Watching her mother's cancer battle inspired this UC alumna to make a clothing line for survivors

When Ann Elizabeth Sullivan went into surgery to have a tumor removed from her breast, her doctor predicted it would be fast and non-invasive. Eight hours later, she came off the table minus one breast and 28 lymph nodes, a surgical drain implanted in one side to collect fluid accumulating where her tumor had been.  She was bald, weak and uncomfortable, she said -- and the only clothes that could accommodate her new attachment were bath robes and men's button-up shirts. Her husband had to help her wrap up the tubes and pin them to the inside of the garments. "I felt ill; I didn't feel like myself," Sullivan said. "I had tons of bandages, and it was just a very uncomfortable time. … Even 15 years out, it's that fresh in my mind." While Sullivan was struggling through a difficult recovery, her 9-year-old daughter was watching. Megan Sullivan knew when she was accepted into the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning that she wanted to do something to help breast cancer survivors who returned home from the hospital and discovered their old clothes weren't made for their post-surgical bodies.  "I wanted to know that the things I was designing were making a difference in society or filling some need," she said. "My mom having gone through (breast cancer), there was no other, better fit for me for something that hit so close to home." Her fashion line, With Grace B. Bold, was financed via Kickstarter and designed with the wearer's convenience in mind. The first garment, a wrap shirt with a draped cowl neck and built-in drain pocket, is named the Ann Elizabeth after her mother. The second, the Eileen, omits the drain pocket but retains its graceful drape and ease of use. It's ready to go with a tie of one bow and a snap of one button, and the wearer doesn't have to pull anything over their head.