About Town: Mastectomy boutique helps women cope with breast cancer

Denise Bolin wants women to know that a breast cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence, and life goes on after a mastectomy.

"They don't have to struggle in the morning getting dressed," said Bolin, owner of Profiles mastectomy boutique, which recently moved to a new, larger space at Beaufort Town Center on Boundary Street.

"I want people to be able to feel good about their body," she said. "They're alive; they can get dressed and enjoy the day."

Bolin sells everything from mastectomy bras and prosthetics to compression sleeves, swimsuits and wigs -- "basically anything a woman would need once she heard the words, 'You've been diagnosed with breast cancer,' " she said.

A registered nurse first assistant with 20 years of plastic-surgery training, Bolin is also a certified mastectomy fitter. The combination of skills makes her trustworthy to many patients who buy from the boutique, she said.

"My main thing is to educate," Bolin said, particularly with new customers still struggling to understand how to cope with the disease. "Truly, they have a ton of questions. ... I'll spend an hour with patients, giving them information to make an informed decision."

Profiles is the only store of its kind that Bolin knows of in the Lowcountry, and it draws women from Charleston, Savannah and beyond. She tried to create an upscale, eclectic atmosphere in the boutique to contrast the sterility of other supply outlets.

"That was my initial fear, that women wouldn't come to Beaufort to see me," Bolin said. "Women are coming from everywhere because they can get what they need here. I can talk intelligently to them, and they just feel comfortable. My women, before they even get in the door sometimes, they're unbuttoning their shirt."

The boutique is a product of Bolin's personal reinvention, from a registered nurse commuting several times a week to operating rooms in Atlanta to a business owner pursuing her passion.

"To start a new business or expand in a recession, you're sweating bullets hoping that things will go well," Bolin said. "So far, I've been very blessed. I'm happy. There's so much opportunity here with what I'm doing."

OTHER BUSINESSES

Other recent business openings, closings and changes in the area:

• Happy's, a sandwich shop on Robert Smalls Parkway owned by Rachel and Cle Daniels, has launched a Web site, www.happyshomemade.com.

The site is a way for customers to order Happy's homemade cookies and have them shipped nationwide.

WHAT IS ABOUT TOWN?

As you drive around northern Beaufort County, you notice a sign for a new shop, new construction or road work. Or you realize that an old store you once frequented has gone out of business. About Town answers the question, "What's going on here?"

If you have information about something that has changed the local landscape or if you wonder about one of those changes and would like us to tell you more about it, contact reporter Marti Covington at mcovington@beaufortgazette.com or 843-706-8147.