POSTED UNDER Breast Reduction REVIEWS
It's Time to Lighten the Load - Massachusetts
ORIGINAL POST
One week until my BR, and I've been so...
Q2July 12, 2012
WORTH IT
One week until my BR, and I've been so comforted/reassured by reading about others' pre- and post-op. experiences that I figured it was time for me to contribute something. I am hoping to go from a 32G to a 32C, although my PS says it may be more like a "C-minus" when all is said and done! So...here's a list of things I won't miss post-surgery. Please feel free to add on...
After having my BR, I WILL NOT MISS:
*spending 100s of $$$ on special-order bathing suits and bras
*Feeling like I must choose between looking frumpy (in tops that are roomy enough to hide my size G breasts) and trashy (in fitted tops that look like I'm trying to show off)
*That oh-so-familiar feeling of underwire that couldn't take it anymore and finally poked through the bra material into my underarm...
*The ugly red marks on my grooved shoulders and around my ribcage whenever I take my bra off.
*My husband coming at me with large objects to do the "pencil test" for perkiness (if the pencil stays put under the breast, it is no longer perky...well, my husband has a great sense of humor about my breasts, so he thinks it's funny to see what will stay under there. The latest was a large sneaker!)
*That maddeningly itchy feeling of skin upon skin under my breasts.
*Those embarrassing moments when my "headlights" are on and they are in completely different locations (does anyone else have this problem?)...
*The 4-5 Lady Grace employees who end up fussing over me and causing quite a little scene in the dressing room whenever I try to buy a new bra.
Thanks again, July BR ladies, for getting me through this past month with hope and humor!
Q2's provider
UPDATED FROM Q2
Hmmm...five days away and I'm starting to have...
Q2July 14, 2012
Hmmm...five days away and I'm starting to have second thoughts: is this typical? I drove a friend into the hospital for her cancer treatment yesterday, and felt so selfish. Here I am doing elective surgery that I really could live without, and there are so many people struggling just to stay alive. ...& now that my BR date is so close, I'm starting to look around and notice other women's breasts. There are so many people out there with bigger boobs than mine! Why aren't they doing it, and are mine really big enough to justify this? Well, the Two PS's I saw think I'm a candidate, and my insurance company is covering the surgery, but sometimes it feels so "frivolous"?... Reading the forum and reviews on this site definitely helps remind me of why I wanted to do this in the fist place, though.
Replies (6)
July 15, 2012
First of all it is totally normal to have doubts, especially as the time gets closer. You have made a big decision and the fact that this is elective surgery puts some questions in your mind about whether or not this is the right choice. But I do want to remind you that a G-cup is not small or frivolous! A G-cup is actually rather large and cumbersome and causes you a great deal of back and neck pain. You are right, you will not die if you don't have this surgery, but what quality of life will you live if you don't have it? You may get by over the next ten years ok, just keep popping those pain pills, but there will come a time when the weight of your breasts will finally be apparent when you are walking hunched over, your shoulders are difficult to use because of the strain of those muscles, and even your hips have been affected because your balance has been thrown off all of your adult life. It is hard to willingly put yourself through something as big as this when you can't guarantee the outcome, but that is why you did your homework, chose the best PS you could, and are faithful that everything will go well. Good luck! I'll be here cheering you on!
July 15, 2012
I can relate to how you are feeling. I have been doing a lot of boob watching this week and have had the same thoughts. I find it odd that one week away from surgery and my boobs have never seemed smaller. I keep looking at myself wondering if I am really as big as I have always thought. When I share with some that I am getting a reduction, they look at me and say "you need one". I remind myself that I have learned to hide it well. I know what types of clothes to stay away from and also the pain on my shoulders is a constant reminder that I am not kidding myself. Granted I am not as large as some of the breasts I have seeen. Suddently every women I see looks like a candidate for a breast reduction.
Something else that helps me (I don't mean to offend anyone) is noticing the older women with larger brears are very saggy. I fear gravity as I age. Already it has done a number on me and I don't really want to know what another 10, 20, 30 years of gravitational force will do to my breasts. I image a hunched over old women with saggy breasts and I am READY to get on that operating table.
Good luck. One week away!
Something else that helps me (I don't mean to offend anyone) is noticing the older women with larger brears are very saggy. I fear gravity as I age. Already it has done a number on me and I don't really want to know what another 10, 20, 30 years of gravitational force will do to my breasts. I image a hunched over old women with saggy breasts and I am READY to get on that operating table.
Good luck. One week away!
July 15, 2012
Thanks! I think the "sag factor" will definitely help me decide to go through with this. I hide my size so well that people are typically surprised I'm getting a BR. So...my 15-yr-old daughter saw me braless today for the first time and was horrified! I felt so much better after that because she agreed I am so much bigger and saggier than you would think!
July 16, 2012
Thanks for the well wishes... Its soo close now = only four more days for the both of us. But don't feel too bad, you aren't the only one feeling this way. Love your list of things you won't miss... I should make one of those. Well good luck to you!! :)
August 2, 2012
My thoughts are if insurance approves it you definatly need the surgery and aren't selfish to get it at all, not saying if insurance denies you you don't need the surgery obviously some companies are ridiculous and many women get denied that need this surgery every day but that being said, if insurance covered you that's medical professionals saying "yes this would be exteremly beneficial for your health and we are willing to spend the money to help you" so don't worry about that you deserve this and it's not selfish, this procedure is reconstructive not cosmetic. Best of luck and congrats on approval! Let us know how things are going :)
UPDATED FROM Q2
5 weeks post-op: I'm so sorry that I'm not...
Q2August 24, 2012
5 weeks post-op:
I'm so sorry that I'm not posting pictures without clothes on: Long story, but let's just say I'm nervous about my two tech-savvy teenagers and the fact that I work with middle-schoolers in this town! (If you want to see the "real" pictures, just message me privately and I'll send them)... So...it has been five weeks since my surgery. Everything has gone very well: I feel fantastic and absolutely LOVE the way my new breasts feel and look (& my husband loves them too!). I think the PS said he removed 500 from one side and 450 from the other. It's amazing what a difference a few pounds make when you're carrying them around all day: I feel so light and my shoulders are pain-free! Looks like I'll be about a 32-34 C when the swelling goes down.
I had one relatively minor complication: around one week post-op., I developed a bright red, bumpy and intensely itchy rash. My PS felt that it was my body's reaction to the swelling and bruising. He eventually prescribed a steroid cream, which, in combination with Motrin and Benadryl, helped with the itchiness. The rash finally subsided in about a week. At my 3-wk. post-op. visit I was cleared to ride my bike & swim in our pool. So... although I'm not back to the gym yet, I've been riding on a 14-mile bike trail near my house whenever I can. Hopefully that will help me lose some of the belly fat that I am now ultra-aware of! I feel incredibly fortunate that I have had such an easy recovery and beautiful results. I would do it all over again in a SECOND: totally worth it! This site was so reassuring and helpful to me pre- and post-operatively. Thanks to all those who wrote reviews, and especially to all the brave, open, and kind ladies on the July forum!
I'm so sorry that I'm not posting pictures without clothes on: Long story, but let's just say I'm nervous about my two tech-savvy teenagers and the fact that I work with middle-schoolers in this town! (If you want to see the "real" pictures, just message me privately and I'll send them)... So...it has been five weeks since my surgery. Everything has gone very well: I feel fantastic and absolutely LOVE the way my new breasts feel and look (& my husband loves them too!). I think the PS said he removed 500 from one side and 450 from the other. It's amazing what a difference a few pounds make when you're carrying them around all day: I feel so light and my shoulders are pain-free! Looks like I'll be about a 32-34 C when the swelling goes down.
I had one relatively minor complication: around one week post-op., I developed a bright red, bumpy and intensely itchy rash. My PS felt that it was my body's reaction to the swelling and bruising. He eventually prescribed a steroid cream, which, in combination with Motrin and Benadryl, helped with the itchiness. The rash finally subsided in about a week. At my 3-wk. post-op. visit I was cleared to ride my bike & swim in our pool. So... although I'm not back to the gym yet, I've been riding on a 14-mile bike trail near my house whenever I can. Hopefully that will help me lose some of the belly fat that I am now ultra-aware of! I feel incredibly fortunate that I have had such an easy recovery and beautiful results. I would do it all over again in a SECOND: totally worth it! This site was so reassuring and helpful to me pre- and post-operatively. Thanks to all those who wrote reviews, and especially to all the brave, open, and kind ladies on the July forum!
Replies (9)
August 25, 2012
Just read your threat for the first time and smiled at you worrying about it being frivolous. One of the things that held me back for years was the sense it was "cosmetic" elective surgery at a time in life many friends were fighting cancer (50's were brutal). Had a gf who's a review doc assure me long ago I was a candidate, but like you, saw many women with bigger boobs "dealing"... so why shouldn't I? Well, know we know, huh?? :-)
Can you believe how misguided that thinking was? Can't believe how much easier, and so much more fun life is. Absence of chronic pain is lighter than air! My neighbor followed my lead about a month later, and we had a great giggle today about going braless! No doubt women born with small breasts take it for granted, but to us.... not having a pencil stay put when a sneaker used to...priceless.
Loved your list of things you won't miss. The underwire breaking loose might just be my #1, but frumpy v. trashy's right up there, too. Happy trails!
Can you believe how misguided that thinking was? Can't believe how much easier, and so much more fun life is. Absence of chronic pain is lighter than air! My neighbor followed my lead about a month later, and we had a great giggle today about going braless! No doubt women born with small breasts take it for granted, but to us.... not having a pencil stay put when a sneaker used to...priceless.
Loved your list of things you won't miss. The underwire breaking loose might just be my #1, but frumpy v. trashy's right up there, too. Happy trails!
August 26, 2012
What a difference Q2! I can just imagine the stir it would cause if your students found you revealed on this site :-D Very forward thinking of you to avoid that disaster!
September 10, 2012
q2 how are you doing? i go back to your pictures because you WERE my size and you now are the size I HOPE to be.lol.cant imagine but hopeful..to wear a C.i dont think I ever bought a C bra in my life!..did you have nipple grafting?. How long did you have drain tubes? those are the 2 things worrying me,im sure I will get over it like all of you girls did!,i cant wait and im trembling at the same time,,haha.i hope you are doing as good as you look!!
September 11, 2012
Natalie, thanks for asking! I just had my seven-week post-op visit with my PS today, and it went really well: I'm extremely happy with the results in every way. I feel great (no shoulder/neck pain, lots of energy, etc.), & my breasts are perfect! My PS cleared me to go back to the gym with no restrictions (but of course I'll need to go slowly at first). He said I can go bra-less occasionally because I have a "built-in" bra now. Im probably going to be a 32-34C in the end (just about there now), & it's still totally amazing to me that I can wear tops with shelf bras and spaghetti straps--& feel no weight on my shoulders! In answer to your questions: no, I did not have the FNG: I had the anchor incision (around the areolas, vertical incision, and then a long incision underneath that goes all the way under my arms). Interestingly, I can wear a bikini top and none of the scars show. I stayed over one night in the hospital but wasn't ready to get the drains removed until two days later--surgery on a Thursday & drains removed on Sunday. It did not hurt me at all when the drains were removed, although I've read other people's posts saying it was painful (my nipples had full sensation right away, but my underarm area and sides were numb from the lipo, so that may have helped). You will do just fine, and you won't believe the confidence boost you'll get from having normal-sized, perky breasts! I can't wait to hear about it!
Replies (4)
Hi Q2! You are going to love the freedom this surgery gives you. This summer for the first time in my adult life I bought a swimming suit off the rack and it was the only one I tried on, and then while at the water park, I literally pranced around without a towel or bulky t-shirt trying to hide myself, and I never once had to hide under the water after coming down a slide to shove my boobs back in my top! Glorious!!