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Operation: Take Control of my LIFE BACK! - Stratford, ON

This has been a LONG time coming for me. I am 27,...

  • 13 Mar 2013

This has been a LONG time coming for me. I am 27, 5"4, 254lbs and am currently a 38K. It's HORRIBLE! I started developing really early. I don't even know when. But I remember being 8 years old and my sister in law bought me a cup type bra as a gift one holiday. It was SO embarrassing. I've had body image issues ever since. My breasts just kept growing and growing and growing. I was made fun of a lot in school because not only were they so big, but I was the only one who had breasts - for literally years. I ate a lot because food just made me feel better and once I started gaining weight my breasts didn't seem so big on comparison, but also it was something DIFFERENT for them to make fun of me over and it made me feel better because it was at least something I had control over. I could lose the weight if I wanted to right??


When I was 16 I got over it, there were other girls around ho had larger breasts too and no one cared to make fun of them. So I lost the weight. It was awesome!! I felt better about my body and my breasts were about a DD and I could fit into bras from the same stores as everyone else and I LOVED them! It was ridiculous, I remember whenever I was in my room my shirt would come off and I would just sneak peeks at and my breasts in my bra because I just loved seeing them so much hahah.


I got pregnant with my daughter when I was 20 and I honestly have no clue when size I went up to. I was wearing an E but it was just the biggest one I could find that wasn't in a specialty store that I could squeeze them into. I lost some weight right after I had her but NOTHING came off my breasts.


I went back to college when she was two and like most people got lazy with my food and was eating to much junk and gained weight again. Breasts just got bigger and bigger. That's when the pain started. I had hurt my lower back and it just never really got better. My doctor told me to rest it and work on my posture because it was really bad. I explained that good posture was difficult because it hurt my back and shoulder but she didn't want to hear it.


As the years went on I struggled with my back, neck and shoulder pain. My back goes out often and I get very severe headaches. The groves on my shoulder are pretty deed in the back and the skin is a lot darker. I get these neck and arm twitches and some numbness in my arms from time to time. Now reading this site I think it might actually be something to do with my nerves?? Oh man :(


I always knew that at some point in my life I would get a reduction but it wasn't until last August when I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and couldn't because my back had gone out again and my boyfriend blew his mind at me saying "What are you doing??? You're only 27 years old and this is your life? Why aren't you doing something to fix this? Why aren't you going to get that reduction!?!?!?". Well that's all I really needed to hear to realize now is the time. I called my doctor and couldn't get into see him until November 2012. While there I had a full out anxiety attack before I asked him for a referral. He said he wanted me to try to lose some weight first. But when I started crying explaining to him how I can't even walk for 30 mins a day without my back going out the next day he agreed to send me for a referral!!!!


Fast forward about 5 months and I got a letter in the mail from my doctor telling my that my consult with my PS is May 8th 2013!!!!! I wish is wasn't that far off. I'm soooooo excited for this! I haven't been able to stop thinking about it yet! I have a knot it my stomach!


Any advice for my consult? I am going to need to have it covered by insurance. What kinds of things do I need to look out for when I meet him? things I should ask him about?? Thanks

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  • 15 Mar 2013
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My consult is in just 2 weeks. I'm getting really...

  • 22 Apr 2013
My consult is in just 2 weeks. I'm getting really excited! My boyfriend might not be able to come with me to the appointment, but luckily I have a good friend who had a BR a long time ago who offered to go with me if he couldn't go. I guess I don't really need anyone there with me. But it's a two hour drive away and I do get anxious at any kind of appointment so having someone there with me will help me out a lot!

Well I went for my consult today. It didn't go as...

  • 8 May 2013
Well I went for my consult today. It didn't go as expected. Not at ALL. He basically told me that he is 100% willing to do the surgery for me now and that he has no doubts that OHIP will cover it. But he would prefer if I waited and tried to lose as much weight as I can in the next 10 months and then come back. I was sooooo disappointed I cried. He was very nice about it though. I do like him. He explained to me that since I have a lot of weight to lose if he were to do the reduction now I could end up with no boobs at all or just empty skin flaps where my boobs used to be. Both resulting in me possibly needing or wanting further surgery to fix that. He also explained the increased health risks of surgery with my weight were it is right now. He said that since I'm so young still he would do it, but it if I was even in my 50's he's refuse to do it.
Oh man. I guess sometimes it's hard to see your body as others see it. I mean I KNOW I'm a big girl, but sometimes I just don't feel like I am. I still feel like the same 140lbs teenager on the inside.
He told me that I don't need to worry that even if I were to lose 60 or 70lbs I would still need one and qualify through OHIP to get it. Which I knew already lol. I talked to one of my good friends and we are going to start going for walks in the evenings. I'm not too sure how well that is going to go honestly. By back hurts always and it goes out so easily these days.
I dunno, I feel like I'm rambling. I just feel so down. I woke up today feeling so excited and now it's all gone.
Dr. Graham Heaton

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Comments (8)

Hey love I went to see the same surgeon yesterday and he told me the same thing, after having 2 kids I weigh 188lbs and my bra size is 38HH I balled my eyes out and trying to loose weight as we speak. It's very hard!! I have to go back in 2 months u wish you luck as I know the pain you are going through!
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i'm so sorry, it is so disappointing but you can still get the surgery done in the future so have home. It just sucks that it's going to take some work but your surgeon sounds like he has your best interests in mind. I'm about 40lbs overweight but my doctor and my surgeon both agreed it would be good for me to have the surgery as i was already active and following a decent vegetarian diet and my 36H breasts were hindering my exercise and causing a lot of neck and shoulder pain. The healthier you are before the surgery the better and easier recovery is as well. Start small. Baby steps. Start with one evening walk that's easy and slowly add more as you feel fit. My surgeon's office helped me with insurance. I gathered letters from my doctor, my chiropractor and a massage therapist i had been seeing to help with the neck and shoulder pain. Get your doc to put together as much information as possible about your back pain, how your breasts prevent you from exercise, if you've had any rashes underneath the breast, etc. The surgeon's office submitted these letters along with photos taken to my insurance and 2 weeks later i got a response noting they'd cover 1/2 the surgery. From what I've read on this website the amount insurance will cover varies but a lot of us ladies above the DD realm do get coverage. Hang in there! It's still within your grasp and we're pulling for you!
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Thank you. It was a rough couple of days. I cried a lot. But this surgery will happen in the future. My surgeon didn't for one second think I wouldn't be approved by my insurance. In Canada we don't have private health insurance it's provincially run, so there is really no guess work on what criteria needs to be met. He also told me even if I lost 80lbs I would still need one and qualify. I trust him with that. And I know I would still need one. Even when I was a size 8 I needed to by larger shirts just to cover them.
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I found that it was helpful to know what my insurance required in order to classify the surgery as reconstructive and not cosmetic, that way I knew a little bit about what the surgeon and insurance company would be looking for. My doc asked questions about what pain I was having, where it was, how intense, what relieved it if anything. She asked what size bra I wore and what size I thought I'd like to go to, if I'd tried losing weight and if that helped with my breast size. Photos were taken of the indentations on my shoulders from my bra straps and of my breasts from different angles. Also, according my my doc, some insurance company's want to know if you've experienced any rashes or skin changes as a result of your breasts touching your skin due to sagging. If you have, you will want to have photos taken of that as well. I didn't exactly know what to ask about so I Googled some questions and made a list to take with me so that I was sure not to forget anything. I asked about the technique the doc thought that she would use for me, free nipple grafts, her rate of infection, potential complications to be aware of, if she requires an overnight stay or does outpatient surgery, if I'd have to have a catheter during surgery, how long I'd need off work, what kind of restrictions I'd have afterward and for how long, if I would need to purchase a surgical bra of if her office could provide one, what meds she prescribes for pain control following surgery, and a few other questions that I can't remember at this time. I'd suggest starting your list now and writing your questions down as they come to you. Hopefully all this info helps and will give you a good starting point.
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If you haven't already done so I'd recommend that you write down a detailed list of all the pains, aches and numbness you experience, and go see a manual therapist or physical therapist, just to start the treatment as soon as possible, and to have your problems documented. One would think that the insurance company would just have to look at you to see you need the surgery, but from what I've read from others on the forum they can be difficult. Also don't give up if they reject you at first. Many here were, submitted an appeal and then was approved. I wonder if the insurance companies do that more or less on reflex. But I'm not from the US so this is solely based on what I've read here. There is a list here called Kimmers list where she details all the things you need pre and post op. If you do a search for it it should pop up.
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Good luck, and I can totally relate to your story. :-)
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good luck! it definately is a journey and no walk in the walk but its so worth it and the walk in the park comes sooner than we think when all is said and done! and no more lugging extra baggage around! **hugs**
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Be prepared to have to leap thru some hoops first to satisfy the insurance company that your condition can only be resolved through surgery. I had to do 12 weeks of physical therapy before my surgeon would even see me. Its frustrating and disappointing to live with this kind of pain and be made to defend yourself like you're trying to commit fraud when you are CLEARLY hanging bowling balls on your chest. It sucks and it's unfair, but you know what? Just do it, and be prepared for the therapists to try to trick you into admitting that you really just want the surgery for cosmetic reasons, so they can report you to the insurance company. They suck, and they don't understand that you can't treat a problem like yours with the sports bras and support garments they recommend as THEY DON'T MAKE THEM IN OUR SIZE!!! Building your back and shoulders and turning you into a linebacker won't help with the pain you feel in your chest when you sit up after lying down for awhile and your breasts painfully settle into place. Mine made me feel like I was having a coronary. The pictures and measurements are really all they need to prove the legitimacy of your claim. But play the game...grit your teeth and just do the therapy. Remember, your claim is legitimate because you're living in pain. They're not, so expect no sympathy. Do the work and don't let them trick you into settling for a support garment as a crutch when surgery would make that crutch completely unnecessary. Try the garment if they insist, but if it's not helping, SAY SO!!! But by all means, complete the therapy. Schedule two or three sessions a week if you can to shorten the time. Besides, you'll improve your posture and that'll help immensely when you get your reduction, as you've probably have had crappy posture for years to accommodate your huge breasts.
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