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Good News for the Holidays!
Some good news! I was thrilled early this month when my surgeon told me that he'd be willing to do a revision as early as the next week. He said it was clear the results were not what we wanted, and they weren't getting to where we wanted. He was confident that he could get rid of the flattening on undersides by pulling breasts up and in, fixing nipple position at the same time. (see previous pictures) I was over the moon to hear this after four months of feeling deformed, but also worried since there was a chance things wouldn't be improved (and it didn't help that this revision happened while awake, under local anesthesia). But, concerns aside, the revision happened in-office last Friday and I am so, so pleased with the results! I think it looks great and you could tell that same day what a difference it made, it's like night and day to me, there are very few similarities between what I looked like going in and coming out. I will post my pictures from last Saturday (24 hours after revision). I am so thrilled that the revision went well and if possible, MORE thrilled that we could do it December and not wait 10 months to a year (as I'd been told by another surgeon in second opinion). I really don't think the situation would have improved an acceptable amount even given 10-12 months, and I'm happy my surgeon was aware of and responsive that.
Good news for the holidays and peace of mind is a fantastic Christmas present! Thanks again to all for your support through this roller coaster, and especially to recent posts from patients and doctors who have emphasized the importance of frequent and non-combative communication with your surgeon. That was the second-hardest part of this process because I don't think it's easy to stay calm or positive when you're very disappointed--I really appreciate the posters who tackled that issue in their updates and gave me more perspective.
Good news for the holidays and peace of mind is a fantastic Christmas present! Thanks again to all for your support through this roller coaster, and especially to recent posts from patients and doctors who have emphasized the importance of frequent and non-combative communication with your surgeon. That was the second-hardest part of this process because I don't think it's easy to stay calm or positive when you're very disappointed--I really appreciate the posters who tackled that issue in their updates and gave me more perspective.
Second Opinion
I can't bother to update photos right now but believe me, nothing has changed. This entire ordeal is depressing enough that I'm not even logging on with any regularity so I will summarize.
My left breast would be acceptable with a crescent lift. That is because the nipple still points down, so barring that changing from more tissue dropping, it would need to be fixed for a pleasing aesthetic. My right breast is horrendous.
I went into this surgeon with sagging breasts with nipples that pointed down, allegedly with an asymmetry that I didn't notice (but did ask him to correct). Now, I have asymmetric breasts that anyone can notice, and both breasts still pointing down. The right breast has essential been turned into a tuberous breast, it's way too tight at the incision which completely does away with the lower pole, and makes the upper pole tip over into this snoopy dog effect.
I went for a second opinion this week. She stated that 1) too early to tell final result but 2) she would likely do a crescent lift at 10mo-1year to both reposition the nipples so they're higher and not pointing down, as well as flatten the breasts altogether because it is more noticeable that the right breast is flat underneath because it projects outward so far. If you minimize the projection, there's less of a flat slant to see. She clarified that any lift she did involving re-positioning the nipple would be done in the OR, not in office, because it's more sterile, allows her to be more precise, and she would use a permanent suture to avoid stretching.
The problem is this--likely I will need a crescent / periareloar lift to even hope for an acceptable aesthetic. In a perfect world, I'd be able to choose the surgeon with which I did that. But the cards are all stacked, so that doctors get the most money and least amount of lawsuits. With a new surgeon, they want to charge full price, ($6k again, just to correct this?) plus I'd probably have to wait longer for the revision because they wouldn't do the surgery for at least 10 months or a year. Staying with the same surgeon--he might operate sooner and likely wouldn't charge full price / or anything, but it probably would take place in an office setting (is sterility and stretching a legitimate concern?) and the million dollar question--if he couldn't get it right the first time, what makes me think he will the second? Is it crazy to stick with the same surgeon for a secondary surgery?
It is infuriating / depressing / life-altering that something that was supposed to improve my life, has cost me much of my savings and made me look worse than when I walked in the door. I'm left with the options of either draining my savings with a new surgeon or rolling the dice on getting acceptable results with the same surgeon. I don't have the medical expertise to make the call on whether the second attempt will turn out any better than the last. Furthermore no other surgeon is willing to actually say whether they think the first surgery result is a fluke, or that it's likely to happen again.
Meanwhile, I feel this is wasting my life--I wouldn't even go to a general practitioner looking like this, let alone date anyone. In the back of my mind I'm always aware of the situations I have to avoid because now I look like a freak. It's one thing if you have saggy breasts--at least then you can explain it with gravity. It's another if you just look like a botched surgery. I can't wait a year feeling like that. I might have been prepared to work through a year waiting period if my breasts looked better and it would just take a year to look great, but if from day one you feel they look far worse than they ever did, it is not sustainable.
***Also on second opinion--I asked if she would recommend an entire revision vice a touch-up correction. She said likely not--firstly because if the tissue and skin is removed, you can't put it back. If it is not removed (some surgeons tuck excess tissue up into the breast in a more compact way), a surgeon could try to unpack it during a revision to have craft a new shape, but she as a surgeon new to the case would not attempt that, because you risk not knowing where the tissue came from and could risk loss of blood flow. She said only the original surgeon--who remembers what they did exactly and from where they took the tissue--could attempt that.
My left breast would be acceptable with a crescent lift. That is because the nipple still points down, so barring that changing from more tissue dropping, it would need to be fixed for a pleasing aesthetic. My right breast is horrendous.
I went into this surgeon with sagging breasts with nipples that pointed down, allegedly with an asymmetry that I didn't notice (but did ask him to correct). Now, I have asymmetric breasts that anyone can notice, and both breasts still pointing down. The right breast has essential been turned into a tuberous breast, it's way too tight at the incision which completely does away with the lower pole, and makes the upper pole tip over into this snoopy dog effect.
I went for a second opinion this week. She stated that 1) too early to tell final result but 2) she would likely do a crescent lift at 10mo-1year to both reposition the nipples so they're higher and not pointing down, as well as flatten the breasts altogether because it is more noticeable that the right breast is flat underneath because it projects outward so far. If you minimize the projection, there's less of a flat slant to see. She clarified that any lift she did involving re-positioning the nipple would be done in the OR, not in office, because it's more sterile, allows her to be more precise, and she would use a permanent suture to avoid stretching.
The problem is this--likely I will need a crescent / periareloar lift to even hope for an acceptable aesthetic. In a perfect world, I'd be able to choose the surgeon with which I did that. But the cards are all stacked, so that doctors get the most money and least amount of lawsuits. With a new surgeon, they want to charge full price, ($6k again, just to correct this?) plus I'd probably have to wait longer for the revision because they wouldn't do the surgery for at least 10 months or a year. Staying with the same surgeon--he might operate sooner and likely wouldn't charge full price / or anything, but it probably would take place in an office setting (is sterility and stretching a legitimate concern?) and the million dollar question--if he couldn't get it right the first time, what makes me think he will the second? Is it crazy to stick with the same surgeon for a secondary surgery?
It is infuriating / depressing / life-altering that something that was supposed to improve my life, has cost me much of my savings and made me look worse than when I walked in the door. I'm left with the options of either draining my savings with a new surgeon or rolling the dice on getting acceptable results with the same surgeon. I don't have the medical expertise to make the call on whether the second attempt will turn out any better than the last. Furthermore no other surgeon is willing to actually say whether they think the first surgery result is a fluke, or that it's likely to happen again.
Meanwhile, I feel this is wasting my life--I wouldn't even go to a general practitioner looking like this, let alone date anyone. In the back of my mind I'm always aware of the situations I have to avoid because now I look like a freak. It's one thing if you have saggy breasts--at least then you can explain it with gravity. It's another if you just look like a botched surgery. I can't wait a year feeling like that. I might have been prepared to work through a year waiting period if my breasts looked better and it would just take a year to look great, but if from day one you feel they look far worse than they ever did, it is not sustainable.
***Also on second opinion--I asked if she would recommend an entire revision vice a touch-up correction. She said likely not--firstly because if the tissue and skin is removed, you can't put it back. If it is not removed (some surgeons tuck excess tissue up into the breast in a more compact way), a surgeon could try to unpack it during a revision to have craft a new shape, but she as a surgeon new to the case would not attempt that, because you risk not knowing where the tissue came from and could risk loss of blood flow. She said only the original surgeon--who remembers what they did exactly and from where they took the tissue--could attempt that.
Incision photos 9.3.13
Provider Review
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
676 N Saint Clair St., Chicago, Illinois