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Press
Release - Courtesy of R Magazine
 It
came as a complete shock I when I was told that I had I breast
cancer," the local mother of two from Thrapston reveals.
"But I never once thought I was going to die or questioned
'why me?' I just thought 'well, this is the card I've been dealt,
so let's get on with it." Thankfully Carol went on to make
a successful recovery. However, she soon discovered how difficult
it was for women who had had a mastectomy to find suitable lingerie.
1 found buying underwear so upsetting because I'd be looking
at all the pretty, lacy stuff that I thought I couldn't wear
anymore,' she recalls, "I was also shocked by peoples attitudes
towards mastectomy's. I walked out of shops because the staff
just didn't know how to cope with it. I didn't want people to
feel sorry for me, but I did expect some compassion."
Frustrated
by the lack of suitable lingerie, Carol decided to set up her
own lingerie business, adapting ready-made bras especially for
women that have had mastectomies. After retraining in bra fitting
at Leicester University, Carol enlisted the support of a top
lingerie manufacturer and used client referrals from local breast
cancer units to set up her own business from home.
Specialising in pretty underwear and especially adapted mastectomy
bras; Joli Lingerie aims to help breast cancer sufferer's look
and feel sexy and feminine again. "Just because you've
had a mastectomy it doesn't mean that you're less feminine.
The lingerie we sell is intended to give our clients a real
physical and psychological boost,' says Carol.
Newly launched in May this year, Joli Lingerie is currently
one of the few mastectomy specialists on the market. Carol's
clients travel from all over the UK to visit her studio based
in Thrapston. It's a very relaxed environment. Husbands can
come along and have a cup of coffee whilst ladies can come and
have a browse, try on the different ranges and have a chat.
I'm already getting clients from May phoning to enquire about
the new ranges. It's very rewarding knowing that they're happy
and want to come again and it's a thrill being able to help
them."
Carol reveals that lots of her clients draw comfort from the
fact she has been through a mastectomy herself and often visit
or call just lor someone to talk to. 'The breast care nurses
within the NHS and private schemes are fantastic, but I think
it really helps to talk to someone that's actually been through
the same experience as you. Once clients realise that I've actually
had a mastectomy, it realty reassures them and opens them up
to talk about their own experiences. I've had lots of touching
calls from clients as far afield as Northern Ireland saying
'good for you, it's been a long time coming.' But, of course,
the most satisfying part is seeing clients go away feeling good
about themselves again."
A keen supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness, Carol is an active
fundraiser and regularly gives talks to breast cancer patients
at local hospitals and surgeries. Whilst she finds it rewarding
to be able to give something back to the causes that have helped
her and thousands of others, she emphasises that much more awareness
needs to be raised about the fact that Breast Cancer isn't just
a disease that affects older women. A fact that she is only
too keenly aware of having lost a friend at 30 through Breast
Cancer and then contracting it herself when she was only 36.
"Breast Cancer Awareness month is fantastic for creating
awareness in that it perhaps makes people check themselves more
often than they would normally. But I would say to anyone, whatever
your age, be vigilant, don't think 'it will never happen to
me' because breast cancer doesn't discriminate against anybody
and you could be that person, whether you've got a history of
it in your family or not."
Four years on - happy, healthy and successful, Carol views her
personal experience of breast cancer-as a valuable learning
experience. "The first 12 months after I was diagnosed
were horrendous. I later realised that cancer was the best thing
to happen to me because it made me a stronger person and made
me turn what could have been quite a negative experience into
something very positive.
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2004 (Joli Lingerie) All Rights Reserved
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