Milton woman designs bras for others with breast cancer

MILTON, Wisc. (WMTV) - A 33-year-old breast cancer survivor is hoping to support other women facing the same battle she once did. Lina Owen, of Milton, is designing her own line of bras. They are specifically made for mastectomy and reconstruction recovery.

The idea came from her own personal experience with breast cancer. She was diagnosed in 2017, at just 30-years-old. “It was a very, very tough situation… I was diagnosed with a very rare type of cancer. It’s called triple negative breast cancer,” says Owen.

She had also just given birth to her second child. “Obviously that is a terrifying diagnosis when you have a 2.5 month old baby.” Owen describes the next few months as a whirlwind. “Chemotherapy for 6 months, and then in January of 2018 that’s when I had my double mastectomy.”

Lina’s recovery from surgery and her reconstruction process, were not easy. “For the first 5 weeks I was miserable. I was in pain, I lost mobility of my arms, I was constantly in pain.”

One detail she remembers keenly is the discomfort of the bras provided by her doctor. “I found that the bras that they were giving me at the doctor we’re horrible.” Lina says they were not only uncomfortable, but not flattering or feminine. “I was always wearing like really high tops, because I didn’t want the bras showing.”

That experience is what inspired her, now cancer free, to make her own line of bras. It’s called BlueBelle Underwear.

She created a bra for reconstruction that stretches during the tissue expansion process. She also made one for post-reconstruction that is wireless, soft and feminine. “I wish that I would have had this when I was going through all of that.”

Lina says part of her company’s mission is also to promote early detection. She lost her mother and 4 aunts to breast cancer. She says had it not been for catching it early, she may not have been so lucky. Her sister is also a survivor, diagnosed just 3 months after she was.