Breast Reduction: Stories

I have always been self conscience about my chest size since Junior High school. I felt I was the only one that had the biggest boobs compared to my female classmates. The boys would tease me and thought it was funny to make fun of my chest size. So I would do whatever I could to either make them "look" smaller or just plain cover them up. By the end of high school I was a full 34D/DD. I just got used to the size and accepted it. Then I got married and had two kids. After having children and breastfeeding them both, my breast took a nose dive. They were larger and drooped even more than before. Now at a size 36DDD (could be the next size up) and having one breast nearly 2 cup size larger than

the other, it makes it real hard to find bras that will fit good on both sides. Plus not being able to shop for tops that fit in the chest area AND have the sleeve length fit. I have severe muscle spasms in my neck, back and shoulders which I am doing PT for with little relief. So after talking with my husband I have decided to check into have a reduction. I have found a PS that was recommended to my by a close friend (who is a Gyn) and I have already had my consult and I found out last week that my surgery has been approved by my INS co. So here I am just waiting for the surgery date to get here.

the other, it makes it real hard to find bras that will fit good on both sides. Plus not being able to shop for tops that fit in the chest area AND have the sleeve length fit. I have severe muscle spasms in my neck, back and shoulders which I am doing PT for with little relief. So after talking with my husband I have decided to check into have a reduction. I have found a PS that was recommended to my by a close friend (who is a Gyn) and I have already had my consult and I found out last week that my surgery has been approved by my INS co. So here I am just waiting for the surgery date to get here.

So....there are 21 days left before the big day. I am trying to not think about it too much. I can't believe I am doing this. I never thought I would have gotten enough courage 20 years ago to have done this. I completed 6 weeks of PT and even though the exercises and massage therapy have helped, I do notice that my neck and shoulder muscles start to spasm again within a couple hours afterwards. I just want to get this surgery over with so I can start my recovery process.

I talked with the surgical nurse at the hospital yesterday and she was very nice and answered most of my questions. My surgery is at 10:00am on July 31st. I will be staying over night at the hospital and will have drains in until I leave the next day so glad I will not be bringing the drains home with me. Ewwww!! I have not told anyone about my surgery except for my parents and my twin brother and his wife. Not that I don't want everyone to know...but I don't want THAT to be the first thing they talk about when they see me afterwards. I don't need the added attention and stares after the precedure as I have had BEFORE the procedure. Know what I mean? Does anyone else feel this way or am I the only one?

So let me ask you ladies....I have been wondering....which point in your recovery did you find it to be the most difficult or challenging due to pain, discomfort, swelling etc.? Was it right after surgery, the first week or 2nd week. I have read a couple posts that said the 3rd week was the worst. And which surgical bra worked the best for you and was comfortable to sleep in? Just curious....Thanks!
I will try to post some before pics soon.

I have uploaded a couple before pictures. As you can see in the front view photo that the right breast is 2 cup sizes larger than the left. This is why it is extremely difficult to find a bra that fits BOTH breasts comfortably. 2 weeks and counting....just wish it would get here so I can stop worrying about everything.

I have purchased all the neccessary supplies for recovery and purchased a few compression bras. Not sure which one will work the best for me. The surgeon suggested buying several different ones in case some styles don't work for my body type. Pain meds picked up from pharmacy as well.

Starting to feel a cold coming on. I have surgery in 2 weeks and do not want this cold hanging around until then. Just found out my daughter has pneumonia so I am hoping I am not getting what she has. I wonder if I could double my Vitamin C intake. Not very good timing for getting sick......

So 7 days left before the big day. I have been cleaning like crazy. I know that I will not have the energy to do this afterwards so it needs to get done now. My bag is packed with the basic essentials. I made sure to put my slippers in because I have this phobia of touching hospital floors with my bare feet....You never know what germs could be lurking on that floor and I don't need any infections slowing down my recovery time. I'm weird...I know!!

The kids are excited about their sleepover at their Aunt and Uncle's house. They miss their cousin so much and can't wait to see him. I am hoping this sleepover with keep them occupied and not be worrying about me. Well, off to finish a couple more errands and such. Happy healing to those that have already had their surgery. Looking forward to being where you are right now.

Well....just 2 days to go before my surgery and I am really nervous and scared. I have to keep positive and just stay calm. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Just the other day I was posting my first review and here we are less than 2 days to go. I think I am all ready with the neccessary supplies and food to get us by until I am feeling better to get out to the store again.

Good vibes going out to Berlyboo and BamaMama. Will be thinking of you Bama tomorrow and Berly on Tuesday. Will check back in to update if I have time. :0)

Surgery is done!! I am still here at the hospital...waiting for the doctor to come in and take out my drains. Hopefully I will get out of here before noon. I am having quite a bit of pain on my sides though. I definitely look and feel smaller. I hope they are not too small. Gotta go for now. Need some rest. Thank you ladies for thinking of me. It really means a lot to me.

Hello ladies!

Well...I am home and feeling ok. Here is a brief description of the start of my surgery day.

My husband and I arrived at the hospital around 7:45am and got checked in. We were then taken to a room so I could get changed into a gown. I got my IV started and then we just sat there for a while. The surgeon and anesthesiologist were both running an hour behind. Good thing I didn't care because they gave me some valium and I was feeling pretty good by then.lol Then the surgeon came in and marked me up. And right after that the anesthesiologist came in and talked about what he would give me to fall asleep and what to expect in the OR.
So off we went to the OR and they had me slide over to the operating table. Then the mask was put on me and I was out like a light.

Before I knew it I was waking up in recovery. I was not very happy with the 2 male nurses that were rolling me onto my sides so they could rip the sheet out from under me. I was yelling and crying from the pain. (couldn't you have done that when I was still out like a light? Good grief!!) I dont' remember what happened after that. I went back to sleep. When I woke up I was in my own room for the night. I had great nurses attending to me. I actually slept pretty good while I was there...only because they gave me Percoct. (Percoct...I love you. Will you marry me?)

The next morning the surgeon came in and removed my drains. The one on the right side hurt SO BAD. The left side was a piece of cake. Didn't feel anything. Got my dressings changed and my surgical bra on. He said everything lookded wonderful. My husband even watched and said they looked really good. He is not one for looking at open wounds and such so if he was able to look at my new boobies without getting freaked out or sick to his stomach...then it must look pretty good. I am not ready to take a peek yet. Still nervous. I was discharged at 9:00am and went home.

Last night I slept ok. Woke up a couple times in pain (from sleeping on my back) and took my Percoct. I have been drinking tons of water and taking my Colace. I am really itchy right now. I think I am sensitive to the Betadine they used because I am itchy only where the Betadine is. I came home with a tan on my stomch which was not there before the surgery.lol I can not take a shower until Friday at the earliest. Good thing I am not expecting any company before then, because I know that my pits won't smell like roses. Sponge bath is all I get for now. I will try to get some after pics up soon.

Sorry I have not been on here for a couple days. Just too tired and weak to sit at the computer and type.

Today I am feeling exhausted. I went to the store yesterday and I think that did me in. Way too soon for grocery shopping. Plus the pain meds are making me more tired than ususal. I took my first shower today. I was not really wanting to look at them but a part of me wanted to see what they looked like. They look good...some bruising. Especially on my right breast. It has a HUGE bruise on the side where the drain was. No wonder that side hurts so much more than the other. Well....I can actually say my nips are in working order. No prompting neccessary to get them to stand at attention. They have a mind of their own right now.

My back and sternum are hurting from sleeping on my back. So I have been applying the heat packs there.

I had absolutely NO NAUSEA after surgery. The drugs they gave me must have worked very well. Do still have some bloating and ankle swelling so I am making sure to keep drinking plenty of water. Hope everyone is recovering well. Will check back in later when I am more energized.

Well I have survived 1 week after surgery. I can honestly say that I feel like I was hit by a Mack truck. I am sore and stiff if I don't keep up on my pain meds. Saw the PS yesterday and he said my incisions are healing very well and the bruising is looking better than expected. I don't have to wear any gauze pads because I am not oozing anything now. I did come across an issue with my compression bras I bought before surgery. I have always been a band size 36 so that is the size I purchased for my surgical bras and regular sports bras but when the PS went to put the surgical bra on me after he took out the drains, it was too small. What the heck?? Did my rib cage expand that much after my surgery? I am hoping it is just the swelling. If not, then this means I have to return the sports bras and get a size 38. Has anyone else had this issue too?

He still does not want me to drive for another week. So guess I am home bound for another 7 days. Husband is out of town this week so it is just me and my daughter til then. Swelling on my sides are still bad and very tender. Did not have lipo either. Starting to adjust to the new girls. Such a big visual change from before. Not quite used to it yet. Out for now......

I think I am starting to turn for the better. The girls are starting to soften up a bit on the upper cleavage area. I removed the steri strips yesterday because I started having some serous fluid drainage on my right breast and I think the strips were keeping it from draining properly. I called the nurse and she said I was ok to start removing the strips now. But now that the strips are no longer there means my incisions are bare naked and very sensitive to any thing that touches them. They look pretty good. I have uploaded current photos. Still have the yellow bruises and the redness is from the steri strips. I think it was causing me to itch a bit. Some dried blood that was stuck under the steri strips. I have to keep telling myself that the incisions will look better...just give it time. But......I DO LOVE MY NEW BOOBIES!! There, I said it. I was not sure at first but now that I can see them without the tape and such, I have normal sized nipples, they are centered and not pointing towards the floor. Yay!! The swelling is starting to go down too. I think I am a D cup right now. I tried on my 36DD bra and both breasts fit in the cups and there was extra material at the top of the bra. So I believe I will be a large C or small D when the majority of the swelling is gone. Just where I wanted to be. Did I say "I LOVE MY NEW BOOBIES" yet?? hahaha :0)

I also noticed this morning that I have absolutely NO muscle spasms in my neck and shoulders either.

ITCHING ITCHING ITCHING!!!!! I can not believe the extent of this itching. It is not a surface itch but one that is so deep into the tissues that no matter how much you scratch....it is still there! Geeze!!

Did anyone else have the redness from the tape like I have? I think it looks worse than it really is. Still needing to take the pain meds. How long did you ladies take the pain meds before you really did not need them anymore on a daily basis? I am trying to take the Percocet only at night and then the Vicoden/Tylenol during the day. And also trying to stretch it out to the maximum 6 hr intervals. But I am just still too sore to not take anything for the pain. Any advice or input is greatly helpful.

Husband and son are finally home from their hunting trip so we have fresh meat in the freezer and now I can be pampered and taken care of (Heehee). Well guess I should close for now. Hope all is well with you ladies that have already had your surgeries and for those of you still waiting for your date to get here....let me just say...it is totally worth the wait. You will be so much more happier with the new "YOU". Piggles, thanks for your updates. Your comments make me laugh every time I read them. Glad you are doing so well with your recovery. Bama, also glad your recovery is going so well too. Berly, how are you doing? Hoping you are getting the sleep and relaxation your body needs. Don't over do it like I did on Monday. Felt totally sick all day Tuesday AND Wednesday just to recover from it all. Take care my booby gals!!

2 Weeks post op

It's been a bit rough the last 5 days. I removed my steri strips last Friday and everything was fine. Then Saturday morning noticed both of my breasts had a dark red rash on the lower half and up the middle. Thought maybe it was due to the tape so figured it would go away within a day. Then Sunday came and the rash was ten times worse and was so itchy, painful like a second degree burn and had welts all over it. I could not believe it. So I called the Dr office and the Dr on call said that some women develope redness after surgery and it would go away and to not put anything on it and I could only use Benedryl for the itching. Well I took the maximum dose of benedryl allowed all day Sunday but the drawback was it made me sleep all day long. I was only awake for maybe 3 hrs maximum. So I called the Dr office first thing Monday and the nurse said to come in because it sounded like I was having a bad reaction to the glue they used to adhere the tape after surgery. GREAT!! Saw the Dr and he gave me an RX for Hydrocortizone cream 2.5%. No infection and the incisions are healing well. Just the right breast has a small spot at the T that is a bit open and inflamed but looks fine. He said this is normal with one breast and it just takes a bit longer to heal than the other.

Woke up this morning and both breasts look better. The left (the good girl) is healing faster and the redness is much improved. The right finally looks less red but still pretty red. The itching and pain is getting better as well. The swelling started to subside before the rash came but now is back as if this was the day after my surgery. My sides are so painful and very tender too. Just need to get rid of this painful rash so I can start enjoying my boobies again. As the Dr said "This is just a small bump in the road". Yep, getting over this small bump and hopefully no more "bumps" here on out! I took pics but am afraid to post them. I don't want to freak any one out that has not had their surgery yet and discourage them from proceeding with their surgery. Just wanted to mention my experience so maybe it could help someone else that might be going through the same situation. Trying to wean myself off the pain meds. Just is still too painful to go without any pain meds completely. I have tried it and paid the price. I will update later and hopefully with have better news and nicer looking pics.....lol

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks already. Where did the time go? My rash is 85% gone. No more itching now. Thank you Lord. It was the worst painful rash I have ever had in my life. I am healing fine. I have a couple tiny scabs at the T junctions on both breasts but they are so very tiny. Just waiting for them to completely fall off. I started using the Palmers yesterday just on the outer incisions. I am steering clear of the T areas until the scabs are gone and completely closed. I did notice a few stitches popping thru on my right areola. So I clipped the end pieces that were sticking out so it would not get caught on my bra. Still do feel tender but I am sure that is normal and will be gone in the next several weeks.

I couldn't resist and I tried on a couple new swimsuits that I have been hanging onto for several years. And they fit!! I also had some tops and blouses that have never really fit well, but do fit perfect now. Yippee!!!!!! Will need to do some light clothes shopping soon. Once I feel better and not so tender.New pics posted today. Happy healing everyone!!

Thought I would post a quick update of my progress.

I had my 4 wk post op yesterday and the surgeon said I am healing very well and the scars look excellent. Swelling is down considerably. Just a bit of swelling on the sides still (under my arms). My only complaint at my appt was some spitting stitches. I had 6 of them poking thru. He was able to trim them so they would not catch on my bra. Now I have a couple stitches that are completely under the skin that are working their way up towards to surface. They hurt so bad. He does not want to break the surface of my skin to remove them because that means it will bleed and now I would have a new incision to deal with. So we will see what happens.

I have been massaging the lumpy areas of my scars to help break up the collagen. I have been doing this for 1 week and have noticed a huge difference in the appearence of the skin. It is more flat now and softer. I did notice some popping sounds when massaging these lumpy areas and thought maybe I was popping a stitch or something worse. But I guess this is normal and you want to hear the popping sound because this means you are breaking up the collagen. Has anyone else had these popping sounds when massaging their scars? I can not stand the sound when it happens. It kind of freaks me out.

The Dr says I can do some light walking on the treadmill now. I have been wanting to do it for so long and am glad he has given me the OK to do it. I still need to be careful with how much weight I am lifting. He thinks I am not going to cause any hemorrhaging but I could still tear inside the breast tissue if I over do it. And NO MORE BACK SLEEPING FOR ME!! I can sleep on my sides....YAY!!

He also said that he removed 500 grams from my left and 758 grams from the right. No back or neck pain anymore. I am so glad I had this done. Why did I wait so long to do it?? I hope other women out there with the same complaints don't wait as long as I did. If there is anything in this world that you could do for yourself is have this surgery. You will be so happy you did. It is so totally worth it!

Will try to get some photos posted......

Not too much has changed since last update. I did see the PS again this week because of that stubborn stitch trying to poke thru my incision on my breast crease but just will not get thru the skin. It is so painful. He was reluctant to remove it because that means he has to open the incision and I would have bleeding and I would be dealing with a new wound. Don't want to do that. He did remove about 5 stitches on the right nipple that finally made their way to the surface. Unfortunately, one was infected. He drained it and decided to put me on antibiotics for 5 days just to be sure everything clears up.

My left breast does have some unexpected swelling. Not sure why. It is noticable and I am not happy about that. I hope it goes away. Has anyone else had one breast all of a sudden have swelling return?

New photos are posted. Not sure if there is any change is appearence. Except for the swelling in the left side.

Not much has changed since last week except my infected stitches are cleared up. I went into Victoria Secrets on Monday and they took my measurements. I am a 36C or the sister size 34DD so I ordered a couple of the Body Demi bras. They were so comfortable and I felt very supported. I will check back later if anything changes or if I have new photos. Happy healing!
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It has been a while since I have been on here. I have had a couple set backs in the healing process but nothing serious. About 3 weeks ago I went into the PS office because I was having severe sharp pains in my scar and it was inflamed and filled with blood and I could not take it anymore. He said I have a blister that has formed under the scar and it has filled with blood and some pus. He said I probably have sutures in there that are not dissolving and causing irritation. So he suggested opening up the scar and seeing if he can find a suture or just drain off the blood and let it try to resolve on its own. I opted to drain it and let it try to take care of itself. He then put me on antibiotics for 5 days. So I was to return in 2 weeks for a f/u appt but ended up going back in the following week because the other breast was red, inflamed and extremely painful on the scar on my breast crease and it was leaking fluid and some pus. So he suggested trying to remove any sutures that might still be in there that have not dissolved yet. I said "go ahead but please make sure it it's numb." No problem there. He opened up one spot on the inner side of the scar and pulled out a 3 inch piece of suture material and he said there was a small infection. It was stiff like a piece of wire. It was not even close to dissolving. He then proceded to do the same thing on the other end of the scar and pulled out another long piece of suture material. I could not believe it!! No wonder I have been having so much pain since my surgery. I felt wonderful in the days that followed and realized I have not felt this good since BEFORE surgery. He decided to put me on antibiotics AGAIN. So everything was great and healing fine now until I started having pain in the other breast again in the same spot I had the blood blister and it was starting to look very puffy like it might have pus in it. So I took a sterile needle and opened it up and a huge amount of pus came out. I went back in last week and he opend the scar up in 5 different places and pulled out another long piece of suture material. He does not think the pus is from bacteria but from the piece of suture that was still in there. He put in 5 stitches and said to return in 10 days, which will be on Monday.
He confessed to me that I am his only patient in the many years of practice that has ever had this bad of a sesitivity to sutures trying to spit themselves out. He felt bad for me. I am so glad he is the kind of Dr that truely cares for his patients and wants to make sure they are getting the best care possible. He also told me that I am the only one he has had to remove large pieces of suture from. He said, "If this had ever happened to anyone else before, I promise you I would have told you before the surgery. So I apologize that this has happened." I told him that I feel bad that I have had to come in almost every single week since surgery. I feel like he should be charging me rent or something! lol He reassured me that he will continue to see me for as long as it takes to get me better and feeling back to normal. I am hoping that since he removed all of the sutures that I will keep getting better and finally be able to heal from the surgery. I feel like I have been at a stand still for 7 weeks now. I hope this does not happen to anyone else. It is frustrating because you feel like you are not getting better like everyone else is.
He was hoping that after all of these "bumps in the road" that I am still happy with the outcome of the surgery. I told him, "Absolutely, and I would do it again if I had the chance!" I have been walking on the treadmill and just the other day was able to do some light running and it felt really good. Not much pain and the girls did have a small amount of bounce to them but not like before. Yay!!
I posted a recent photo

Well I have made it 2 weeks so far and no problems with spitting stitches. Yay!! I feel so much better physically AND emotionally. I have a follow-up appt on Thursday just to make sure everything looks ok and then discuss getting rid of this belly and loose skin. So the adventure continues!! lol I have posted a new pic of "The Girls". Hope all is well with my fellow July Brest Reduction friends. I have not heard from any of you for a while.