Breast Reduction: Stories

I tried to write a review before but it ended up in the forum section so with 2 days to go I'd thought I'd get it right this time & post a review where its supposed to be :)

I'm a single 45 yr old who lives in Nova Scotia with my 2 dogs & cat. I'm the girl that didn't wear a bra until I was 16. I used to get called names like Flatsy Patsy because of my small breasts. Then the summer between grade 11 & 12 happened. Overnight I went from no bra to a C cup!! And its been onward & upward ever since!.

Presently I'm wearing a 40H and thats over flowing if I'm completely honest with myself. I have always wanted a reduction. and this is the 3rd consultation I've had but this is the closest i've come to actually having the surgery. 2 days to go!! May 30th is my big day (or should I say little day.lol)

You see back in my 20s I had seen a surgeon, best in our area, and I was even approved by our provincial medical plan so it was going to be fully paid for. But the waiting list was long, years in fact, but I waited. and waited. Until 2 weeks before my surgery date I got a letter in the mail saying the doctor was no longer doing surgery & I had to see my family doctor to be referred to another PS. Are you kidding me???!!!! I was livid!! until I found out the poor man was dying of terminal cancer & actually died a week later. :(

Somewhere in the back of my head I took that as a sign & decided not to go through with it. until about 5 years later I went to another PS. In that 5 years I had started smoking (dumb!) and gained about 20 lbs (dumb!). He took one look at me & said I wouldn't even consider doing surgery on you because you are not a candidate for perfect results. Lose 30 lbs & quit smoking in the next 3 months & we'll talk. on top of that the rules for the provincial medical had changed, your BMI now has to be under 26 to qualify. Well I was never tiny and even at my thinnest my BMI was over 26. So I left angry & upset. I thought about trying to pay for it myself but was told with hospital costs & other costs it would be close to 20,000. way out of reach for me at the time.

Jump forward about 15 years to last January.. I get a call from my friend and she says "Krista I had a breast reduction last week & you HAVE GOT TO DO THIS!" At first I'm stunned, this girl is slim & fit & athletic, never someone I would think needs a BR. She then tells me that she was wearing a DD minimizing bra & a sports bra all the time (at the same time!) and that after 3 kids her breasts were saggy & deflated & ugly (her words,not mine). She said that when she ran (runs marathons) she would be raw from the chafing and her shoulders would be almost bloody by the end from her bra straps. She went to a surgical clinic that is fairly new to our area, paid privately & came out with perfect 34B breasts, that she is thrilled with.

After talking to her I thought the least I could do was have a consult and it would probably takes weeks to get an appointment
anyway. So I called. And imagine my shock when she says we just had a cancellation, can you come tomorrow?? EEEEEK!! Ok then, I guess I'm doing this.

The consult went very well & the PS was kind, compassionate & more than a bit patient. I was a basket case, even for the consult. I think I was expecting him to say "you don't qualify" but he was awesome! talked about what size to take me to, what I could expect and how it will impact my life. I left feeling nervously excited. I drove directly to the bank & took out a line of credit. I don't care anymore if I have to pay for it myself. I spend money on home renos, on friends & family, on the pets, the car, you name it, but never on fixing myself.

I called when I got home & booked my appointment. Initially it was May 22nd but the anesthesiologist looked at my file and decided he wants me to stay overnight due to it being a large reduction and the fact that I've never had surgery before. It probably doesn't help that i'm overweight as well. So my new surgery date is this Wednesday, May 30th. I live alone so my Mom has agreed to take in me & the dogs for a couple of nights & shes going to drive me to & from surgery. I'm scared. Freaking out in fact. But I can't wait to be on the other side of this all. I'm praying for a good result. For quick healing & no complications. Mostly I'm praying that it will go smoothly and I'll be happy with my decision.

Well I'm home. Surgery was yesterday. I haven't looked yet, I'm all wrapped up with gauze & ace bandages but I can still tell there is a big difference.

I'm a little concerned right now though. My upper arms, neck & cheeks are hot & feel like they are sunburned. Not sure what thats about. I called the surgical clinic and my surgical nurse was still there so she said to take a benedryl or something like that which I did but its still a bit hot. I was going to take my temperature but of course the battery was dead in the thermometer.

My mom just said the redness had decreased some & its not as hot so perhaps its a reaction to something.

I can tell you one thing. I'll definately be going on a diet. For the first time in my life my bellys sticking out further than my boobies. Can't have that!!

Other than the hotness, my pain is minimal. I peak at my new cleavage & it looks good so far, but i'm petrified to look any further. I'm not sure what I'll see. I don't go back to the doctor until June 13th, I can take a shower after a week, and just baths until then, but no water from the waist up.

well I'm still a bit woozey & light headed so i'll leave it at this for now.

Thank you all for your support.

I called the surgical clinic last night & spoke to my nurse about the redness & burning, she said to take a benedryl, which I did, and it helped. It looks like I had a reaction to the red stuff they cover you with in surgery because as soon as i washed that off & took the benedryl I was fine.

The nurse called me today to see how I was doing & she said it sounds like I'm doing really well. I had been taking tylenol #3 but she said i could drop that down to just extra strength tylenol if I like. The only real discomfort I'm feeling is under my breasts, its just an occassional stinging feeling and also under my arms by my ribs where I had the lipo. I lifted the bandages & its bruised there so thats the issue I'm thinking. I take the bandages off tomorrow & I can shower then too. I'm really nervous to take them off but I know i'll feel a lot better once I do. I'll take some pictures then if I can. but i can tell you this,already there is a big difference. I feel proportional for the first time in my life. Normal even, Its a nice change. :)

Well I took off the bandages & had my first shower. It was scary. I almost passed out & had to lay on the bathroom floor while my ears were buzzing. There is a lot of swelling in the upper part of my breasts which are making the nipples look like they are pointing down (not the look I was hoping for lol) and there is a lot of dried blood around the right nipple.

There really isn't a lot of bruising, other than where I had lipo under my arms. I'm worried about the swelling though and also concerned about infection. I would have rathered kept the bandages on longer & then had the doctor remove them. but I don't see my doctor again until the 13th. its all a bit scary to me.

I've been icing my boobs to help with the swelling, any other ideas that might help would be appreciated. :)

I thought i'd post a little update 1 week post op now. I'm feeling really good the last 2 days. I'm not on any pain meds at all anymore, not even a tylenol, and other than being more tired than usual I'm really ok.

Yesterday I did a shopping trip with my Mom, her looking for shoes for her impossibly small size 4 feet & me shopping for a new sports bra for my new fabulously small breasts :). Well neither of us did very well. I really need to lose some weight because I'm in a 42 band right now & its actually really had to find a 42C sports bra. lots of 40s but they are just a bit uncomfortable on my incision. technically i could wear a 40 now if it wasn't for that.

The one I ended up with is horrible. I was uncomfortable all night but had to suffer through it because I had washed my nice comfy one. But I can't wait to get my girls out of this torture device. ugh.

I actually almost bought the "as seen on tv' Genie bra yesterday. They seem very soft & comfy. Has anyone tried them? I may still go back & get them for my sleeping bra.

Overall I think I'm healing ok. I'm a bit concerned about a yucky looking spot under the side of my breast, It feels like its pulling there a bit & very itchy there as well and under the tape it looks scary. I'm hoping its just where it got wet & some dried blood or surgical stuff discolored the tape.

I will be really relieved to see the PS next week though. 2 weeks seems like forever when you don't know whats normal or not. Thank goodness for this site. Its been a God send to me.

Well I've just had my first major melt down in a few days.
I was about to get in the shower & when I took off the bra I had been wearing all night & removed the gauze pad there was a yellowish/green discharge on it from the weird area under my arm.

I called the PS office & and the doctors were all gone for the day but my surgical nurse was there & once I started talking to her I burst into tears, the poor woman must have thought I was crazy. But she was awesome & said to come over first thing tomorrow & they'll have a look at it. she told me not to worry & that even if there is infection there I would have caught it early.

I'm so happy I called. If I had waited until my appointment I dread to think how I would have fared.

Just got home from the PS office & the nurse took off all my old tape & washed me up & said "you silly girl, sit up & look at yourself, you look beautiful" :) and I did. everything looked perfect. swollen & bruised but perfect. What a relief. She taped me back up with hardly any tape this time & send me on my way. Peace of mind is priceless isn't it?

I will mention this. I had told her I was putting pantiliners in my bra instead of gauze & she said that although some PS do say thats ok, it inhibits air getting to the incision & also a lot of them cut back on odor & she said as much as its not nice to smell this is one time that if there is an odor you want to catch it early, because its infection. just an FYI for you girls. She told me to stick with the gauze if i really need it but she would prefer if I went without to let the as much air get to it as possible.

She also told me I looked exhausted (thanks) and asked if i was resting I said well i'm sleeping 8 hours a night as usual, she said is this usual?? do you always walk around with an incision that goes from one side to the other?? NO!!! rest!!! lots!! nap through the day, sleep as much as possible. She said to take tylenol extra strength & ibuprophen together & relax.

Overall I'm feeling 150% better today!!!

10 days post-op & I woke up this morning with absolutely no pain. nothing, not a pull, not a sting, not a winge of any kind. Life is good!!!

Mornings had been the worst, that first moment when I go from laying (sort of) to standing it was like gravity was holding on to my boobs & pulling them down & it hurt. But today I had none of that. In fact I was downstairs letting the dogs out for their pee when I grabbed hold of my boobs & said OMG you don't hurt today!! lol

One thing I have notice in the last day is that my nipples are super sensitive & constantly sticking up for everyone to see. lol.. I suppose its a good thing, they are still in working order, but cripes, I'm gonna take someones eye out. Not to mention it hurts! And also because of swelling I have 'the googley eyes" so they are in different directions and I hate that look!! Gonna have to cover those bad boys up today if I go anywhere. lol

Word of the Day - BORED!!!

OMG I am gonna lose my ever luvin' mind if I don't get out of this house. I'm going shack happy!!

Ok now that I got that out of my system lets begin :)

Really there is nothing new. although I have noticed the swelling is going down a bit in the right boob so its not looking so much bigger anymore, which is a good thing. They feel really good today. not sore at all, no itchiness or stinging like I had on the incisions before. The biggest complaint today, other than the boredom, is that when my nipples get hard they hurt like a bugger the dog wants to lay on the deck & won't stay out there unless I leave the door open for her so its a bit nippley in the house. lol

I slept in a tank top with a built in bra last night. I haven't been sleeping that great & I think it could have to do with the fact that my bra was irritating my incision a bit near my arm. Nothing serious, just as if there was a tag there that you can't rip off. but enough to disturb my already light sleep. This sleeping on your back is for the birds.. I cannot wait to curl up on my side, and just sleep. ahhhh, just thinking about it makes me happy.

A couple of days ago I noticed a scratch beside the tape around my right nipple, I thought perhaps I had scratched myself putting on my bra or something like that, didn't really think much of it. then that night when i was getting undressed I noticed it was a bit red & had yellow pus on it. not pretty. so i put a bandaid with some polysporin over it while i slept. In the morning it was worse & i felt guilty for using the polysporin because my PS doesn't want me using that on my incisions so I didn't think i should use it period. anyway. the next morning it was a bit less red but still yellowish in the middle so i decided to just let the air get at it & took off the bandaid. that night it was a bit better & in my infinite wisdom decided putting a steri strip over it was the best thing. (NOT). When I got up today I looked at it & you could see the infection under the steri strip, just a small amount but enough to send me into a small tizzy. It is literally right next to the steri strip around my nipple. What if it hopes over & infects my nip? what if said nip falls off!!! OMG!! I start to cry, then panic. then google the shit out of infection treatments. Nothing beats a good self diagnosis right? After an hour of reading many, many websites about wound care I decided to wipe it down with a bit of peroxide to help get rid of the infection. I then put a very light coat of polysporin on it & covered it with gauze. Fingers crossed!

I really should have gone to medical school.

I just got home from my 2 week post op appointment & my Rn Joanne said Beautiful job! She said I'm being the perfect patient and doing everything right. :) At least I'm perfect at something. Its gonna cost me a fortune to keep having surgeries to prove it though.

She took off the old tape & put some more on, said to leave it on for 1 week and then go tape free after that. I have no open areas, no seepage, or discharge or any kind, no redness, its all good. I asked her about the swelling still happening in Miss Right & she said, all normal. she'll settle down in no time. I asked about the burning under my arms that hurts a lot when I get up in the morning or reach for something. Its all related to the lipo, normal, give it time. So overall I'm really relieved & going along just as I'm supposed to. I don't go back now for 6 weeks.

I dropped a few hints about taking another rotation off of work. I go back next Friday. She looked at me & said "why do you think you need to be off/" I said well I get tired really fast & if i overdo it I get light headed. She said, with a strait face I may add " do you hop around when you answer the phone?" (I'm a 911 operator/dispatcher) and I said with a sheepish grin, "no" and she said "girl get back to work, cripes." Its hard to hate her but i did just a little right then. Man it would have been nice to streatch it out a bit more. lol

I was reading Zing's update & she mentioned hating the cold sections of the store & ironically I had just gotten back to from the grocery store & had to actually ask someone to get frozen veggies for me because I almost lost a nipple picking out pizzas 5 minutes before. At least I know they're working, which is a good thing.

I added a couple of pictures but really they are pretty similar to the last batch, just reduced bruising & the infamous scratch on the Miss Right can be seen.

Tata for now (pardon the pun,ha)

Oh I forgot to mention earlier I asked the RN to check my file to see how much was removed from my breasts & the total is (drum roll please) 1075 from the right & 1030 from the left. Now thats a lot of boobage. I sure hope they give it to poor flat chested girl out there. I worked it out & its just over 4.5 lbs total plus a bit of lipo so I should be down about 5-6 lbs i'm thinking. I haven't weighed myself simply because my eating has been atrocious lately. Too tired or weak to cook for myself so its been a lot of frozen stuff or take out.But gonna get back on the wagon in the next day or too, as soon as the Haagen Daz is all gone :P

Not feeling so hot today. Really tired feeling but slept ok. Also my incisions, especially under my breasts towards the underarms are really stinging & sore today. I've also been having random shots of pain to the right breast. Just an over all uncomfortable day. I have a feeling its because I slept in a tank top with a built in bra last night. Although it felt really secure I think the girls were too loosey goosey in there. As much as I hate sleeping in the sports bra I'm thinking I'm going to have to for a bit longer.

Picked up some Motrin & Mederma today. Gonna see if the Motrin helps me while I try to talk the dogs into a nap on a beautiful sunny day when they'd much rather be at the P-A-R-K having a W-A-L-K. wish me luck.

Hello girls!

Not much going on here today. I have been having a lot of discomfort along my incisions, especially around the areolas. It's not unbareable or anything, just a sort of burning uncomfortable feeling. especially when driving or walking. Even my most comfortable bra is bugging me today. I'm hoping its just the healing.

On a brighter note I bought a new bra tonight for $8!! I had a customer appreciation coupon from Penningtons for $25 off anything in the store & they had a sale on their bras so I got a simple cotton comfy bra for $8. I almost cried when she rang it up. When you consider what I used to pay for my bras it amazes me.

Still feeling tired today, but not as bad as I was yesterday, I literally slept half the day away yesterday. No nap today but I have a feeling I won't be long for this world tonight.

Hope you all are doing well. xx K

Having a bit of a bad day today. I'm not even sure why really but everything feels really tender & sore. Driving to the grocery store almost brought me to tears earlier. I wonder if its anything to do with PMS? I should be starting my cycle in a week or so, Possible?? I just feel like every inch of my incision is stinging & uncomfortable. I want to rip off this bloody bra & biff it across the room. I've also had a bit of drainage in a couple of spots which bums me out a bit, I was hoping I was done with that nonsense. And on top of that I think I have a stitch coming through my skin. In the words of the almighty Piggles - *le sigh*

To the ladies who have tape over your incisions, how long did you keep it on? I was told I could take mine off on wednesday coming, that will be 3 weeks, but to be honest I want it off now!!! The drainage gets trapped under the tape & it looks disgusting. I ripped off a couple of pieces earlier, wiped it down with alcohol to clean it up & retaped it. I'm praying thats ok,

Anyway, once again I'm just venting. Hoping someone out there in cyber land knows how i'm feeling & can talk me down off my virtual ledge once again. :)

Good Morning Ladies!

So when I took off my bra last night there were a lot of bloody spots from the T junction at the bottom of my right breast. It had been oozing yellowish gunk & now blood. I have to say I freaked out a tiny bit. I pulled off the steri-strip & washed the area with this new wound wash stuff I found at the drug store & got out a mirror & gave it a good look. Its really hard to tell whats good & whats not when you don't know what you're looking for. I can can with certainty that there is no infection, its not red & hot, no more yellowish stuff, but there is a a tiny open spot. I taped it back up & went to bed, hoping over night a miracle would occur & I'd be healed. No such luck.

So I called my PS office & got to speak to the RN,Joanne, again. (love her but starting to think the PS was a figment of my imagination) She said as long as theres no infection that it will heal, just wash it as usual in the shower using the anti bacterial soap & take the tape off on wednesday. I felt a little let down. I wanted her to say "come on over, we'll have a look" or at least say I was justified for calling, but instead I felt like I wasted her time. Although I'm sure thats not what she was thinking, overly sensitive me, felt that way.

On a positive note I have found my incisions to be a lot less irritable the last 2 days, and the overly sensitive nipples have calmed down a tad. Also I've discovered I can now dig change out of my car dashboard cubby hole without blowing the horn with my boobs :) Always look at the little things I say.

I may try to take a picture of my funny spot later & see what you all think. Also under that steri strip there was a big hard crusty scab over the incision line further down from the T joint. Is that normal?? did I rip the incision open & now its crusted over & there will be a hideous scar there. God help me. I'm going to lose my ever lovin' mind.

Well I did it! I took off my steri-strips & didn't die!! Or lose a boob!! Yay me!! I did get a bit woozy & started shaking & thought I could pass out but I soldiered on & gotter done! I'm a bit freaked out by my incisions. I was hoping for nice straight even lines but instead I'm feeling a bit like Edward Scissorhands were at me. Plus I've got stitches sticking out here & there & really hard something-or-others sticking out as well that keep getting caught on stuff. Scabs? or stitches? hard to tell. I also had a bit of a reaction the the tape on my right side, it actually pulled the skin off by my nipple & it bled a bit & the line from the nipple down is very pale looking on either side where the tape was, its bizarre.

The right side has swollen back up again so that one looks higher & bigger, but I'm hoping that will even out, in fact just yesterday I was thinking they were much more even. I had soup for supper last night so perhaps the sodium did me in. Plus I slept in my sports bra for the first time in 4 days last night. I think that doesnt' help either. It is very irritating. I've been sleeping in a tank top with a self bra and its very comfy & things felt really good but decided to wear the bra last night due to the open spot & wanting to put polysporin on it with gauze, the tank wouldn't have held that in place very well. anyway I'm going back to the tank tonight for sure.

Its funny, the right breast is swollen & bigger looking but the nipple looks good, the other one the nipple looks a bit beaten & bruised. lol. they are not matching up very well today. poor girls.
I posted a couple of pictures, the 2nd one so you can see the under side abit better.

Good Morning ladies!

Its my 2nd day back at work, feeling better today than yesterday. I literally felt like crawling under the desk & sleeping more than once. Luckily I was put in a position that was fairly relaxed & layed back. I was worried about that. I work as a Police/Fire dispatcher & 911 operator & on day shifts doing 911 can be very busy because we answer the nonemergcy line & alarm monitoring lines as well. Depending on what zone you dispatch in police it can be busy as well & in fire I pray for rain. lol I was in a rural area of the RCMP so it was an easy day & the guys were lonely so we did a lot of chatting back & forth on the computer (sort of like a chat thing that goes right to their cars), it helped pass the time.

The 12 hours was still long, especially since I had a hard time sleeping the night before, a combination of worrying I would miss my alarm at 4am & 2 dogs who were sure they were missing all the action outside. I was so tired when I got home I didn't even take the poor dogs to the park for the first time since surgery. We never miss a day. I pulled a quick one on them & took them to the pet store my friend owns & he let them run around with other dogs that were there & stuffed them full of special treats & they came home happy. :)

As for the boobs- things are going well for the most part. I still have that little spot at the bottom of the T-junction, I keep some gauze over it & every night there is a bit of bloody looking discharge on it. It concerns me but i'm keeping a close eye on it. I've been washing 2-3 times a day with the antibacterial soap & water & keeping the area as dry & clean as possible.

I also have some stitches poking out here & there. They get on my nerves. I wasn't expecting them to be so hard, I pictured sewing thread lol. But these things are HARD! One was coming out from around my areola & I attempted to pull it out with tweezers & it wasn't budging, after a couple of good yanks I gave up. All I could picture was all my stitchs unraveling like when you pull a thread on the hem of your skirt, and them my boob falling on the floor. (a bit dramatic??? I think not! hehe) Anyway I ended up clipping it off with manicure scissors. I also have a couple under the boobs, one on the outer edge under my arm almost at the end of the incision & the other more under the boob on the other side. I can't get at them myself & don't really have anyone to help me with them, as long as they don't get irriated I'll leave them but if they give me trouble I may have to call the PS office & see if the RN can squeeze me in. The last one is at the bottom of my areola right at the T junction where there is a scab & the stitch is in the middle of the scab (yummy right?) I don't want to touch it in case it pulls the scab off too early, the last thing I need is another open spot. Other than all that things are healing ok lol. everytime I wash little bits of scabs come off the incisions & its basically just incision line now on about 90% of it. which is good.

Heres a question for you all post op girls - I have little indents on either side of my incisions, as if a stitch is pulling from inside, not along the whole incision line but in a lot of spots. Does anyone else have this?? does it go away? should I be concerned?

Well since I"m at work I should at least pretend I'm doing something. I'm sitting in fire dispatch today & its raining. WHeeeeeeeeeeeee!!. Gonna be a long, but easy day. Have a great day y'all

Just got home from work & changed my clothes & I'm happy to announce Lefty is SCAB FREE!! Yayyyy. Miss Right is still oozing a teeny tiny bit but looking ok.

Also i forgot to mention earlier that for the last 2 nights i've been able to sleep on my side, clutching a pillow to my chest so my boobs don't fly off but still, I managed. :)

Thats it......for now :o)

Well I made it through my first rotation back to work!! Back to days off. yayyyyyyyyyyy!! It wasn't horrible...it wasn't great either. Luckily the supervisors took pity on me & sat me in positions that were easier (we have 6 police dispatch, 4 fire & 7 911 positions) but even still I went home each day sore & achy and a bit swollen. The incisions under both breasts, on the outside edge are inflamed & quite sore. Not pain med worthy just yet but I'm aware of them all the time now. I called my PS office to speak to my RN (since the doctor is a figment of my imagination as you all know) and she was gone for the day, but when talking to the receptionist I told her whats going on, as well as my stitches coming through & also about the weird area along the vertical incision & she got my file & said "you had dissolvable stitches, you're 4 weeks post-op now, that shouldn't be an issue. can you come in in the morning?" (thank you Jesus) So I'm off to the PS office in the morning to face my cute little RN who will Poo Poo all over my concerns & send me on my way again. lol But peace of mind is priceless.

Heres a question for you all. Have any of you used Palmers Skin therapy oil on your incisions? It has really good reviews from all the reading I've been doing. I have put Bio Oil on my whole breasts the last 2 days & despite the issues they look pretty good. my incisions are healing up really nicely, especially around the areola, but I'm not a fan of the smell of the Bio Oil. The only problem with the Palmers is I can't find it locally & will have to try to find a website that delivers to Canada. :(.

On a more personal note, I'm 4 weeks out as of tomorrow & I've still not bonded with the new girls, if you know what I mean. They seem foreign to me. Like someone stuck a knee on my chest. I loved the old girls and despite their size they matched the rest of me & made me feel feminine & sexy. Now I feel like a chubby chick with knee boobs :(. Maybe once they start bouncing a bit when I walk or someone of the male persuasion starts to appreciate them again I'll feel differently but as of right now they are just a nuisance that i'm constantly aware of, like a gnat buzzing around. always there, in your face, irritating you.

Poor boobies. lol

Just back from the PS office. I was expecting a quick visit with the RN where she would say "You're fine, stop worrying. Relax..blah blah blah" But she didn't. She said "that doesn't look good, lets get the big guy to have a look, I think you need to be on antibiotics" Unfortunately my PS was in surgery so I had to wait around for almost 2 hours, but I did a little shopping & had some lunch so it wasn't bad. He wasn't concerned about the puffy area along the vertical incision on the right breast, or the funny spot under it, he said both would take care of themselves. Also the swelling on the right side should resolve itself as well, He checked the chart to see if one was bigger than the other to begin with & I was fairly symmetrical so we are chocking the bigness to either swelling or trapped blood (yuck) that my body will absorb eventually.

However, the redness along my incision on the left side, from turning in bed a few days ago is infected, not badly but definately infected. He said its possible I popped an internal stitch or two when I told him how it felt when it happened. He drew a big circle around it & gave me a prescription for Keflex & said to start taking it if the redness spreads outside of the circle. but don't you think it would be better to start it now & prevent it from spreading. I mean seriously. Lets get sicker before we do anything. Bull crap to that idea I say. I'm starting them today. whats the worse than can happen? I get better?? geesh.

I'm quite sore today, driving really bothers my sides from the lipo i think, also thats where the infection is so both things are not helping. I'm going to rest tonight, but right now I have 2 furry faces begging for a trip to the P A R K so i'm off.

Hope you all have a great day.

2nd full day of antibiotics under way. The redness is better and the swelling in Miss Right has gone down considerably which is awesome. The nips are finally lining up, sort of. lol I had asked the PS about the difference in size when I was in there other day & he asked me if they were much different prior to surgery & I told him no, they were very symmetrical really and when he looked at my chart & saw that the amount removed from each breast wIIas very similar he agreed & said its probably just swelling or blood (eek) which will absorb on its own.

I'm feeling rather knackered today, I had to work an extra night shift last night so I'm all out of sorts and didnt' get any sleep. plus the antibiotics are playing games with my system. Just overall feeling yucky. I go back to day shifts tomorrow and I'm considering pulling a sicky. Or two even. I'm never going to heal if i'm exhausted. I wish I had just taken an extra rotation off to begin with. ugh.

I can' t tell you ladies how much I appreciate you all that post pictures. It really makes me feel normal to see other peoples progress. Although I'm starting to feel like my uncle Randy with my Nans Sears catelogue when we were kids. lol I'm spending an awful lot of time looking at boobs. hehe Speaking of looking at boobs - funny story.. (first please keep in mind I am the furthers thing from homophobic, I just prefer meat & potatoes :P ) So i'm on facebook & my friend Elaine messages me & says my friend saw your new profile & thinks your really cute. Me, who has been single for about 5 years now & can't seem to get a date, says OH REALLY!!!! to which she replies "yes SHE thinks your adorable!!" Seriously??? I did not just fork out 10 grand to show my tits to another woman...(no offence girls lol) but really. I promptly told my friend to go stuff herself and than actually considered doubling my wardrobe for a split second... nahhhh I love the boys :)

Happy Canada Day to all my lovely Canadian Ladies!!!!

Not much of an update really, just wanted to say I HATE Bio Oil!!! I finally got up the nerve to try a bit of massage on my incisions night before last using the bio oil and I woke up red & inflamed all over again and not just the underboob incision (pardon my medical jargon I took a medical terminology course years ago & it sometimes pops up,ha) but also all around the nipple & the vertical incision as well. well crap. here we go again.

So last night I just gave the girls a good was with the antibacterial wash & put on my sturdiest sports bra & when I got up today it was looking a lot better but the incisions themselves are almost purple they are so red. I should have just left them alone for a bit, but of course I had to make like a lemming & follow the crowd....I can just hear my mother now,,"if everyone jumped off the bridge would you want to do that too????" which was often the response to my whining "But Moooooooooommmm, everyone else is doing it!!!"

Speaking of sports bras, wanna hear something funny, well not funny haha but odd.. my 2 old sports bras that I used to wear with my big ole H cups fit me just fine now as well, in my C cups. I must have really jammed those puppies in there. My favorite Enell bra is the one I have been sleeping in lately, its like a vest, with a gazillion hooks up the front and it keeps the girls locked & loaded, even the smaller girls, but what i like the most is the bottom band is down further, almost to the waistline, away from the incisions so they don't get irritated at night. Might be a good post surgery bra for you girls to look at.

Anyway, the sun is shining & the pups are bored so I better get a move on. have a wonderful Canada day to you all!! even you poor old Non Canadians. lol

5 weeks post op today! Every week I see an improvement. Its been slow & steady but I hear that wins the race, right? lol

My incisions are all healed except for that darn spot under the right breast, it broke back open & a stitch was hanging down, not a hard plastic one, but a soft white one. I tried to pull it but it hurt & it bled so I just trimmed it close to the skin. the next day it looked better. This morning, its inflamed AGAIN! and theres the stitch, AGAIN! Maybe some swelling went down & the stitch came out further, who knows. all I know is I wish it would heal up. geesh.

My boobs are very unphotogenic, they dont look nearly as wonky in person as they do in these pictures. & they look huge in the pictures too. its weird. I am not that pleased with the fact that the right seems bigger than the left still. I keep hoping its swelling, and maybe it is, but it may just be bigger. which sucks. I wanted pretty boobs, my big ones were big but I thought they were pretty. Now I don't feel like they're pretty at all. But they are easy to cart around. thats for sure!.

It still early in the healing process so I won't freak out yet. Are there any ladies out there 3 months or more post op who started out with uneven breasts & they evened out? please say yes!

Hello ladies!

Just a quick little update, more to entertain myself than anything else. :)

Well I think I've finally turned the corner. Things are looking pretty good. My open spot at the lower t-junction is very tentatively closed, I'm afraid if I sneeze it will blow open again but as of this very second its closed!! yay!! I think what helped was spritzing it with a saline spray called Simply Saline. Its meant for sinus issues & sprays a super fine mist of (you guessed it) Simply Saline. A friend who had a tummy tuck last year told me when she had a stubborn open spot she used salt water daily on it & it closed up so I thought why not try the saline and I can't swear that was the answer but my spot is finally closed up after almost 6 weeks so I can say that it didn't hurt.

I've also started massaging the scars a bit, especially in the shower and it seems to be helping with a few issues, particularly below the left nipple where the vertical scar almost seems attached below the skin & was pulling the nipple downward making the nipple look lower than the right. Its not 100% better by any means but I can see a big difference in nipple placement, I'm not constantly rearranging my nipples in my bra because they look so bloody wonky. I still get very red & irritated looking after a full day wearing my bra & am much more comfortable braless. Also I've noticed my incision lines themselves have reddened quite a bit especially around the areola, perhaps from the lotion I'm using? or just the massage itself? hard to say.

Other than the boobs I can say the last couple of days I'm feeling some of my mojo come back, not all, but its coming. I'm sleeping better (still on the back but used to it now), I've been eating much better lately & even had a dreaded salad for lunch!! lol. I can't start working out until I see my PS next week (?) but at least I have some energy now to walk more.

Over all coming into week 6 feeling much more positive than I did coming into week 5.

Added a pic, its still puffy under the right nipple & pulled in under the left but they are looking a bit more even. at least in my little fantasy world they are. :)

Did a little experiment last night before bed.

I had been trying different things on my incisions for scar treatment, Bio Oil, Maderma, some other body oil with vit E & Aloe, and every one of them made my incisions very red & inflamed looking in the morning so I had been just spritzing with the SImply Saline before bed & putting a tiny amount of polysporin over the closed incisions and things were doing ok.

Yesterday I got my Palmers oil in the mail (thank you friend xx) and decided to do a side by side comparison. Before bed I did my usual saline & poly on one side & used the palmers on the other. well this morning there was an obvious winner.......

PALMERS!!!

The incisions on the Palmers side were less red & things just looked over all...well, normal. The other side looked ok, but still a bit red & not normal. Hopefully the Palmers will continue to work so well, but for me, at this time, its AWESOME!

Not a real update just a comment -

I've been using the Palmers oil for 2 days now & I just noticed the dimple on the side of my vertical incision on the right breast has finally released & looks perfect!! Not sure if that was thanks to the Palmers or the 'massage' but I'm glad its gone. Yay!

Just a quick note, I added a picture, I don't know if the difference is obvious to you all but in just a week of using the Palmers Oil I've noticed a huge improvement. Not to mention I feel like I've finally turned the bend, things aren't hurting as much, no more open areas at all ( BIG YAY!!) and I feel like my energy levels are almost back to where they are. The only area of concern I have now is under my left areola the incision seems to be pulling inward a bit causing the nipple to appear lower & downward, Side on the area below the areola is flat & sort of pushed in looking, its just a bit weird. I noticed the incision below the areola on the breast had almost a y a the top of the incision, so the incision splits about 0.5 inches below the areola, not sure why, but perhaps that has something to do with the pushed in look. The vertical incison on that breast isn't straight either. I wonder if the PS had trouble with that one in surgery. Oh to be a fly on the wall eh?

Hope you all are doing great!! luv ya ladies!!

Had my check up with the PS this morning & I passed with flying colors!! I don't have to go back for 8 months,unless something comes up (which i hope it doesn't) I have been cleared to swim, exercise, bath, all the things I've been missing. He said I can ease into wearing an underwire bra, no more than 4 hours at a time to start. He said they are very irritating to incisions so if I can hold off for a while I'll probably be better off. So I will. no biggy. I asked him about every little spot I was concerned about. He agreed there is a tight spot pulling under the left nipple but massage & time will work that out. He was quite impressed with how my breasts were looking considering the last time he saw me the left was all inflamed & sore & the right was still a bit swollen. Things are almost even now & the nipple are pretty much lined up which was one of my big concerns. I do have a puffy patch under my arm from the lipo that is still a bit sore & uncomfortable to lay on but he said that could take up to 6 months to feel normal and that the lipo is often the last to heal.
If you had asked me a month ago, at the 3 week point, if I was happy with my outcome I would have been on the fence. definitely second guessing my decision some days at that point, but now I'm very happy. I saw a friend today for the first time since my surgery. she knew I had it done and she said "If I didn't know I wouldn't even know you had surgery I'd just think you lost weight" which is great by me. what woman doesn't want to look like she lost weight.lol. especially when shes up about 20lbs haha.

And the topper of the day was stopping at the mall & finding some really cute bras, they were 2 for $25 on sale, but marked down even further to 2 for $15 because the store is closing. when I get to the cash they were even cheaper - 2 for $7.50!!!! seriously????? I almost cried. I'm telling you. the money I save on bras alone is going to pay for this surgery. :)

Laters, Babies!

ps

Hello girls! Well I'm just past well past the 2 month mark now & can honestly say the worse is behind me. Every inch of incision is completely healed now, Thank God! and even that horrible T-junction that didn't want to heal is all better with a very minimal scar. My worst scars are on my sides from when I pulled them sleeping on my side (take note newbies!) In fact that is the only area the scars are raised or thick feeling, everywhere else you can't even feel the scars.

Although I am completely thrilled to have smaller breasts I'm not 100% thrilled with the outcome. My right breast is bigger and I have a dog ear of sorts under that arm where theres a pocket of fat that the lipo didn't get. I was hoping it was swelling but after this long I doubt it. Also my left breast looks a little mangled with a crooked vertical incision & its a bit pushed in under the nipple at that spot and above the nipple is a puffy area where the skin is looser than other places so when i look down I see my nipple on the right breast & just that puffy area on the left. . Also the shape of the two breasts are not the same. I keep hoping things will even up & have been told it takes a good 6 months to see things do so but i feel pretty settled at this point.

I added a few pictures, showing my scars & my new favorite around the house bra, just a cheap little number from Walmart but so comfy & cute.

I still have discomfort sleeping on my side but can now do so for short periods of time but other than that I go long periods of time without even thinking about my boobs these days. Nice eh?

To all my regulars, Piggles, Se1fie,WC & more, I wouldn't have made it through without you all. Much love & friendship to you all.

Happy Healing!!