My Personal Journey to BR - Canada

For 15 years I had been in pain caused by heavy breasts...I had arthritis in my right shoulder and the left shoulder had been broken...this caused great discomfort and because my breasts were so heavy, I often had to go without a bra. I had not always been big, but when I was around 35 I started to gain weight in my breasts. My decision to have BR happened when I was 62. Up until this point, I didnt believe it was possible especially when people would say, "oh you are not that big" etc etc...I felt kind of ashamed that I was even considering it...at the time I was 38 F....finally I met someone who knew someone else who had BR and said they felt so good...I started doing research....and it became an obsession and I started to see some hope. I mentioned it to my doctor who understood and referred me to a PS...after a year's wait, I was called to surgery. (I was 63 years old)

I was nervous but excited and inside was so proud of myself for having made this step. The day of the surgery I felt nervous but when the PS started to make the marks on my breasts, I became very calm, knowing that it was finally going to end and I would have the breasts I was comfortable with.

After I woke up, it felt like I had no breasts at all. (I was strapped in), I then worried if he had taken too much....but I am now a 36C and fine with my size. The surgery was so much easier than I had thought, although I was very tired for 3 or 4 days.....I had a little problem in that I retained alot of fluid...I realized it was because I tried to do too much....although I rested, I was feeling so good, I went out to a restaurant after 4 days, tried on some clothes (that's a no-no) and did a little shopping and walked around the mall etc....this was also a no-no as you have a tendancy to swing your arms and all that is putting stress on the stitches and breasts....anyhow, to make a long story short, because of the swelling i was advised to put my legs up and just rest for a month to see if the fluid would go away....it took a while and I was left with a bump where the stitches ended....however, the scars healed very nicely and today I had my yearly checkup....the PS said he would do a scar revision which will require just local anasthetic...this I will do later on.

I am very happy that I made this decision even though my husband was not in favor.....however, I knew it had to be my own decision regardless of how he felt....he wasnt the one who was in pain all the time....this is my story and I will never regret having the BR and will be supportive of anyone who needs to do this.

My personal story had a picture of me taken before the surgery....unfortunately I didnt take any pictures of my breasts when they were big....I was trying to forget I had them....anyhow I just posted a picture of me 8 months after the surgery...so much lighter and happier.

I tried to update this story with a picture of the new me but the photo didnt show on the page....I will try again.