Reviews you can trust, from real people like you.
How it works
- Our highly-trained Review Moderation team evaluates all reviews before they're published to ensure they're written by people like you and not a member of a doctor's office.
- This multi-step process takes up to 24 hours from review submission to publication.
- Doctors can't pay to have reviews removed or hidden.
- Reviews are only removed at the reviewer's request or if they violate our Terms of Service.
If you have questions or believe we should re-evaluate a published review, let us know.
Sort by:
*Treatment results may vary
My surgery is tomorrow and I'm getting pretty...
My surgery is tomorrow and I'm getting pretty nervous. Reading everyone's stories has been very helpful for me so I figured I should add mine. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 14, which caused me to not have a regular period for many years. As a result, I was a late bloomer and graduated high school with A cup sized breasts. In college I went on birth control pills to regulate my cycle so I could later be able to have children and my breasts haven't stopped growing since! I now generally wear 34 DDD. I am 5'7" and weigh 150 pounds. Like most everyone else here, I have problems with my back, shoulders, rash, etc. Plus, due to the RA, my hands are weak and I have trouble dressing myself in things like bathing suits and pull-over sports bras.
I had to go off my RA meds for 2 weeks before surgery and wait to go back on afterwards for 1 week. Thankfully, I haven't had any flare-ups or issues! I've never been under general anesthesia so I am nervous and anxious for the surgery to be over. Thanks for reading and I will post again when it's all over!
I had to go off my RA meds for 2 weeks before surgery and wait to go back on afterwards for 1 week. Thankfully, I haven't had any flare-ups or issues! I've never been under general anesthesia so I am nervous and anxious for the surgery to be over. Thanks for reading and I will post again when it's all over!
Ended up with 2 surgeries - feeling better
Sorry for the late update. I went into the OR about 8:15 Wednesday morning and was under anesthesia about 5 hours. Had bilateral breast reduction with only vertical incisions and no drains. Since i didn't want narcotics, I also got a chest block on each side. I was feeling really well around 5:00 pm but asked for pain meds to stay ahead of the pain. They gave me toradol and I got so sick - dizzy, sweaty, and vomiting the rest of the evening. I refused anymore and only took Tylenol.
The resident came in and said there was concern about my left nipple (bigger breast). He unzipped my bra and said we'd watch it. Later I felt that breast swell and get hard. In the morning, I was finally tolerating bland food. Resident was about to release me when the surgeon's PA came in and showed concern and took pictures. She left immediately to show the surgeon. A while later, the nurse came in and told me not to eat anymore because I needed another surgery. This was 10:00am. Due to my eating, I couldn't have surgery until at least 3:30pm. Due to a couple surgical emergencies, didn't get called to surgery until almost 10:00pm. I was so hungry and scared! Second surgery was about one hour. He put drains in both breasts and cleaned out a large hematoma and about 500 cc's of fluid from left breast.
I was discharged Friday around noon. Got sick once Saturday morning but have been feeling pretty well ever since. I've had several doses of Tylenol and only 2 of ibuprofen. Had a quick shower yesterday and changed my dressings with my moms help. I have had a couple small bowel movements - yay!
My worst complaint is neck/head pain due to sleeping propped on the couch. I go tomorrow for my first post-op appt at 9:45. Figure he will take right drain out but probably not left.
I'll post pics soon.
The resident came in and said there was concern about my left nipple (bigger breast). He unzipped my bra and said we'd watch it. Later I felt that breast swell and get hard. In the morning, I was finally tolerating bland food. Resident was about to release me when the surgeon's PA came in and showed concern and took pictures. She left immediately to show the surgeon. A while later, the nurse came in and told me not to eat anymore because I needed another surgery. This was 10:00am. Due to my eating, I couldn't have surgery until at least 3:30pm. Due to a couple surgical emergencies, didn't get called to surgery until almost 10:00pm. I was so hungry and scared! Second surgery was about one hour. He put drains in both breasts and cleaned out a large hematoma and about 500 cc's of fluid from left breast.
I was discharged Friday around noon. Got sick once Saturday morning but have been feeling pretty well ever since. I've had several doses of Tylenol and only 2 of ibuprofen. Had a quick shower yesterday and changed my dressings with my moms help. I have had a couple small bowel movements - yay!
My worst complaint is neck/head pain due to sleeping propped on the couch. I go tomorrow for my first post-op appt at 9:45. Figure he will take right drain out but probably not left.
I'll post pics soon.
First post-op appt today
Hi! I had my first post-op appt today and had myself worked into a tizzy about getting drain(s) out. I guess having 2 surgeries made me a little squeamish. Anyway, the nurse took the right drain out and it didn't hurt at all! I go back Thursday and will hopefully get the left drain out. The doc said the left nipple will probably be okay but that the outer edge will probably fall off with new skin underneath. He also said the scar around that nipple might widen and that eventually we could do a scar revision. I said, "or not!" I'd rather not have any more surgeries but that's a long way off, so hopefully it'll be okay anyway. He wants me to keep am ace wrapped around my post-op bra for extra compression - apparently he removed a lot of tissue towards my side/underarms.
I'm posting some pics. I'm SO excited about the before and after bra pic - I think it seems like a huge difference. Even though they took out about 2.2 pounds, it feels like I lost 10!
Let me know if you have any questions - it's hard to remember to everything when I'm typing along. :-)
I'm posting some pics. I'm SO excited about the before and after bra pic - I think it seems like a huge difference. Even though they took out about 2.2 pounds, it feels like I lost 10!
Let me know if you have any questions - it's hard to remember to everything when I'm typing along. :-)