20 Days Until My Surgery! - Brookline, MA

I have wanted a breast reduction for 30 years, ever since I developed at age 15 and cant believe it is actually happening. I didn't develop early but it was very sudden. All the women in my family are small boned with large breasts. My grandma had the surgery when she was 60 - I am 44 so I think Why Wait? I am a 34DD but quite out of proportion to my frame. My weight has been as low as 115 lbs (too low for me) this year but my breasts don't shrink at all! And now that I have put some weight back on, they are even bigger than before. My surgery is scheduled for October 2nd. I have a job and two small kids but I am taking 10 days off and my mom is coming to town to help. I'm nervous about
1) the surgery - I've never had surgery before
2) the recovery - there's only so much lying around I can do with 2 kids
3) will I go through all of this and they still won't be small? I would love to get to a B but understand that it's not guaranted.
Anyway this forum was a huge inspiration to me when I was working up the courage to go see a doctor. I feel like I am doing something for myself that I really want. I am also SUPER lucky in that my insurance is covering the surgery. I will add a Before photo here. This is me IN my minimizer bra - clearly i am asking too much of this garment ;)

The other thing is that i have only told my partner and my mom that i am having the surgery - no co workers or friends which is unusual for me. I guess i want to see if they notice and to keep it personal for now. Im really good at hiding my chest so they may not even notice, but I will! Thanks for the inspiration and support everyone. :)

So I had my pre-op appointment yesterday with Dr Halperin. It was a lot quicker than I expected. The didn't take blood and I just had a clear mammogram, so she just gave my scrips (Percoset and a nausea patch) answered a few questions and that was it. I scheduled my 1-week follow up. She doesn't use drains and the stitches all dissolve on their own, so there's not lot to do after the surgery except rest and recover!

I have enlisted some extra help for when my mom leaves from our awesome babysitter. I didn't tell her why yet but she is going to come and help out a bit. I am not planning anything except resting for the whole month. And working after 2 weeks.

I am a little nervous about the Percocet - I had it one time for dental surgery and it made me nauseous. Hopefully it will be ok and I wont need to take it too long anyway. It's only 13 more days til my surgery - I am very excited! I can't wait til it is - over and I am on the other side. I am going to post another before pic - it's embarrassing to see myself from this angle, but it just makes me more sure that I need this surgery.

My surgery is a week from tomorrow - it is all i can think about! It's the last thing on my mind before i fall asleep and the first thing i think of in the morning (after, 'why are my kids awake at 5am everyday?') I know it will be here before I know it, but the anticipation is killing me! I'm trying hard to take everyday as it comes and not wish them away. I know this probably sounds weird but with two kids and a job, i NEVEr get a chance to relax and i am actually looking forward to having a reason to stay in bed and having my mom here to help... even though i will be actively recovering, i wont be expected to do anything around the house for a while at least.. that is the only kind of vacation i think i will ever get :) so i will take it. More later - i'm at work!!

So a week from this moment I will be on the other side. I can't believe it. I ordered three seasons of Law & Order on DVD today for my convalescence. the hours just roll by when I am lying there hearing that "Du-Dum!" I can't believe this is actually going to happen. I just made plans to go see Justin Timberlake in February and was thinking that I can probably wear something cute (and maybe even strapless!) instead of my usual cover-up. Excitement!

I am going to do a bunch of 'before' pics with different tops on before my surgery, inspired by many of the photos I have seen other ladies do. It will be great to see the contrast with my after pics later..so I will post those soon.

hi everyone - my surgery was yesterday and I will try to remember everything that happened. I wish I had been able to relax more in the days before the surgery. I had so much running around to do to get things ready at home and work for me to take some time off. I did get everything done but by Wednesday morning I was pretty stressed.

My surgery was at 915 and I arrived at Dr Halperin's office at 815. I felt thirsty because of not being able to drink anything. Everybody at her office was so kind, friendly and calmed me down and put me at ease. By the time I was ready to go to the OR I felt much more relaxed and sure that it would go ok.

So they had me do some preliminary tests and I went into the OR. The next thing I knew it was noon and I was waking up in recovery. I wasn't in pain or nauseous. I told them in advance that I get nauseous easily and the doctor gave me some extra meds. I was in recovery about an hour and then got picked up and went home. I was super drowsy the whole rest of the day and just slept.

I didn't sleep well last night - maybe because of sleeping a lot in the day - but I just watched TV. No worries on that because I don't have to go to work anyway so I can sleep all day! I have been taking one pain pill every four hours so far and the pain is not bad at all. I feel sore when I get up and walk around. Also my throat hurts mildly from the breathing tube and the meds are making me itchy! But nothing too bad so far.

I will post some additional pics now. I didn't get to take as many before pics as I had wanted to because I was so busy. I feel good about the results so far. They are definitely smaller and higher, and when I walked downstairs this morning they didn't move up and down on the stairs! I have more cleavage than I expected but that also might be from the swelling. I can shower tomorrow so I will be able to see the results better then.

My mind is a little foggy still so I will post more later. Thanks to everyone who sent me good luck wishes!

some before and after pix

A couple more things I forgot to say before about how I felt waking up. first, I had a hard time peeing yesterday. I felt like I really had to go but not a lot came out. This seems to have resolved itself today. Also, I am in surprisingly little pain as long as I am lying in bed. I took one pain pill at 6am today and 7 hours later I still feel fine. Sleep and rest ladies! That is key.

So it's been 48 hours and i'm still doing well. I haven't taken pain killers since yesterday morning - the pain really isn't that bad. My torso is sore - like I did a killer core workout yesterday! I also feel a little bloated - prob from the pain pills and the IV fluids they gave me. I peeked under the bandages today and they are so small and perky! when I look in the mirror, I think This is how I am supposed to look. I'm very happy with the results.

The hardest thing now is that my back is stiff from lying down for two days. I think I will get up and walk around the house a little and see if that helps. i'm also finding that it is not easy to do nothing, but I am doing my best. I'm used to running around like crazy all the time and I feel guilty staying in bed. But I am forcing myself to do it, as I know I need the rest and my mom's only here for a week.

I will post another picture when I take my shower.

so far so good! im tired but not in a lot of pain.

I thought I posted a bunch more pics the other day but I don't see them so I will post them again. My head is still a little cloudy! I haven't taken a pain pill since the day after the surgery - i'm not even taking Tylenol anymore! I can't believe how little pain I have had... the worst part is that my back is incredibly sore, either from lying on it too much or from some position I was in during the surgery - or both. It is very painful. I am using a heating pad and going to see my chiropractor tomorrow. So hopefully that will improve.

I have a little swelling and itching and am starting to see bruises. But nothing really bad. I have also had a lot of nausea since I took my scopa patch off after 72 hours. I think that must be from the anesthesia? it probably stays in your system for a while.

Since day 3 I have taken a small excursion every day - went to CVS to get gauze, took an extremely short walk (like half a block), just to get out of the house. Each one was followed by a 3-4 hour nap, which tells me that I still need a lot of rest. Good think I still have another 8 days off work.....

I just returned from a visit to my chiropractor - I took the train downtown which was a nice little outing and I did OK. He confirmed that my S/I joint and related muscles are completely locked up! He did some movements to loosen them up a bit and gave me a few exercises to do at home. He said I needed to try and move around more, that being in a stationary position isn't good for the S/I joint, but I need to balance that with what I feel like I can do being only 6 days post-op.

I made another appointment for Thursday so I guess I will just take it from there... i'm going to go lie down now...that was enough walking around for this morning.

PS I showered again today and can't believe how perky my new boobs are! I was never perky - ever. I cant tell if they are swollen - prob a little... i love them!

I am 12 days post surgery today...everything progressing well. I had my one week follow up apt last Wednesday and the dr. was very pleased with the results so far. I am still pretty swollen so between that and the giant pads I am wearing in my bra (they're just so comfortable!) I don't look a ton smaller with a shirt on. but when I take my shirt and or bra off I notice a huge difference. I am just trying to heal and get back in the swing of things. I went into my office today to get a head start on tomorrow when I return to work and it went great.

I cant wait to start exercising again! I feel gross not being able to work out. Being on vacation for the past two weeks didn't help in this regard either, as I feel like I have been lying around and eating a lot :) But as soon as I can work out again that will be great....

I forgot to ask my doc how much she took out- I will have to ask her at my 3-week follow up.

I had my 3 week follow up yesterday and the doctor said I am healing very well. She took off the steri strips which were still pretty firmly attached to my skin. I feel naked without them! My scars are already pretty light but I am going to start with Mederma today, rubbing it in 2x per day for 5 minutes. I sometimes feel tender especially around my nipple area but overall have had very little breast pain - it has all been back pain and that is improving slowly. I am still pretty swollen especially on my left side.

The doctor said she took out 250g +/- from each side with is over a cup size. It seems to me like I am going to end up a full B which is what I wanted so that measurement may be a little deceiving.

As far as activity goes, she said I can return to my normal activities as my body allows. I definitely don't feel like running but have started walking instead. Now that my chest is looking better I really want to get my core in shape!

That's all for now - I will post some more pics soon...

Everything is going well with my healing - I hardly have any bruising. I am still swollen but now that I look back at my previous photos I can see that this has gone down. My nipples are very sensitive right now - if I get a chill (or drink alcohol for some reason) they get this tingly feeling - it kinda hurts but mostly just feels different!

My major issue so far has been my back. My S/I joint is very inflamed so I am trying to get that taken care of. As for my front, all is well! I bought a new dress this week and couldn't believe how good it looked - I feel like I am finally in the body I am supposed to be in. Now if I could only get my back in shape so I can work out again! Will post some pics in a bit...

One thing I forgot to mention is that last weekend we had a big Halloween party for my two year old daughter whose birthday is right before Halloween and this weekend I went to my niece's bat mitzvah. For both events I was able to wear dresses that I NEVER would have gotten away with before my surgery. It made me so happy to be able to do this! The funny thing is that I hid my breasts so much before that nobody is noticing my surgery - they all just say I look great!

I had my six week check up last week and everything seems to be going well. I have been doing Mederma on my scars and will continue to do that - they don't look too bad and I wouldn't really care if they did! The doctor took out a few stitches that were sticking out. I think I still have one or two in there but she said they will dissolve in time.

She took photos at this appointment too - she said that I will probably notice that the swelling will go down even further in time. My left breast is larger than the right - this is how it was before my surgery too - hoping that does down a bit more. Also, the little skin pouches below my breasts are still absorbing back in - the doctor said that that would continue to progress.

The doctor told me to get some underwire bras to help put a little pressure on the skin pouch areas so I went bra shopping this weekend. I have to say it was the first time I ever enjoyed bra shopping in my life! I didn't find any underwires I liked, but I did get a sports bra in 32B and a soft cup Bali bra in Medium. They are so cute - not like a flak vest like my old granny bras used to be! I almost started crying in the dressing room i was so happy. When I looked at my chest I couldn't believe it was my own body. Very happy about that!

I will post a few photos....

I just looked through all my 'Before' pictures and I can't believe I walked around with those boobs since I was 15 years old! Geez. My one regret about this is not having done it sooner.

hi! So i am two months post surgery..still healing well but i started having some pain the last few days - it felt like a burning sensation with some shooting pains but mostly burning. Not sure if it is related to PMS, nerve sensations or just healing. It is completely tolerable, but just something new.

I will add some new photos too.. I have been doing the scar cream rubs as much as i can - my scars look pretty angry in these photos.. hopefully they will calm down a little.

I'm also back to exercising as my back feels a lot better. I got a bunch of new sports and regular bras.. im a 34B at this point which is exactly what i wanted. i even bought a bra that was a 'medium' - who ever knew that they made bras in S, M, and L? I have had a little discomfort while running - sometimes i hold myself down while i run because it hurts a little - but nothing major.

OK - going to check in on some of the other ladies here!

So I just noticed that I am wearing the same underwear in my 6- and 8-weeks post op photos - I assure you this is a coincidence and I do have multiple pairs of underwear - Haha!