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First Posted: 10/18/2013 Released from the hospital with no breasts, endless stitches, and drains attached to her, Maria Heck remembers she wasn&#8217;t in horrible pain, but she was uncomfortable.
In 2009, after losing her mother to cancer had heightened an alertness concerning her own health, Heck found a lump the size of a pencil eraser under her arm. It was breast cancer. With her family in mind, she fearlessly opted to have a double mastectomy.
&#8220;It was a no-brainer,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t give it much thought, to be honest. I just never wanted to think about breast cancer ever again. The double mastectomy bought me that peace of mind.
&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t into a pity party,&#8221; Heck continued. &#8220;I just wanted to &#8216;get &#8216;er done&#8217; and get back to my life.&#8221;
She was wheeled from the hospital to the car, driven by her sister, where she fastened her seatbelt over her still tender chest. Heck said she saw white as she was hit like a ton of bricks with a sharp and crushing pain.
She and her sister fussed with a pillow to alleviate the pressure sliding it under the seatbelt in efforts to make her more comfortable, but it didn&#8217;t do much. She felt like she was suffocating, she said.
After months of searching for something to make a car ride more comfortable led to nothing, the seed was planted. Maria Heck was motivated by personal experience to create a product designed for women who have had breast cancer and have had mastectomies, biopsies, or breast reconstruction procedures causing them to undergo treatments lasting up to 12 months. The once unruly pillow that sat between her chest and the seatbelt that day has been replaced, by her own helping hand, with The Breast Buddy TM.
Discreet, sleek, soft, and available in a variety of colors, The Breast Buddy TM, cocoons around a seatbelt fastened by Velcro to cushion the delicate area of a surgical site making the emotional, empowering, and victorious post-surgical ride and every ride after more comfortable for a breast cancer patient.
Heck&#8217;s invention started at the needle of her own sewing machine. With the help of her usual seamstress, Heck spent two years fiddling with different materials, fillings, sizes and shapes. When satisfied with her product&#8217;s design, she decided that long-term, she would need more assistance and hired another seamstress making it possible to pump out a Breast Buddy every week since March 2013.
The word of mouth response to this thoughtful and practical invention by breast cancer websites, foundations, gift shops, cancer support groups, oncologists, and surgeons has been explosive, Heck said.
Local plastic surgeon, Dr. Anthony Bruno, Jr, has expressed his belief that The Breast Buddy TM has a viable and lucrative market giving her all the more incentive to roll ahead. &#8220;If plastic surgeons think a product has veracity,&#8221; she joked, &#8220;you know you aren&#8217;t crazy!&#8221;
Heck also uses the internet and social media to market The Breast Buddy as its buzz hums louder with a website: Thebreastbuddy.com, a Facebook page: Facebook.com/thebreastbuddy, and a shop on the popular seller&#8217;s website: Etsy.com.
The month of October is used to stress the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness. The public is encouraged to sympathize with the diagnosed, pay respect to the lost, support the families of those affected, and honor the survivors. But nothing compares to the inspiration that can come from first-hand experience.
&#8220;I wish I could put a Breast Buddy in the hands of every breast cancer patient,&#8221; Heck says. &#8220;Every single one.

A problem close to her heart