponsored foobs, as we say in our circles (yes, despite thinking it is a bad signal to send, that we don’t need fake boobs to feel like real women, and all that, and that you can find clothes that one way or another camouflage the “beyond-flat” concavities a bit). My excuse for getting them anyway: There are days where I just want to go out in the world and look “normal” and not make statements all the time – at least not about breast cancer and mastectomies. Besides, some clothes simply “hang” better with a bit of a bulge.

I then went clothes shopping, and soon came across the sweater in the photo. It is difficult to see, but the word on it is “Illusion”, so I had to have it. A sweater with the word “Illusion” smeared across the chest sporting the new foobs is a fitting tribute to my spinelessness 😊.

PS: I have only worn them once, am not really planning on wearing them a lot at all, and certainly did not bother to bring them along to my temporary residence in Köpenick. I am even avoiding – and have instead thrown out some – the clothes in question which I feel show off the concavities too much. Breast prosthesis, and the type of bra they require, are just too bothersome, time consuming and uncomfortable.

A.k.a. foobs

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EDIT AFTER the event was supposed to have taken place: When I got there, there was a sign on the door saying that the shop was closed today. I guess they just “forgot” to cancel my appointment. A wasted trip to Friedenau – thanks in petto berlin. So now I can continue the debate with myself, and include the question whether I can be bothered to try again. Astonishingly, considering the increasing number of women diagnosed with breast cancer, they are the only place in Berlin who offer this kind of service (there is also a branch in Mitte, but they are even more unprofessional. Perhaps most women opt for reconstruction, or make do with other bits of “padding” which I have been doing up to now.

ORIGINAL POST:

So. I am doing it. Getting prostheses. I have an appointment today with someone at in petto berlin for measurements.

I have been debating with myself not only whether I could be bothered, but also whether it would be hypocritical and go against everything I have been preaching. “We don’t need fake boobs in order to feel like real women”, and various other bullshit. (I have previously explained why I decided against reconstruction, and that was one of the reasons although in that context a minor consideration).

The thing is, after a radical mastectomy, you are actually beyond flat in a way. So much has been removed that you get a kind of scooped-out look, and in some clothes I notice it every time I pass a mirror or window, and I see others noticing it too, and there are just days where I do not feel like rocking that look and would like a bit more of a silhouette that goes outwards rather than inwards.

Conditioning, conformity, convention …. I know, but it might be nice to have the choice, depending on mood and choice of clothes.