Our Story

Hi! I'm Ellie. For the past several years I have been working as a clinic nurse in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Never in a million years did I think my nursing career would bring me to plastics, but sometimes doors open and we step through on faith trusting the process that will unfold.

What I did not know about this surgical specality when I started was that many of our patients would be women going through various stages of breast reconstruction following mastectomy surgery.

During our nurse run clinics, I got the chance to see hundreds of women during their post-op visits. I would assess their skin, fill their tissue expanders, or remove some sutures or drains. During these visits, there was also a lot of time for chatting. We would talk about life, their kids, grandkids, or pets, happenings of their weekend, or recovery battles they were fighting. When they would return week after week for more visits, our conversations evolved and it truly became one of the highlights of my job.

Throughout the years during these conversations I heard a lot about products that were helpful to these women during their mastectomy recovery. A drain holding bag, a pillow to make a seatbelt more tolerable, extra wound supplies to have at home, etc. Many of these products were not intuitive (even to me) and the amount of times I heard “I wish I knew about this product before my surgery” was too many to count.

Thus, Mended Wing Recovery was born. Our goal from day one was to be a resource for women to recover in confidence! Mended Wing Recovery offers products, education, and community to help do just that. 

Each product in our box has been carefully considered and recommended by former mastectomy patients. Our First Six Weeks recovery timeline was generated after my practice as a nurse in assisting hundreds of women in clinic on their recovery journeys and learning from their experiences. And finally, our Friends of the Feather page allows women who have completed their recovery journeys to reflect and share their learned experience with others. 

We hope Mended Wing Recovery is a useful tool that provides comfort by building confidence as you complete this unique recovery journey. Many thanks to those who have supported me on this ride, especially my partner in life and in this endeavor, Mike.