Your Stories

“The woman in my life had cancer surgery last Monday. Before leaving for the hospital, we made sure to pack the Shortee she received as a Christmas present, so that she’d have something comfortable to wear home, that was easy to put on and take off. Following surgery and recovery, the Shortee went on, and did not come off for three days! She slept with it, sat up in bed with it, and went for short walks around the house with it. It has become the equivalent of her personal security blanket. It has since been washed (thankfully), yet she’s wearing it again, as it gives her the comfort she’s desperate for while she’s working through the post-surgical pain. I knew when I ordered many of your products this Christmas season that they would be a hit. What I didn't expect was for them to be irreplaceable. Thank you so very much for everything. You can count on me as a customer, for all the right reasons.”

“Before my first chemo treatment I had a hundred questions. Among those that didn’t get asked was, “What does one wear?” I ended up going with sweats and a big T-shirt for comfort, and, if I do say so myself, I looked a bit like a seven-year-old at her first dental appointment. The comfort piece was only marginal -- the waistband was too tight, the shirt too cold, and ports not very accessible. These are not bits of information that had come hard wired with my innate fashion sensibilities.

That treatment brought me to my knees. For four days I couldn’t walk more than a block without feeling like I would pass out. I expected tough. I just didn’t know what kind of tough to expect, and I wasn’t ready.

A week later, for the second chemo treatment, I wanted to wear an evening gown, complete with spike heels and a killer little Gucci clutch bag. I wanted Cancer to know “I’m coming out big today, baby, so take notice. Me and chemo are working together now, and we are a force to be reckoned with . . . you’ll be wanting to stand down.”

I think it comes out of my friend Denise’s wise advice “If you’re feeling insecure, overdress.” This advice has never failed me. Only, I don’t really own an evening gown and I couldn’t picture one that would satisfy the comfort and accessibility requirements for chemo, so I resigned my self to holding a mental image of the ‘evening gown warrior’.

This is where this amazing Janska line of clothing comes in. A pair of black Gaucho Pants, a French Blue Pocket Cape with matching MocSocks and I looked like I was ready to dance that cancer right out of my life. Step one: Attitude.

Now let’s talk comfort... I do not understand the technology that allows a waistband to hold pants comfortably up yet expand for 2.5 liters of intraperitaneal chemotherapy without feeling tight. I simply love the technology. The clothes are not only supremely comfortable, they are comforting. And accessible? It’s almost embarrassing it’s so easy. Another handy feature? Not to worry in my Janska evening gown that I get nosebleeds so easily now — I clean up nicely too.

So you can picture this if you want, I know I looked pale plugged into IP and IV chemo, but I know I looked beautiful in my Janska Chemo Dancewear as I waltzed with my IV tree down the hallway at the chemo center. We’ll be waltzing this cancer right outta’ my hair . . . and doing it in style. (Then growing the hair back!)”