Breast Reduction: Stories

Hello ladies,

What a great forum to share experiences. It is comforting to hear the stories and the experiences.

I am scheduled for a breast reduction on July 17th and let me tell you I have been counting the days!

I am 51 years old, and currently a38 E. my PS said that he could not guarantee a size but would do what looks proper for my size (I am a size 10). I am getting lipo done as well on the sides and that is not covered by insurance so that is $3000 but apparently it is better for esthetics and will reduce the size of the incisions. I will post some before pics shortly.

Okay three days to go...i am so excited, not in the least bit nervous. After reading everything on the board I have a good idea what to expect and am ready. I am enjoying the last weekend up at the cottage for a few weeks, have Monday off to do a final clean of the house, laundry, groceries etc. and then I am good to go! I have two before pics just have to figure out how to load them!

Alright, on a laptop now so I now can post pics. Here are the two before pics. I will post some after pics, well, after. OMG - 48 hours from now I will be home recovering!!

Okay, the hospital called, I am the first surgery in the morning - 8:00 a.m. Have to be there by 6:45 for the pre-op. I should be home mid-afternoon!! Very happy it is first thing in the morning as I am not good without coffee so the sooner the better! Will hopefully be able to update tomorrow afternoon if I am not too groggy. I have my sports bra, my comfy button up shirt, laxatives, chicken soup, my recliner chair, ice packs chilling in the freezer, tylenol 3s, anything else I need?

IT IS DONE!! I am so happy. I am bound, taped, frozen, drugged up but a little peek under the packing and hot damn I have little boobs!! No pain right now but I am sure that will change over the next few hours. My neighbor stopped by, it is fortunate that I have a nurse and a paramedic right next door to me, and said I looked good.

I have my follow up appointment Friday morning so I will see them for the first time. I am so happy and am 110% sure that this was the right decision.

Local wearing off .... Yippee.

Question/observation. Did you start checking out breasts on other women once you decided to go ahead with a BR? Hopefully now that this is done I can stop checking out breasts and go back to men's butts again :)

OMG I have the most wonderful, small perky little breasts. I have never EVER had boobs like these. Phone crapped out but will take pics when it is charged. Swelling, especially around the lipo areas and that is uncomfortable. And belly bloated! At least I hope it is and not that my breasts are so small that it makes my belly look big. But man am I pleased. Nipples working too :)

Day 2 PO - no pain meds today and that is certainly helping getting things going again!! Peeing a lot too. Tomorrow I go go PS for a follow up. The office is closed next week. I have one nipple that is leaving the occasional drop of fluid on my bra but other than that all seems good. Had a shower today and that felt so good. Slept a bit better last night and napped a lot today. Still feel a bit like a wrestler walking around with my arms out as my sides are swollen and tender.

Day 3 PO - went to PS today for a follow up as he is on holidays next week. My mother (near 80) drove me ... I can drive no problem but she wants to be helpful. Remind me not to do that again. Anyhoooo, doc looked at the new girls, said I was doing great and said next Thursday I can take the tape off myself but warned that there may be a bit of bleeding, especially around the nipples. Good to know. Answered my questions about going to the gym, (I have to do aquafit as I have arthritis in my hip and need a new one but. I am too young, and that is another board). Then, he said he does not need to see me again, unless I have problems!!! Love it!!! No oozing, bleeding or staining today so I guess all is good.

So, I went shopping! The ladies in La Senza knew ths was happening and were all agog when I came in as it was only three days ago. Did some browsing and they measured me up (38C - I am a Freaking C!!!!!) but still swollen, especially at the lipo sites so that may go down to 36 in a bit).

Weight was back to normal this morning...after the five pounds I gained in a day, so happy about that too.

I guess that is all I have to report on today. Oh, bruises are 50 shades of purple and not very attractive but frankly, I don't give a sh...poop! :)

P.S. every year my husband's family descends upon our peaceful cottage for the "trailer park weekend". It is a weekend of swimming, boating, boozing, roasting marshmallows, hotdogs, and this year bras, on the fire. I should take all the underwires and weld two-pronged marshmallow spits!

Alrighty then - update day 5 PO. Overdid it a bit yesterday so had to take some meds :( silly me! But bought some pretty tops and god a ped. Toes have colour again. I felt kind of nekid with no polish. Learned my lesson tho. Otherwise all is good. but I have to admit I hate, Hate, HATE sleeping on my back. I slept in my bed (hubby is at cottage so I am able to use all the pillows to prop myself up, but damn when you have a hot flash and your back is sweating, it is annoying not to be able to roll over to cool off. A small price to pay for my awesome boobs! The boobs are starting to soften up a bit up top and not feeling like they are being stretched across my chest.

Today I have to go to my sister-in-law's for a birthday so the IBTs will be making their familial debut. I am pretty excited. Have to go grocery shopping because I am the family salad expert. Just the basics...no heavy stuff. Promise!

Tomorrow I am getting the roots touched up...hey I have the boobs of a 20 year old, no sense having grey roots.

I wanted to put something in here about my PS. In the operating room when he was marking me up...the dude did it freehand!! No template, even tho the resident had one for him, he said he never uses them. I think he has done this once or twice. I also had a cyst in my left breast and that appears to be gone too! Added bonus I guess. I had warned him about it and it was marked when I had the mammo done.

Tomorrow is my last day off work :(. I have to go back but my boss, who is the coolest boss EVER - we had a going away bevvie for the girls my last day of work - is well aware of everything and he will be okay if I have to go rest for a bit in our "sick room" (it has a reclining sofa). I my bored shitless here anyways.

I have a huge bag of bras ready to bring up to the cottage for the bra burning. My underwear drawer is all cleaned out and awaiting the new additions - sept 29th is my one day trip to Toronto to hit Victoria's Secret for some serious bra shopping. 2 1/2 months should see most of the swelling gone...I hope!!

Out for now - need to shower and get ready.

BB

P.S. for the day: vegetable section of the grocery store is cold....nipples work....too well

Day 6 - it is hard to believe that this time last week I was getting ready to go under the knife and now, my little Cs are now almost ready to be fully unleashed. Almost ready. Tape removal day is thursday but I will wait till I get home from work for the big reveal. I would not want anything untoward happening while I am trying to get ready for work. Plus the PS warned me that there may be a bit of bleeding so I don't want that at work. The nurse neighbour is bringing home some tape in case I want to retape for a day or two more. No news to report which is good under the circumstances.

Back to work tomorrow - already. My sleep patterns are so out of whack I have no clue how the hell I am going to sleep! Should be interesting tomorrow when I get there. Some people knew, some people didn't. I am waiting for the looks!

Day 8 - PO and day 2 at work. Work is going surprisingly well, and the comments I am getting are amazing! Apparently smaller boobs make you look taller! Which is fine by me. All in all it is good to be out again. Not over doing it and being good about not lifting or stretching. Sleep is still awkward on my back but hey, you sleep when you must. Cat naps on the couch help.

Took the tape off this morning and had a shower with antibacterial soap to clean the girls up. A bit of bleeding from the right nipple but PS said to expect that when I took the tape off. After shower I put on a bit of polysporin like he recommended and taped them back up. So far just a little bit of blood where the nipple bled but all other places are clean. Incisions underneath lumpy bumpy scabby but nothing out of the ordinary. No gaping holes, redness or anything - :) I will go with this tape on till Friday and if all is good take it off for good! Maybe. We'll see. Still lots of swelling at lipo sites but think that will be taking it's sweet farking time to go down. Might put some kineseo tape on the area to see if that helps the bruising and swelling.

Sports bras are going to be the death of me. I hate them!! The itching is ramping up now and the bras just make it 10 times worse. I got home from work and took it off and am wearing a tank top with a built in bra. Sooooo much better. In a rebellious moment last night I went bra less for about half an hour. What an amazing feeling. No bouncy melons or nipps pointing at my feet. Was able to lie down without them falling under my arms. I think the last time that happened I was 12! Damn why did I wait so long to do this???

Well here I am, day 11 and all is going well. The girls have been naked since Thursday, no tape, no steristrips, just hanging around. Although they are not hanging anymore! I took some pics but for some reason could not upload on my laptop yesterday, I will try again today! I am feeling a bit like a porcupine with all these little stitches poking out right now. They are not bugging me so I am leaving them alone for a few more days. Working as been fine, a bit tired on Thursday but left early and rested them. The incisions all look great. A few little scabs but no redness, no gaps or openings, and no leaking so I cannot be happier!!! Hubby saw them ... finally and was surprised they were not frankenboobs! Bruising is going away, still tender and swollen on the lipo sites.

The sports bras were doing me in so I went to Zellers and picked up a few camis with shelf bras. Work like a charm!! They were also on sale for $3.

I was thinking I would go to the cottage this weekend but still don't think I would enjoy a 1hour and 20 minute drive. It is lake water fed as well and there is no freakin way i am putting these recovering incisions near lake water!! I can sit and watch the Olympics instead!!

Hope everyone is doing good. Now to go clean the front hall. Apparently one of the dogs has the shits (and I am jealous!!)

Day 13 - just when I thought everything was going so well. Got home from work today after feeling a couple of twinges around my nips to see some redness around the incisions. Not really, really red, not hot, but it was not there this morning. I hope I am not getting an infection There is no "stuff" or openings so that is good. Washed up and put some polysporin and taped them up. I will check in the morning to see ifthe redness is going away. Maybe it was just some irritation but will see in the morning. More spitting stitches so I hope they are not causing a problem. If there is redness tomorrow, I will call doc and see if I should go in to get the stitches out. I was doing sooooo well. (Was I hoping for a perfect recovery? Well kind of, ya!) Oh, I should check to see if the nurse is home next door!!

Added another pic from day 9. :)

Phew day 14 and went to get the redness checked out. PS was not in but his nurse took a look and said all was good. Mostly just signs of healing but there could be some irritation because of the stitches she took them all out and man what a relief! Then a quick wipe with hydrogen peroxide, a in coating of polysporin and I am good to go. Said to put polysporin on morning and night and if there are any worries a quick trip back or even just to GP for some antibodies. Otherwise all is good and healing well.

Found out that they took 315 from right breast and 400 from left.

Other stuff - no swimming for another 4 weeks so no aquafit, can start going back to gym but easy easy workouts. No cottage water AT ALL and there is no way I would do that anyways. Another two weeks of sports bras etc., and if any more stitches spit, just a quick snip and then polysporin the area.

Feel better now :)

Day 20!! Wow how time flies! One day short of three weeks and feeling fantastic. Almost all stitches are gone, just a few scragglers but they are at the T juncture so they can take their time. It is a long weekend for us Canucks so I have been enjoying the Olympics, getting stuff done around the house at a leisurely pace and just kicking back. Feeling almost 100% again, unless you count the irritable nipples!! There were a couple of days where I almost could not take it.

Getting some dropping and relaxing now and the swelling is still an issue, more so at night when the bra starts to feel a bit snug. I have put some Kiniseo tape on them to see if that will help a bit - can't hurt right? Started some light massaging on the incisions, which hurts in some spots but I just lighten up a bit. Reddness all gone and only a little amount of scabbing (again at the T juncture.

Question....which is the best Palmers for the scarring? My Walmart has a very limited variety.

Have reinstated gym membership for the 21st (which is 5 weeks) for me. Have a week off in holidays starting Friday and will be at the cottage so no sense starting till thenl Will hold off on the aquafit for another week (as per orders) and will just start off with some really light lifting for now. But looking forward to that.

Other than that - nothing earth-shattering here.

Hope you all out there are doing well

Sorry ladies for my absence! It has been a crazy week leading up to holidays. I am officially on holidays now at the cottage so I cannot post the pics of the bra burning but I attached all those monstrosities (but not before trying or on for old time sake) end to end and then took a pic. Then piled them up and took a torch to them. (it stank)

It was very liberating and I thought I might be a bit sentimental....wrong! Burn you bastards, burn.

As far as the healing goes.....nothing monumental to report. Incisions are hard so massaging them with Maderma until my Palmers scar oil comes in. In Canada we have to order it :( not just scoot out to Wal-mart.

I am almost at my four week mark so last night I slept with no bra/shirt and it was heaven. Have been able to sleep on my side for awhile so I am actually sleeping as well. I still have a stitch or two poking out one came out during afternoon massage so soon they will all be gone. Still have som swelling and tenderness on lipo site...that better go down soon. Nipples still get cranky on occasion but that is lessening as well. Boobs are getting softer and lefty is softer than righty now.

At the cottage and still do not want to get in the shower (lake water .... Who knows what microbes are floating around in that....plus fish poop in the lake....yuck). Lots of purell being used right now.)

Have not had a chance to read updates so hope all you ladies on the mend are doing well and all pre-surgery ladies are hanging in. Will post pics when I have a laptop again.

Yesterday was week 4 with small boobies! This week I am on holidays at the cottage and letting them loose and free as much as possible. Not in the sun of course, but in the screened in porch (where I have just woken up from a nap). Still can't post pics but righty is starting to drop and round out on the bottom - yay, lefty still a bit boxy. I do have a bit of wrinkling around the nipples, stubborn stitches I hope. I pulled a couple more out the other day but there is one that is super stubborn. I am also red on all incisions! I guess that is just the way I heal. Still kind of freaks me out. But i have been told i have very irritable skin and two nurses and a doc looked and said all was good so deal with it chickie! Left nipple is almost back to its former self - not too sensitive but righty is going to do me in! Most of the time she is fine but sometimes she just goes freaky and irritates the crap out of me. Bad nipple!

I too have the little side flaps at the lipo site and really hope those suckers go down soon. I have been massaging them but from other accounts it could be awhile for that to go down after lipo. Better hurry the hell up cause i have to go to England for a wedding and damn it i need to buy a dress - strapless of course! But so much for the idea of getting lipo on my flanks! That would be depressing if my ass ended up bigger for months after!

Still have not showered...and thank the boob gods for Piggles and her comment about baby wipes!

I did try wearing a real bra...for a few hours then it was digging in on the sides so off that sucker went. Geez after 4 weeks of not having to wear one, do I really want to (have to) now?

Out for now...

Yesterday was week 4 with small boobies! This week I am on holidays at the cottage and letting them loose and free as much as possible. Not in the sun of course, but in the screened in porch (where I have just woken up from a nap). Still can't post pics but righty is starting to drop and round out on the bottom - yay, lefty still a bit boxy. I do have a bit of wrinkling around the nipples, stubborn stitches I hope. I pulled a couple more out the other day but there is one that is super stubborn. I am also red on all incisions! I guess that is just the way I heal. Still kind of freaks me out. But i have been told i have very irritable skin and two nurses and a doc looked and said all was good so deal with it chickie! Left nipple is almost back to its former self - not too sensitive but righty is going to do me in! Most of the time she is fine but sometimes she just goes freaky and irritates the crap out of me. Bad nipple!

I too have the little side flaps at the lipo site and really hope those suckers go down soon. I have been massaging them but from other accounts it could be awhile for that to go down after lipo. Better hurry the hell up cause i have to go to England for a wedding and damn it i need to buy a dress - strapless of course! But so much for the idea of getting lipo on my flanks! That would be depressing if my ass ended up bigger for months after!

Still have not showered...and thank the boob gods for Piggles and her comment about baby wipes!

I did try wearing a real bra...for a few hours then it was digging in on the sides so off that sucker went. Geez after 4 weeks of not having to wear one, do I really want to (have to) now?

Out for now...

Had a stitch that I was not able to get out so did a quick trip to the doc's office. Turns out it is an internal stitch and I just need to leave it alone...BUT...I got the all clear for everything - gym, golf, swimming.....everything.

They were most impressed with my healing progress and even brought the new nurse trainee in to look at them, I don't mind - I will show these to anyone. Gotta take some pics to show you guys.

A few more photos added. Really nothing to report. Going to gym again. Light upper body work and cardio for now. I stop if I feel any twinging. Right nipple SLOWLY becoming less annoying but still really sensitive. Seat belts suck. Have some Palmers Scar Serum which I am massaging in now which feels really good. Getting to the point where I do not think about the boobies (until nipp acts up).