Medical Reports: Bra For Breast Cancer

WSVN -- Kim Haley knows the ugliness of breast cancer so after she beat it, she wanted to make something pretty to bring comfort to other women facing the horrible disease.

Kim Haley: "You just want to make someone have it a little bit better."

What Kim wanted to make better is something every breast cancer patient needs after surgery, a compression bra. She hated the bra she was sent home with after having a lumpectomy.

Kim Haley: "The velcro was totally uncomfortable. It scratched, it totally dug into you. When I rolled over it hurt. It was just miserable. I wanted to give comfort and dignity to other women."

Kim set out to make a compression bra that was not only comfortable but attractive. She designed the Medebra after talking with surgeons and breast cancer patients for two years.

Dr. Robert Donoway: "Patients are probably the best inventors. They come back to you and tell you what worked and what didn't."

Kim thought of everything down to the label.

Kim Haley: "When you're sick, even a label is maximum to you as far as discomfort, so I put it on the outside of the garment. The other thing about our product, we don't have any seams. If you look at every other compression bar in the market, they have a seam, right where you lay."

The Medebra looks like a sports bra, but it has velcro straps so it's easy for patients to take on and off.

Kim Haley: "The velcro is sewn so there is an eighth of an inch around all the velcro, so there is no skin contact with the velcro. What we have found out is a lot of the women who have had chemo, the bra straps would dig into the port area. This actually gives a padding right over the port area."

Kim also created a safety feature on the bra for women after surgery.

Kim Haley: "We have made a place, so there is some place to put the drainage bags. Before there was no place, they would pin them. The safety pin could pop and stick them."

Dr. Robert Donowa: "Now we have the opportunity to actually use something that patients will actually benefit from personally when they leave the hospital."

Sonia convery recently went through a mastectomy and used the Medebra.

Sonia Convery: "Other compression bras that doctors had given me were ill-fitting, so I was getting scratched by the velcro pieces. So the Medebra was really soft and comfortable and well-made."

The 45-year-old says wearing something pretty made her tough journey easier.

Sonia Convery: "I felt more like a person when I was wearing the Medebra, rather than a patient."

Which is exactly what Kim wants for all patients facing breast cancer.

Kim Haley: "A very good friend of mine said 'Why did you put the heart on there?' It's like a piece of my heart is in this. A lot of times you feel so alone, and if you know someone has their heart with you, you can make it through better."

Alexis Rivera: "The Medebra can be used for all types of breast surgeries and is made for women and men."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Kim Haley / Medebra / Survivor/ Owner
(904) 708-9222
www.medebra.com

MedePort/MedEx
1399 SE 17 Street Causeway
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
954-707-6323
Free Delivery

Cleveland Clinic Weston
3100 Weston Road
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33331
(In Pharmacy)
954-689-5207

Broward General Medical Center
1600 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
( Volunteer Run Gift Shop)

Medical Plaza Pharmacy
201 NW 82 Avenue, Suite 100
Plantation, FL 33324
954-474-3887

Boca Medical Supply
648 Glades Road
Boca Raton,FL 33431
Elaine English
561-368-7430