Breast Reduction: Stories

I'm 28 years old, 5'4" and 150 lbs... but I'm size 4-6 on bottom and a 38F or 40DDD on top. Boo.... I finally got the guts to go to a PS and get my issues talked about and get in to get it approved for this summer. This is the craziest and hardest decision that I've ever made. How can you decide if this really is right for you to do. I was telling my mom today that I sometimes convince myself that it isn't really that bad until I catch myself in the mirror at an exercise class or after a shower and go "What the... ewww." Or the constant issue of having to buy a size 16 dress just to fit your boobs, or getting a two piece bikini and choosing a 4 on the bottom and trying to squeeze the girls into a 14... don't even get me started on the pain from the ties on those babies! I know that the pros outweigh the cons, but jeez... So this week, the PS is submitting to my insurance. The lady that took pictures then told me "The annoying ones are the ones who get the approval in the 2 weeks instead of 6."... so I shall begin calling BCBS next week to make sure that they have all the information! My chiro wrote a letter and everything too, so I hope that helps. Wish me luck, and pray that I can get up the guts to actually go through with this.

- Me

WOOOHOOO!!!! Got Approved in less than a week!!!! Apparently I really need this, or the insurance wouldn't be so amazingly fast at approving me. So now the major questions are: What do I need for this.... like what kinds of stuff should I have on hand? Also, how bad is that first day? Other than that, I'm excited and my date is totally set!!

Okay folks... now comes more question time. I have my pre-op visit next week and I'm trying to think of all the things that I need to ask my doctor about, which has been quite helpful from this site, BTW. Here is my list thus far, but can any of you think of anything else that I might need to ask?

1. How long about until my drains will come out?
2. When am I allowed to shower, and do I need to cover my scars when doing so?
3. When am I allowed to go swimming for the first time?
4. When am I allowed to wear a bikini for the first time? (this is a big one for me, because I LOVE sitting out at the pool in the summer time!)
5. When should I start massaging my scars?
6. What am I not allowed to put on my breasts after surgery? (ie.. lotion, neosporin, etc.)
7. What are some things that I need to be watching for afterward?

I think that is a pretty good list so far, but I know there is more that I'm going to want to know.

Also... here's a personal question for y'all, I'm having the darndest time finding front button PJs that I would actually wear again and are short sleeve. I get hot really easily and if I get too hot, I don't fall asleep, so I have to have short sleeves or a tank top to sleep in. My thoughts are these... tell me if any of you think that it wouldn't be wise. I'm contemplating just getting some men's wife-beater tanks from fruit of the loom and putting them on from the bottom up.... you think that is going to be okay? I'm just trying to think of anything that I'm going to need and any other questions that I can think of as well!!

Thanks ladies... 16 days and counting!!

P.S. What was something that you wish you had right when you came out of surgery that you could bring?

Sooooo... I had my pre-op appointment and it put me even more at ease with the doctor, so that made me excited. The biggest hiccup until June 11th is that I've got a bit of a cold. I'm worried now because I've got to get it to go away before then. I'm taking Zicam and sleeping lots to get rid of all of it... wish me luck!!

Okay, tomorrow is the big day!! I'm super excited, but I don't think that it has really hit me yet, what I'm going to be doing tomorrow. It is freaking me out that I'm not freaking out. Is that normal? The PS said that I was really ready for it because of my mindset about the whole thing. So, now I'm just waiting until bed time when I can go to bed and wake up for the surgery bright and early in the morning. Hopefully I will feel just as good in the morning as I do right now!!

I put up a few pictures... I'm not one to post the total nude ones, but these show a profile and head on of my girls.

Wish me luck for tomorrow, and I'll update when I'm feeling up to it!!

Hey guys I'm just checking in here at 2 in th emorning. I woke up having to go to thE bathroom and slowly got myself out of bed and was curious as to the time, so I checked the iPad and decided that I should update you guys! Surgery went really well and I came out of anesthesia more wonderful than anyone could have hoped for. The nurse even thought that it was awesome. My personal favorite was when I myself was calling people to let them know that I was okay...mall of them were like "wait it's you?". I've been icing on and off since I got home, and my main area of pain is wher my drains are hooked in still. Other than that, I feel great! I can only hope thaT anyone else that is getting this done has as good an experience. I'll keep you all updated, but I'm going back to bed now.... Sleep tight folks!

Okay, so this is my first full day... And the pain is definitely there. The pain meds have really helped, so isn't too terrible, but I'm getting like shooting pains up there, which is not cool. The other thing that I was expecting, but didn't really think it would be that bad is the swelling! I'm huge everywhere! I can tell that the girls are a LOT smaller, but everything around is super swollen. I get to hopefully get the drains out tomorrow if there isn't a lot of draining this evening and I think that will really help with my pain. I haven't gotten to see anything yet either, as I have to wait for the doctor to take off bandages and stuff on Thursday... They might do it tomoro if the drains come out.

So I'm still doing okay and the pain isnt too terrible.... The name of the game today is icing like nobody's business!

All right day three... And I'm putting it out there that last night was horrible... I was in so much pain last night that I started getting a small fever. It was pretty bad I'm telling you. Then I got to sleep for a little while and I woke up feeling really bad too. Part of it was the fact that I was so swollen that the ace bandage was too tight.

Now with that said, now im a totally different person and it's all because of my drains coming out! Since I didnt drain that bad for 24 hours they said that I could come in the morning to get my drains out. Got them out at 10:30 and I will say that it was super painful to get them taken out but then afterwards it was so amazing! The second she started to take the ace wrap off I was feeling better, and rit now I'm still feeling pretty good. So I'm just telling all or any of you that feel really cruddy right away... When the drains come out it will be all worth it. So yeah, I'm so much better now!

Okay, so surgery was Monday and we are now on Friday and I have to say that this really has been quite the week! All my fears about pain and anesthesia and all the issues that could happen are a thing of the past as of right now. My drains coming out is still my favorite moment.... Only becaus that is really when I started to feel so much better. Ther is just a little incision pain and itching around the bottom of both, but no real pain. I also sometimes get those shooting pains that come and go every hour or less to show me that the nerves are coming back. As of rit now... I have full reaction and feeling in just one side, which is highly amusing. Well it is amusing until I get cold... On that side... That is sooooo not a good feeling!

My only concern was that there are a few spots "leaking". Now en I say leaking I really mean that every now and then there is a bit of clear fluid that comes out. I thought that it was sweat, but when I dabbed at it it came out a little yellowish or orange. When I looked up things and had someone look at it though, I've realized that it is the same kind of liquid as when you start getting a scab. It doesn't hurt and it isn't just spilling out, which is a good thing. It also isn't sticky or cloudy like pus, so that is a good thing as well. We think that it was because yesterday was also the first day that I got to have a shower, so I was moving around a bit more than usual. All in all im feeling pretty good. I'm also just taking Tylenol now instead of the pain pills, and I'm glad for that, cause they make me sleepy. So yeah, I will keep people updated. And if anyone needs any help or someone to email, around my date, let me know! I dont know if I could have gotten through the fear and the nerves if it wasn't for this website.

Okay, today is a short update just to say that I hate not knowing what is normal and not normal with this whole thing. You think that something is wrong, but it isn't and then you think that you're okay but you're not. I'm more of the first than the latter, but I was taking a shower and saw that one of my steri strips was coming off, so I took it off. Tis was okay until I looked at the strip which was yellow and orange and green all at the same time. In other words, it was disgusting looking. However, when I closely examined the wound under the nasty steri strip it looked perfectly fine. It was clean and not inflamed and it doesn't hurt at all, so then I was fine. I replaced the steri strips and all is well. I just have to remind myself that the wounds underneath don't hurt really, and they are itching more than anything, and nothing smelly or weird is happening. So I need to stop freaking out so much! Did anyone else go through this?

Also, I'm putting a picture up of the same shirt after, and it doesn't look like it has changed a lot, but it really has changed a lot! It is also a totally different thing because i feel like the girls are sitting so much higher now, which is soooooo weird! But they look awesome!

All right... tomorrow's my first PS visit since the drains came out, and honestly, all I want him to do is take these strips off and tell me that I can wash everything around there. I feel like that is all I want to do... and I want to have something active to do for my recovery, you know? Aside from keeping the girls reigned in this bra they got me, I feel like I'm just sitting around waiting.

Also, I've been taking short walks a couple times a day, which has helped me start sleeping through the evening better. You tell a girl who is used to running and zumbaing and exercising on top of teaching elementary students to start summer and sit on the couch all day. That's like telling a Cheetah who has been running free in the dessert to slow it to a crawl. My body needs more energy expenditure, so that's what I've been doing. I'll let you all know what he says when I go tomorrow!!

Okay, no one else understands this, but I know you guys will... I had my doctor's appointment today and he said that I just need to let my steristrips fall off on their own. He is saying that I'm healing up fine! I also have the okay to sit at the pool and do some low impact cardio. I can't submerge under water until week three, but all is well with that.

But the thing that I wanted to share was my "a ha" teary moment of the day. I have not had any regrets at all, but today was the best day ever and the day that I decided that it was the best choice I've ever made! I went to get some more sports bras and found a few that I liked mainly for sleeping because the others are so uncomfortable. And it was a MEDIUM!!!!!! YAY!!! Then, I saw a bikini that I liked and I actually was able to get it. I didn't have to find an XXXL top and a small bottom!! Only you guys would understand how huge that is to be able to do! I included a picture to show you how excited I am and how cute it is!!!!

Okay guys, I haven't updated in a while, so I thought that I would let everyone know how I'm doing! I finally pulled all the steri strips off, which was a welcome relief. The doctor told me to live them on as long as I could after that first week or so, and I kept them until 3weeks so I feel like I did good with that. Now I can actually see everything, which is weird but nice all at the same time.

I dont know if anyone else had this issue, but man am I flipping sensitive. I don't like driving because the seat belt when I sit on the drivers side hits a sensitive spot and I feel like my boobs are just one big nerve ending. Still not a lot of feeling in the left side, but it is starting to come back. I think the only thing that is really giving me problems is my neck. Since I'm a side and stomach sleeper, I have not been sleeping the way I normally do, which is causing severe neck pains in the morning. I'm going to see if I can get in to the chiropractor for a massage to work on it, but it is really really bad. Other than that, I don't think I could be happier with the results. Now that the strips are off, I can tell that there are a few minor size discrepancies between the two, but nothing so major that I think it looks weird. They werent totally symmetrical in the first place!

The only thing that I regret.... The credit card bill for all these cute new clothes I can finally buy! I hope all you ladies are doing well, and I wish you the best in surgeries to come or recoveries happening now. Its a strange but awesome club to belong to!

So, here's a question for the greater good of the group... when did you start feeling normal again? I got the clear after 4 weeks to start running again... I'm a lover of running, so not being able to do it and forced to walk (snore) instead has really made me sad. So the medical assistant says to me when I say "I thought he said 4 weeks for running again..." "4 weeks is fine if you're ready." Well crap... how am I supposed to know that I'm ready? Her guidelines were that if there were stabbing pains when doing the activity that I was reintroducing, then I should stop. If it was just a soreness like I've been feeling, then I was good to go. Two days in and I'm loving being able to run again. I feel like me again, and maybe this will solve my neck issues from holding myself so stiff for the past weeks.

Again though, when did you feel normal again... like no real twinges of pain near your incision... no fear that if you reach to that top shelf surely your boob is going to rip open... or my personal favorite game of Oh Gosh, is that just boob sweat or did one of my stitches come out and I'm bleeding all over myself. No joke, these are the things that I'm thinking at times, and it's killin' me folks! So I'm just wondering if I'm not alone in those thoughts.