My Breast Exp - Atlanta, GA

I wanted this bc I have had a lot of spinal trauma & had already been through every therapy I was willing to attempt. Injections, epidurals, chiropractor, physical therapy. Most of my pain is thoracic right where the bra clasp in the back which is not a usual place bc it's suppose to be the most stable part of ur spine. I have degenerative disk as well as arthritis & muscle spasm. & I believe when it gets exacerbated it pinches my nerve. Eventually my dr.'s started suggesting a reduction. I had never considered it bc my breast were only a DD/DDD & that's bc I gained weight so of course as I got bigger so did they. But it was fitting for my frame. Everybody would say I don't think u need a reduction bc they don't look that big & they were prob right but what ppl don't understand is density plays a factor too. They were very heavy & they sagged below the line that would keep them from pulling my spine out of alignment.now most ppl's breast do but the difference is everybody doesn't have the pre-existing back problems to make it a medical problem. So I researched all the dr.s my WellCare Medicaid offered, went to a few consults, chose the best one & submitted. I got approved easy w/ all the paperwork history I had from yrs of back problems.
Now I forgot to mention right b4 I got approved for this I got a lap band to try to lose weight as well. So I put the breast surgery out as far as possible to try to get closer to my normal weight which is also what my breast dr told me to do. So by the time I had gone in I had lost 40+lbs & my breast had shrunk between a D/DD size. So I really looked like I didn't need anything but a lift by that time but the dr said he would be reducing & lifting & even if I didn't need much of a reduction the lift would help bring them above the line that keeps ur spine in balance.

7/30 - was preop. Then My Sx was at 5:30 am the next morning. It was @ Emory Every person on staff makes u feel like ur family. I have bad veins so it took 3 RN's to get some blood 4 my pre-op & even more to stick me for my anesthesia. My health is great, no problems, oxygen lvl is great ect... But Every person I had to speak to acted crazy about me being a smoker like they were saying if u die on the table or during recovery, just know it was the cigarettes not us & they kept throwing around word like heart attack & cardiac arrest & insinuating I prob won't heal as well as others, will have lots of problems & infection as if there's no other factors to anything other than the damn cigs.
Dr came in marked me up. I told him I need him to give me some volume up top don't just make them smaller then I have little bitty sag tear drops like I see on a lot of women. I asked if there was a chance I could stay a small D he kinda laughed at me & said I'm barely in a D now.
The next thing I know I was in recovery & they always have a hard time making me stay woke after anesthesia so they always take forever to discharge me but they wanted me to expect to stay at least 1/2 day if not over night for observation after Sx. It was only painful bc they didn't want to give me more pain meds bc I was too drowsy & they wanted me to wake All the way up first but I told them I didn't go to sleep the night b4 so it just wasn't gone happen. They didn't give me a pain pump or drains. I had a lot of fluid coming out in beginning but stopped so they took a pen & marked the stop point on my bra/compression garment so they'll know if it's getting worse & it didn't but I was able to used that mark to compare everyday so it kept my anxiety down everyday waking up & not seeing the stain get bigger.

Day 1 felt fine. Came home ate like a pig all day which was unusual bc the lap band would usually make me throw up. was surrounded with friends, hubby, & actually baby sat a girlfriends 3 kids overnight (can u believe that?) only took pills 2x's. The Rx was weak though - oxycodone w/ acetaminophen 5-325 it the generic of a low dosage Percocet. But all the back pain & surgeries I've had its like timing me a Tylenol

Day 2 - still feeling fine. Took pain meds only once. Still a lot of in & out sleeping, w/ kids, friends, & hubby stayed in bed all day.

Day 3 - Aug.2nd MY 36th BIRTHDAY!!!!. No more pain meds finally not as groggy or sleeping in & out. Finally took off gauze. Took 1st pic. The 1 y'all see. Looks great. A lil smaller than I want especially since I haven't got rid of this stomach yet. Wooh I wonder how long til be b4 I'm healthy enough & can afford to get my TT/Bbl..my hubby went back to work tdy, my friends all went home last night so this was the 1st day I spent time alone which I really needed by now. But he went to work at 5pm so although he was sleep most of the day I could wake him for emergencies until he left for work. A lil bummed bc I can't party like I want to for my bday. Wtf was I thinking when I scheduled. Oh yeah extending it out as far as insurance would allow me to so I could lose all my weight 1st. If u was thinking I would've at least done it the week b4. My approval expired on July 31st so I pushed it to the limit..lol. Ok I couldn't take it anymore, I got up out the bed at about 12:30am & went out for my bday. I know I'm awful ain't i. But I felt great tdy & was tired of sitting.

Days 4-7. Pretty uneventful, still no more pain meds- Idk if I would say I feel pain or just very uncomfortable pressure from normal swelling or whatever it is. It's most unpleasant when I wake up & at the end of the day. I ice a lot & moving around actually makes it feel better. , not much drainage, on day 7 I started to feel more pain & bought reg. Tylenol to take bc I don't like the perc. I drove a lil this wk even though most say don't. I just kept my hands low on the wheel & didn't over so it. The surgical bra is unbearable, it seems like it's irritating my incisions underneath. I Finally went to Walmart to get some sports bras, gauze, & tape. I wish I would've just got some Genie Bras bc half of the sports bras were not good, either too loose, too small or just as uncomfortable or no support.

Day 8 / follow up - had my 16 yr old son drive me downtown..ugh!!!! Anxiety lvl on10. Found out I have 3 lil areas of separation on 1 side the other is perfect. The left breast has been the more painful one & the one with more draining so it didn't surprise me but since I didn't have drains I would think it's to be expected. It definitely didn't help that I had "relations" & I strained that side a lil. (Sex not advised!) I also found out I should only be using dial antibacterial soap to clean & I've just been using regular dial white bar. 1 seperation was at the T junction where the most tension is so that's normal. Also 1 by the nipple & start of T - normal. The other is the area that had been most bothersome so I wasn't surprised. They told me I need to keep the steri-strips on for another wk or 2 to try to keep those spots from separating some more. She said start cleaning it 2 times a day and completely let steri strips dry afterwards. & of course my dr had to mention the smoking. He says ur doing great, much better than expected for a smoker. They usually have way more separation & typically get infections so don't be surprised. (Eyes rolling)

Day 9 - ok so u wake up with more drainage than I've had since day 1 & I am actually having real pain especially in all the areas that were separated or irritated b4. Clld & ask RN to give me a lesser Rx. Got hydrocodone (generic for Vicodin & loritab). She said everything is normal it was just more bc I had prob stimulated it & opened up to ooze more the day b4 when the nurse took off the steri strip & cleaned it with Saline. She said something opposite of the DR though. She said take off the steri to give it a breather & put Neosporin on it. When doc said it's too early to do things like that or peroxide. I'm gonna take a lil of both of their advice.

Picture advisory --- On day 8 follow up, I took a lot of pics that I'm going to post. I want y'all to know that it didn't look as bad or as big as these pics do but I have a great camera on my phone that magnifies this stuff & makes it look 10x's more gross then it really was. The close up makes it look like Frankenstein Boobs from hell.

Ok now y'all are caught up to date on my journey please tell me if I left out info to help anyone on this journey