Awesome Breast forms are changing lives for women with cancer

We at Russell’s Adventures desire to be a place of connecting for the world. We want to help people connect with services, products and experiences which will positively impact their lives. Life is hard and I have enough life experience to know it is often more who you know, than what  you know. Giving others an opportunity to gift others with love, dignity, support and encouragement. Especially when people are walking what literally feels like the road to hell. If we can make the road even a little easier, it is our hearts desire.

I recently discovered a free product offering dignity, beauty and comfortability to women with mastectomies. A few weeks ago my friend Katrina Rapp who has a business called  Rapped with Love posted about something called Awesome Breast forms. Being a writer and blogger, I was curious and I knew I had to find out more about what she was doing.

God has given Katrina a passion and talent for not only knitting beautiful creations, but she is constantly allowing God to use her to be a blessing to those around her. The items she pulls off of her needles are soft and beautiful. She has used this gift to be a blessing to the women who receive the awesome breastforms.

To be one of the knitters who blesses women with these forms, Katrina had to go through an application and interview process. Once she was chosen she had to be willing to be mentored by one of the companies knitting mentors (they also have crocheters). These knitting mentors know these forms inside and out. They know what fit will be the most comfortable and they will not send out a product that is not perfect. Before she could ship the newly crafted form to the new recipient it had be critiqued and she had to prepared to change the breast form if it did not comply with companies high standards. She even had to be ready to possibly completely redo the whole form. She needed to put her pride and ego aside for the comfort of the woman who would wear them.

 

While the breast forms are free, they are not free to make and are sponsored with love by each of the knitters. These precious knitters give of their time and they purchase the specific yarn, the required business cards, shipping boxes and the fee to ship the items out. Knitters like Katrina are asked to purchase and use very specific yarn to give the women who wear them the best comfortability possible. Many of the women who will receive these forms have had very painful physically, mentally and emotionally scaring surgeries. The forms must be soft and comfortable to give them maximum wearability.

I talked with Laura Fisher, who is the Executive Director for Awesome Breastforms. She told me it started as a collaboration between friends in May of 2015. The real inspiration of the company came from Heather Goodes who is another Director of the company. She is literally the heart and soul of AB. She is a two time breast cancer survivor and completely wonderful. Laurel said, she taught me everything I know about BC — way more than I ever imagined possible.

AB as the women call it has gifted over 5800 women with dignity and beauty through the hard work of the knitters who create these soft, comfortable and free forms. Knitters also make custom forms for women who have had developmental complications, explant surgeries or reconstructions that didn’t go as expected.

If you or someone you know would be blessed by one of these Awesome Breast forms you can find more information on their website here. On the website you will find applications for both knitters who want to bless women with their skills and also for women who want to apply for a form.

 

No woman who is in need of a form is ever turned away. If you would like another perspective on Awesome Breast forms you can visit Always…Velvet, a blogger who shares her journey of being a knitter for AB. If you want to contribute to this company like I do, but do not have knitting skills there is still an opportunity to give. You can help purchase yarn and other supplies need to continue to make these free to these amazing cancer survivors. You can find their wish list on Amazon here.

I want to thank the knitters like my friend Katrina who are making a real, physical difference in the lives of woman. Thank you for giving of your time, energy and resources. You are a blessing and the true heart of this company.