Anything's Better Than a 34J! - Charlotte, NC

Hey guys! I'm starting this kind of late - I was 3 weeks post-op yesterday and just now decided that I'd like to share my experience and put up some pics for anyone out there thinking about the same procedure. So far its been the best experience of my life! The pain in very minimal. The second week was probably the worst for pain. I was actually up and out of the house the day after surgery, and then every day since then! I have very minimal bruising, but the swelling is evident. The first week, before I really noticed the swelling, I tried on an old C-cup bra from when I was in middle school and it pretty much fit! Now I fit pretty well into a DD cup, but they're still really swollen. I hope that the swelling goes down soon enough and I don't end up any bigger than a D! (I was aiming for a C, but that's okay).

For anyone wondering about insurance covering this surgery, let me just tell you that it took a while for them to come through for me. (By a while, I mean about 6 months, which is actually a lot less time than some people, but it felt like forever!). I went into Wilmington Plastic Surgery in WIlmington, NC for my consultation in August. I had all of my documentation from YEARS of doctor appointment for headaches, neck and back pain, and multiple other things faxed into the PS office before my appointment. I also went and got sized at a professional bra shop. I thought I was a DDD (which is the same as a F cup), but it turns out I was a 34J. Ahh! That's so big! But I found out about 2 months later that my insurance denied me, and I had to put in an appeal. Unfortunately, they denied my appeal. I can't actually remember if it took one or two more appeals, but all I know is that I got a letter in the mail on January 4 saying I was approved! I was so happy.

I scheduled my surgery for over my spring break (since I'm in school at UNC-Wilmington), and my mom was going to come to Wilmington to take care of me while I heal. Well, then I hit another wall. She didn't think she'd be able to take that week off of work to come help me, so I contacted my insurance company and asked if they would approve the surgery if I switched doctors. They said they would, so I found Dr. Harper at Charlotte Plastic Surgery. THEN - ugh - I got a call back from insurance saying that they WOULDN'T approve the surgery through another doctor. Thankfully, Dr. Harper is awesome and called them back and convinced them to cover it for me. And that was that!

My surgery was scheduled for March 1, 2013 at 7:30am. I had to be at the hospital at 5:00am. Both of my parents came with me and stayed with me the whole time. My surgery took 4 hours, and I felt so great when I woke up. (Those pain meds are AWESOME!).

And, thankfully, it turned out that my mom WAS able to take that week off after all, so she got to stay at home with me all week! I actually felt so good the next day that I decided I wanted to go to my younger sisters gymnastic competition with my family. The only problems I encountered was feeling really dizzy and kind-of drunk off of the pain meds. It was extremely exhausting to be out, but I'm so glad I didn't have to miss her competition. (She won first in every event!)

Anyway, the following Friday, which was exactly 1 week post-op, I had my post-op appointment in Charlotte. My mom drove me to the appointment, and I had the white tape removed for the first time. The black sutures were taken out, except the ones at the bottom t-zones, which were too tight for them to take out. Unfortunately, they're still in and are itching me and bothering me quite a bit! I have my next post-op appointment this coming Thursday, so I can't wait for them to take them out at the appointment! At 1 week post-op, I was instructed to change my paper tape twice a day and shower twice a day. At first, I was following that routine pretty well, but the tape really started to irritate my skin. That may have contributed to the second week being the most painful. As of now, I'm still supposed to be changing my paper tape twice per day, but I've kind-of been winging it and changing it once per day, and today I actually haven't had tape on at all (but it's been my lazy day in the house, so I didn't actually go out without tape on). Anyway, the pictures I posted definitely show how red and irritated my skin has become due to the tape. It sucks!

And I was also instructed to buy scar cream and start to use it. I bought Mederma and used it the first day (1 week post op), but it kind of burned. I figured that it burned because my incisions weren't completely closed up yet, and the instructions on the tube say to not use it on open wounds. So I decided to use Neosporin for a few days, then read online that Polysporin is recommended more often. I bought some polysporin and have been using it ever since (except today, since I'm trying to let them air out).

I have blood flow to my nipples, but don't have a lot of sensation at all in my left nipple. My right nipple, on the other hand - oh. my. gosh. It's so sensitive and hurts so bad! I also read online that those feelings should go away with time and sensation should return to normal in both sides. Anyone else have this problem?

Well, I guess that's all for now! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask! I know that when I was planning for the surgery these blogs helped me when I was nervous, so I'm totally open for answering any questions that you may have. :)