A woman with breast cancer has created an accessible clothing line for other patients who are undergoing chemotherapy.
Alexia Baron, who was diagnosed with the disease in March 2020, underwent a double mastectomy and 18 sessions of chemotherapy.
After struggling to find accessible clothing to wear during her own treatment, she set up a company which makes tracksuits with zips, pockets and holes to make inserting a chemotherapy port easier and more comfortable.
A port is a small implant with a thin silicone tube that attaches to a vein to administer chemotherapy treatment without a needle.
The brand, Porto & Bello, also makes clothing for patients who require IV treatments or PICC – a long, thin tube that is inserted through a vein in the arm.
Baron founded the brand after she had a port placed to the left of her chest.
“I remember my nurse asked me to name my port and I named it Portobello. I know it sounds silly, but it took away some of the anxiety of the treatment,” Baron said.
“I was about to start treatment and had a port placed to the left side of my chest. I knew that meant I needed access to my chest at all time.”
Baron said that when she first started treatment, she would sit with her T-shirt around her neck, with her chest exposed.
“I also had a cold cap on my head, and I was freezing cold. We looked everywhere to find some clothing to make me more comfortable, but we couldn’t find anything,” Baron said.
“You lose a lot of yourself going through cancer treatment, and I just wanted to feel a bit more myself.”
Baron said she felt inspired to create the clothing line because “we cannot treat people who are going through cancer as patients”.
“They need to be seen as humans. They should feel comfortable in going from the treatment to work, picking their kids up or board a bus and not feel like a science experiment,” Baron said.
Since the launch of Porto & Bello in April this year, it has served a wide range of customers, including those who are undergoing treatment for kidney dialysis, Crohn’s disease and sepsis. The brand currently sells a range of tracksuits in pink, grey and black.
