Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought these in July but I never got around to using them until Halloween, when my shower pouf died. I tossed the old pouf and was reaching for a washcloth when I remembered the gloves. I opened the package and when I put them on I thought, "Dang, this isn't as quick as just grabbing a pouf. Heck, I'm never going to use these, they are too much trouble to put on, and where am I gonna hang them to dry..." etc. I hovered in indecision for a few seconds: I could donate them because I hadn't used them yet-- and then I decided that since I'd opened the package I might as well use them; so I loaded them up with soap and started my routine with scrubbing my underarms. Right away my fingertips felt a lump. I felt my other armpit: no lump. Left armpit: lump. Right armpit: no lump. I never noticed this lump before, not while using my pouf or a washcloth, probably because of the barrier of fabric between my fingertips and the lump prevented me from feeling it. I never noticed the lump while shaving, either, or while drying myself off with a towel, or while putting on deodorant. Nope. This was the first time I'd ever felt this lump, and I found it only because the glove material is thin enough that you can feel your skin through it. I am good at finding lumps, too, because five years ago I found a lump that turned out to be breast cancer and I had to have a bilateral mastectomy. I consider myself GOOD at finding lumps, so this was a scary surprise. It felt BIG and I'd never noticed it until I washed with these gloves. My oncologist got me in right away. He couldn't find the lump, either, until I stood up, raised my arm overhead and pantomimed scrubbing my armpit with my finger tips. Finally he said, "Oh my god! How on earth did you find that?" The mammographer, the sonographer, the radiologist who did the biopsy, the tech who did the CT scan and the surgeon all asked me the same thing: "How on earth did you find it?" They brought in a couple of med students to show them where lumps can hide. I heard them in the hallway: "I couldn't find it either until she showed me. Yeah. Exfoliating gloves." That is what I've been telling everybody: I found it with exfoliating gloves. The bad news is that it's a local recurrence of breast cancer, a more aggressive version than what I had five years ago. The good news is that the CT scan showed it had not spread anywhere other than where I'd found it. The incredibly GREAT and FRACKING FANTASTIC news is that I caught this more aggressive cancer EARLY. I start chemo next week. A couple of months later I will have surgery and radiation to clean it all out. I am feeling very grateful that 1) I bought these, and 2) in that moment of indecision when I first opened them that I decided to keep these gloves rather than donate them. Today I am buying a set of these gloves for all my girlfriends for Christmas. P.S. They are excellent exfoliators, too.