Comfort in a trying time
Katie Hoisington and Berta Ballmes, the "Holy Tear-ers," tear strips for binding aprons during a Bag and Boob Babes sew day. Bag and Boob Babes is a nonprofit that offers comfort items for women going through breast cancer.
Courtesy photo
Volunteers from the local nonprofit Bag and Boob Babes create items including drain bags and "Knitted Knockers" to provide comfort for women going through breast cancer. The items are all donated and made with love and prayers.
The journey through breast cancer doesn't have to be uncomfortable at every turn.
The nonprofit cancer awareness group Bag and Boob Babes exists solely to make those life-altering journeys less painful.
The name "Bag and Boob Babes" says it all — volunteers sew colorful drain bags for patients to use as they recover from surgeries; they knit "Knitted Knockers," handmade breast prosthesis for women who have undergone mastectomies or other breast procedures; and it's a group of women with a passion for helping women going through breast cancer.
"Even though I've not had breast cancer, my compassion runs deep for the courageous women who are blind-sided by a diagnosis and feel like a deer in the headlights," said Sheila Wayman, coordinator of the Bag and Boob Babes Too group in North Idaho. "I sincerely want them to have our comfort items to ease their breast cancer journey."
Bag and Boob Babes, Inc. was founded in 2012 in Mesa, Ariz., by Marilyn Reed and Kay Foley. The mission is "women helping women through difficult times."
Along with the knockers and drain bags, the babes of Bag and Boob Babes also sew drain aprons, chemo caps and eye masks.
A testimony Wayman shared paints a picture of how powerful these loving gifts can be in hard times.
"I received two pillows, a ribbon and a drain holder apron from you, and I cried for so many reasons," one recipient wrote.
"I cried because someone understood exactly what the need was and met it while I'm walking into this mastectomy a little bit in the dark," she wrote. "And I cried because the fabric was so soft and I knew I would find comfort in that in my most uncomfortable moments. I cried because the fabric was turquoise, my favorite, a color that makes me feel like me."
Wayman wants to get the message out about Bag and Boob Babes.
"I'm learning that people in Kootenai County and the surrounding area don't know we exist," she said. "They then go through their breast cancer journey without our comfort items, which makes me sad. I so want everyone who needs any of our items to have them."
Bag and Boob Babe products are made locally and lovingly by volunteers. Their items have gone to clinics in the Inland Northwest as well as individuals nationwide.
Info: www.bagandboobbabes.com, bagandboobbabestoo@gmail.com
