Breast Reduction: Stories

Hello, everyone!

I decided a long time ago that I wanted a breast reduction to go from a 36DD to a 36B to help eliminate my back/shoulder/neck pain and get rid of the indentations from my bra straps, but didn't actually start the process until October 2012 (which is the same month I got denied by my insurance because my surgeon estimated that he'd remove 350g- which would put me at about a C cup- and my insurance requires 500g). I went back to the surgeon for another consultation to see if there was any way he could remove more and make me a B cup or so. He said that he was pretty sure he could, and resubmitted the claim to my insurance. I found out about a week after that I had gotten approved!

I asked if I could have my surgery done asap because I'm going to South Korea to teach for a year, and I wanted to have plenty of time to recover before I leave. At first they said that the earliest they had was May 8th, which would require me to leave for Korea later, but they were looking to squeeze me in for April 17th. I got a call this past Friday (3-15-13) asking if I wanted to have it done on Wednesday the 20th because someone had a cancellation. I was so excited that it was so soon, and since I had done so much research and read/watched testimonials from other people, I didn't really get nervous until a day or two before the surgery. The surgeon prescribed me an Ativan pill to take the night before so I would calm down and be able to sleep. It knocked me out earlier than I expected, so I didn't finish putting away my laundry lol. It also must not have worn off before my surgery because I was not worried or anxious at all. That is very shocking for me!

I had my surgery this morning, and my mom went with me. They started around 10:30am the surgery lasted about 2 hours and 45 minutes. I don't really remember waking up, but I do remember hyperventilating and crying a lot for some reason. My mom came in and helped me calm down. I was really out of it, and I couldn't get my left leg to stop shaking so much, so I told it to be like the other one that wasn't shaking! I left to go home about an hour or less later, and was really sleepy in the car. I remember talking to my mom a little bit and saying weird things to her. At one point, I was convinced there was someone in the back seat, even though my mom and I were the only ones in the car! I also told my sister later in the afternoon not to "fill up the castle too much with applesauce because I only want a little bit."

I took a little peak at my new boobs earlier, and they definitely look smaller, but not as small as I want because they're swollen. I think I will really like them!

Did anyone else sleep almost the whole day of their surgery? I couldn't stay awake for more than a few minutes, and whenever I tried to text anyone, I'd make it through 1 or maybe 2 words before I started falling asleep and typing weird things, like this text I sent to my dad: "Mother said I'm really high. I keep falling asleep k mmmmmmmmmqnnnq." LOL

I got a couple sports bras to wear over the next few months, but I can't wait to get some real bras! I found a purple one at Walmart that I really like, especially since it's my favorite color. Prior to surgery, I only liked wearing soft cup bras that don't hold their shape, but I think now that I'm smaller I will like hard cup bras. I'll also get to buy some pretty, colorful bras that I never could before because my size only came in black, gray, white, tan, or occasionally really pale pink. I can't wait! :)

Even though I haven't seen the final result yet, but I'm already thinking that I made a good decision!

I was feeling pretty good until this morning, when I woke up with a headache and some nausea. I've felt like crap all day, which sucks, but I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow. My incisions have felt very itchy/sensitive today. :-/

I tried on a few shirts and dresses that I had already but never wore because they didn't look that flattering with my big boobs. They fit much better, even though my boobs are going to get smaller after the swelling goes away, they still look soo much better in the clothes than they did pre-surgery!

I am scheduled to get my sutures removed this Monday, and I can't wait! I'm hoping it will alleviate the discomfort I've been experiencing for the last couple days. My stitches, especially at the edges under my arms, have been hurting or just feeling generally annoying. It has become much more uncomfortable to sleep, and my bra is constantly irritating my incisions. I've been trying to keep bottom of my bra below my incisions, rather than directly on it, but it keeps riding up. My post-op nurse suggests putting a thick layer of gauze between my incisions and my bra, but that didn't really help and it kinda increased the itchiness. Any suggestions? Thanks! :)

Is it normal that the area around my incisions feels really firm in certain spots? On the left side, near the end of my incision (under my arm) is a small area that feels hard like there is a small, flat rock right underneath the skin. Is that normal?

Hey girls. I'm starting to get a little discouraged with how big my boobs still are. They definitely look small from the side, but they still look big from the front. Because I was so good at hiding my DD's, I think some of my shirts still make my boobs look the same size as they did before, but my mom and sister both said they think my boobs look smaller. I don't even fit in C's yet, and I'm hoping for B's. I know they're still swollen, but I keep worrying that they won't get any smaller. :( I will post pictures soon so you can see how they look. On the bright side, my incisions look amazing. I'm exactly 2 weeks post-op, and my incisions look SO much better than some of the pictures I saw during my research.

I hope everyone is doing well and healing well or not getting too nervous about upcoming surgeries! :)

I have an appointment tomorrow with one of the nurses at the surgeon's office to check out some hard scar tissue that I've started developing on the outer sides of my boobs/incisions. I still have that hard lump on the left side, and right underneath the skin on the right side has started getting very firm. My mom's chiropractor sometimes uses ultrasound to help break up scar tissue, so I'm currently finding out whether I can do that (they've never done it for the type of surgery I had). I'll keep you guys up-to-date on that. In other news, my incisions are healing surprisingly quickly and beautifully. I don't think I'll have much of a problem with scars, which is great. The incisions from my nipple down to the crease are already very small, hairline pink marks, and I think those will probably completely fade.

Boobs looke great, but are still swollen. I'll upload pictures soon! :)

I went to get a few more stitches trimmed, and I asked about when I'll get to my final size. The surgeon had said that I have about 1 1/2 - 2 more months before all the swelling goes down. I asked the nurse yesterday if my boobs would keep gradually getting smaller, or if they would be obviously getting noticeably smaller. She said that she thinks they're probably getting close to the final size, which made me want to cry because they are still a lot bigger than I want. I tried on a few bras, and think that I should be wearing a 32D or 34C, but that is way bigger than I want. I am definitely a lot happier with them now than I was before surgery, but they still aren't what I expected. I was thinking about it the other day, that when the surgeon was asking how small I wanted to go, I should have said that I wanted them small enough that I wouldn't have to wear a bra ever again if I didn't want to. I'll take a couple pictures so you can see how they look now. If anyone has any encouragement or advice for me, or if they know how to help make my boobs shrink faster/more, that would be great! ;)

PS- I measured right underneath my breasts, and it was 31 inches, and a couple weeks ago my breast measurement was 38 inches around, and bow it's down to 36. I know that different websites and stores have different sizing techniques and different sized bras, so I'm not sure what size that would be.

I still want my boobs to shrink, but I'm starting to accept them more. I find it encouraging when people say that their boobs are still getting smaller after several months (I'm 9 weeks post-op right now). I have been watching videos on YouTube about other people's experiences. One girl, I believe her name is Amanda Blyskal (the last name might be spelled incorrectly), has very helpful video, including one she just posted within the last couple days about what it's like 1 year post-op. You girls should check her out! :)

Happy Memorial Day!