1 YEAR 4 MONTHS POST OP + PICS!!!!

Hello ladies! I am here to give you an update. I am 1 year and 4 months post op. WOW, I cannot believe it has been that long. There are a few things that I want to share with you, so I am going to section it off so that you can skip around if you would like. Some of this info and pics will be from my previous posts, but I just want it all in one place for this post.

OVERVIEW: I want to start by giving a brief summary so you won’t have to read all of my other posts. I had my breast reduction on March 8, 2013 when I was 19 years old. I was wearing a DDD but that was not the correct size, I was bigger than that; but I am now a 34D. Overall the surgery went well and for ME it was not a painful process thanks to the meds. It was more uncomfortable from the swelling and itching.

THINGS YOU NEED + TIPS: included but not limited to…
1. pajamas that button in the front(PIC 1)
2. front closing bras with no underwire(PIC 2)
3. regular bras with no underwire or regular sports bras with no underwire. This is for after you don’t really need the front closing bras anymore. You can get some better looking bras that don’t have any underwire that you can wear until you can move on to ones with underwire. (PIC 3)
4. Comfortable clothing
5. A good moisturizer to help with the itching and dryness. My PS recommended lotion with aloe vera in it.
6. A long pillow. I would not have been able to sleep without the pillow I had. I sat it on top of my other pillows and it was extremely helpful.(PIC 4)
7. Pads and gauze to put inside of your bras
8. Clean your house
9. Make arrangements. This means getting school work done ahead of time, meal prepping if you can’t have someone there with you, taking care of work business, etc. Because all I wanted to do for probably the first three days was sleep!
10. Move around after your surgery. I am glad I had my mom there with me to remind me of this because it is important.
11. Patience. Respect the process and know that you are going to take time to heal and it will be a while before you see the final product.

MINOR COMPLICATIONS: While I didn’t have any major issues, I did have two minor ones. First, the openings on my left breast(PIC 5) turned out to be two cysts. Second, my right areola was jagged(PIC 6). So on June 13, 2014 I had the two cysts removed, and a scar revision. I knew that in order to remove the cysts, he was going to have to cut the areola again. My left areola used to be like a perfect little circle, but he had to cut into it and it is smaller now which kinda sucks. My right areola does look better than before. I currently have mepiform strips on them. In the future I do plan on getting the tattooing done to fill them out, and really get the look that I want.

SCARS: I have used a total of four products to help with my scars(PIC 7; mepiform not pictured). The first thing I used was the mepiform. I got mine off of ebay and it is a little on the expensive side. They come in sheets and you have to cut them to fit where you want to put them. I do feel that it was helpful; mostly under the breasts in flattening the scars. The second thing was bio- oil. The bottle that I have in my picture would usually cost you about $28, although I’m sure you could find it cheaper somewhere online. I happened to get mine on clearance at target! I used the bio- oil twice a day, and I used it longer than any of the other things I tried. I think it helped a lot and it was also a great moisturizer especially on the nipple/ areolas area. The third thing was scarguard. This is going to cost you around $30, and I also found this on clearance! The smell is VERY strong, and if not applied properly it will flake off. I did not use this long enough to say if it really helped or not. The fourth product was given to me by my PS. Well it came from a pharmacy, but my PS put the order in. It is called Pracasil- Plus. This was stronger than the other products I used and I saw results even though I did not use it for long. I stopped using it because my PS said he didn’t think I needed to continue putting anything on my scars and because I believe it caused the light spots in between my breasts(PIC 8). My PS said he didn’t think that is what caused the spots, but I do. I will continue to monitor them, and if I feel like I need to make an appointment with my PCM I will.

HOW I FEEL TODAY: Overall, I am satisfied with my results. I DO NOT regret having the surgery, and I WOULD NOT go back to way things were before. When deciding to have this surgery I knew that there was a possibility that there could be complications and that there was a good chance that everything might not come out 100% perfect. Which I think is something that is important to keep in mind if you are thinking about having this surgery. So although they aren’t perfect, I still love them. My posture has gotten better, I feel like I can stand up straight and feel good about it. My back doesn’t hurt. My shoulder grooves aren’t there anymore. My shoulders don’t hurt at the gym. I can wear whatever I want. I just feel good! And so much more confident about the way I look. But there are days when I struggle. Sometimes I get emotional when I think about my surgery. I am so grateful for everyone who was involved in the process, they made the experience enjoyable. From Dr. Greenwald and his ENTIRE staff, to the anesthesiologist, and the nurses at the hospital. It is still an adjustment though, getting used to my new look and wondering what my future husband will think about them. This was a long journey for me, getting to where I am today. And I am not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of how I feel about myself.

Check out my before and after pics(PICS 9-12), they are from different points in time throughout my recovery. I really wish that I would have taken all of my pics in the same place and the same pose so that it would be consistent. Because I have noticed that depending on the pose and the lighting, they will look different. I probably forgot to mention something in here, so if I can think of anything else I will come back and post about it. But please leave me any questions that you have or if you want clarification on something, leave it in the comments or send me a message.

these are the pics, they didnt upload with the review.

So I'm six months post op.. everything is still good. The area on my left areola is still trying to close up. But my right areola is what's bothering me. As you can see it didn't turn out like the right one, it's sort of jagged like. I'm still going to give it more time and see if anything happens, but I think I would like to look into the tattooing. I know my ps does it because he mentioned it to me before the surgery, so next time I see him, Ill run it by him. Other than that, I'm still feeling great. Take care ladies.