400cc HP, 45yrs, 120pd, 5'4'' - Athletic/dance Instructor, Breastfed 6 Yrs, Dallas, TX

After a severe reaction to a medical dye contrast, I lost 20 pds and ended up with permanent pancreas damage that limits my fat intake to 20 grams a day total. This weight loss (combined with breastfeeding my children years ago and getting older) left me very thin and boobless. I thought over time I would stop looking like a 13 year and regain some of my curves. I'm now back to being very fit but unfortunately my boobs never filled back so I've lived in padded bras and falsie "chicken cutlets".

Pre-augmentation I was a deflated 34/A. After a year of waiting for boobs to come back, I decided to start researching augmentation and asking friends for recommendations. One fitness friend recommended Dr Mark Deuber. His website promoted a 24 Hr Recovery technique. That was very appealing because I perform in restaurants as a bellydancer every weekend. Plus I'm very active with zumba, Insanity, etc. I was on the fence about getting a BA due to the downtime but after researching this technique (Dr Tebbett's in the "inventor" of it) I decided to meet with him. He shares an office with Dr Tebbetts. During my research, I read Dr Tebbett's e-book on BA and knew I wanted one of them to do my surgery with this technique.

Dr Deuber was very professional and his office staff was excellent from my first phone call. He felt 375/400 or even 425 HP silicone would do a nice job of replacing my lost volume and perk things back up. He recommended the dual-plane technique since I was not too saggy and my nipples were just above the IMF so a lift wasn't indicated unless I'd wanted my nipples higher. I'm happy with my breast overall (just wanted volume) and wanted to keep a somewhat age appropriate look ;) Plus I have two friends who suffer from perky nipples that don't want to stay in place in bellydance costumes, etc. HAHA I didn't want that problem ;)

Yesterday was my surgery day - in the middle of a Texas ice storm :D Sunday we ended up renting a hotel by Dr's surgery center so that we could avoid the treacherous road conditions in the morning. That worked out great. We arrived easily and on time. The nurse got me squared away, then IV, and Dr Deuber arrived to go over final size choice. The nurse walked me into the surgery room and I laid down on the operating table - that's the last thing I remember. Then I was drinking a ginger ale and eating a clementine with new boobs :)

The 24 hour technique is done via electrocautery to prevent bleeding and they never touch the tender ribs with any tools. I was done within 30 minutes! Then we made our way home. I was given very specific instructions. Upon getting home I took a 2 hr nap. That's it. Then I had to eat a meal and take 800mg of Motrin. Within 3.5 hours of getting home I had to take a shower. Dr orders. I was supposed to get out of the house and go to dinner or something but we couldn't go anywhere since the roads were so icy. I just made an effort to do all my normal stuff rather than just sit around. We watched a fair amount of TV that evening but I'd get up at the end of each episode to use the bathroom and do my arm exercises - slow jumping jack arms overhead. 5 of those every hour. I had to stay up until 10pm then take a Benadryl and another round Motrin.

First thing this AM, before getting out of bed, I had a V8, a slice of bread, and my motrin. After 30 min I ate a real breakfast and then showered. After my shower, I started the overhead arm exercises. I was worried Day 2 would be way worse but it's been fine. We took my husband's car in for maintenance, drove down to see my Dr for my 24 hour followup, and then went to Jason's Deli, Whole Foods, and the Container Store. I took Motrin with lunch. It's been amazingly easy (knock on wood).

My boobs are high, tight and swollen right now but all within the norm after a BA. I feel the pressure of them but it's not painful, just weird and a little annoying. My ribs in center feel a little tender and a little tender in underarms. Probably the fluid retention from inflammation that will go away over the next several days.

My implants do make funny squishy, squelchy sounds when I use my arms overhead lol Dr said they'll clear up over the next week as the plasma/fluid and air reabsorb.

No bra, no drains, no narcotics. Short surgery. Minimal discomfort. Dr Deubers "24 hour" technique really is amazing. I thought my experience might be worse after reading so many people's post-op stories.

So far I'm very please and look forward to seeing my implants drop and the inflammation to subside. Right now I look overly chesty so I'm glad it winters and I can wear sweaters, hoodies, and accessory scarves until things settle.

Restrictions:
Driving after 24 hrs
no elevated heart rate for 2 weeks (to allow the blood vessels to heal enough so no bleeding occurs around the new pockets)
weight lifting can begin again at 3 weeks
lifting over 25 pds after 3 weeks
No tanning for 6 weeks (n/a to me)
Underwire bra allowed after 6 weeks
no bath/hot tub/swimming for 6 weeks (but I can shower all I want now).


Dr said I should pan on returning to dance and performing in a month.

I had 24 hr recovery technique, dual-plane with Allergan silicone gel implants. 400 cc.

So far my recovery has been better than I expected :) Today I dropped down to 400mg of Motrin. I'd stop taking it completely but I'm hoping it'll reduce some of the swelling. I've used a cold gel pack a few times these past few days as well.

Today when woke up they felt heavier and more swollen than yesterday BUT the Dr warned me that was often the case. I was feeling a little worried late last night because they are soooo big and squarish. I don't want to be stuck with weird big boobs! But I realize a lot of women feel that way at first and things will change a lot week by week. When I showered today they actually looked less square in the upper pole, and my husband agreed, so now I'm not as worried.

I made a fruit smoothie with power greens, kiwis, pineapple, cherries, etc to get some anti-inflammatory nutrition in my system. I'm also using Shakelogy protein shakes and taking magnesium, Coq10, astaxanthin, Vit D, and Vit C. I'll return to using my daily with herbs/Vit E/fish oil, etc in another week.

I don't feel bloated yet but expect that may happen in a few more days once the fluids settle downward.

My overhead arm exercises are easy to do although I feel stretching in my armpits and across boobs. The implants are still making squishy sounds during the exercises but today it seems less noisy. Dr said the sounds should improve a lot by end of week :)

I'm very active normally so it's hard to be low-key AND patient. I need to read a long book lol

I'll try to post a post-op picture in next day or two.

There's light at the end of this tunnel ;)

I haven't posted over the last few days because I just didn't want to think about boobs LOL
Things were easy the first three days but by mid-day Thursday I started having a lot of pain because I'd reduced my Motrin. I had an elevated temp and a lot of discomfort. Friday morning my right boob was very painful and the upper pole on that side as noticeably inflamed from morning. I was worried something was wrong so I began communicating with PS office. They didn't feel anything was truly wrong but encouraged me to resume Motrin (I had) and to just keep an eye on things for the next 24 hours. My right breast felt like it was ready to pop and doing anything with my right arm made it ache and burn. (A friend texted to see how I was doing and I called my boobs "smoldering cantaloupes" haha) I was really nervous I had a hematoma on the right side but was trying to not get myself worked up.

Saturday morning I wasn't any worse so I relaxed a little. The right side was still very tender and swollen as were my armpit and serratus muscles on that side. Even my right scapula/rotator cuff muscle were aggravated! BUT the right side wasn't any bigger than the left AND the left was actually feeling softer and like a healing muscle strain. I continued Motrin and spent the day on the couch with Netflix and heating pad on right side of my back.

By midday I had a theory about my right boob pain. It was slightly smaller preBA and it was even smaller right after BA. I was really worried that it would stay that way! When it swelled Friday, it end up being close to the size of left side (which is similar to pre BA). At first I was just scared by the new swelling and major increase in discomfort - and really worried about a hematoma- but by Saturday I decided that each boob was just on its own schedule. I think my smaller right breast took longer to accommodate the implant and when gravity finally settled it down (on Thur PM/Fri) that tissue was further traumatized by the sudden stretching/expansion.

On Sunday, the right breast was same. No bruising, no new swelling. It was still tender and VERY tight but felt like the left side did two days prior. The left side was actually feeling much better - very little pain and softer. I spent most of the day out of the house and felt good mentally. By end of day, I was yawning up a storm but both boobs were doing good.

Today, the right breast is still quite tight BUT it's definitely improving. I feel like I did a serious workout a few days ago and now I have residual tenderness along with a lot of tightness and some burning if I stretch too far. There is a little pain along the inside edge of breast along the sternum (where the skin has stretched so much). Massage feels good today.

I was going to go in tomorrow to see the PA with my concerns but I cancelled that appointment this morning since I realized that this was just a normal part of post recovery. Each breast really is a different surgery and is going to adjust and heal at a slightly different pace ;)

Patience!