Breast Reduction: Stories

I'm chas and am set for surgery on September 28 at William Beaumont Area Hospital since I'm active duty. I'm 20 5'2 and 140lbs (23% BF) with 32H breasts. I am also a former nationally ranked boxer. And I can say that having 32H breasts did affect my training at times such as running or boxing itself, I could never keep my elbows in! lol. I'm hoping for a high B or a low C, according to my Surgeon that is what he tries to give most of his patients. Since I am Military I believe our process is a little different than civilian, so I am gonna share my process here.

I initially went to sick call and told the doctor about back, shoulder, and breast pain and inquired about a breast reduction. He then referred me to a plastic surgeon which took 4 months to get a consultation. Our plastic surgeons here are kept quite busy here as the Army send personnel from posts all over.

23AUG11 Initial Consultation: Today was the first time I met my surgeon who was a Colonel. He was very polite and was open to any questions I may have. There he did a few measurements, asked some questions concerning my breasts and military career. For the Military ladies he asked questions about ETS, deployments, and field exercises. Since it is an elective surgery they try to schedule the surgery around these events. He then approved me for surgery and printed out a list of future appointments and also gave me a form for my Company Commander to sign. The form did not say what kind of surgery I was having, just that it was an elective surgery. So I easily got that signed and brought back the next day.

 (will add photos later)

Day before Pre-op: Saying laters to my co-workers

So today was my last day at work for a few weeks. Some of my NCOs (non-commissioned officers) or bosses in simple terms decided to get together and conspire rumors that I'm pregnant and will be on paternity leave lol. They actually do not know what kind of surgery I'm having. Today my NCOIC (head boss) got on my facebook and posted that I'm having twins while I was doing security checks haha..

Now for the emotions going through my head..it has yet to really hit me hard yet. Sometimes I get these thoughts that I'll be invisible afterwards or I'll get really excited at being able to buy cute bras, really colorful sport bras that match workout shorts or better yet a swimsuit!But as for the surgery, I'm not too nervous about the actual procedure or recovery, it's just kinda happening lol.

Tomorrow I plan on doing some grocery shopping along with getting some ice packs for recovery after my pre-op appointment. well toodles for now.

oh and I'll be posting before pics tomorrow.

PRE-OP Appointment

wow...what a lengthy process. It is most definitely done with the Military's infamous Hurry up and Wait. Total time: about 3 hours 15 minutes.

The Actual pre op appointment with my surgeon went pretty quickly. I was called back from the waiting room on time. The nurse who was fantastic explained pre-op and post-op events to me very well. And was able to answer any questions I had. A tip she suggested was putting panty liners under the breasts to avoud rubbing of the bra. She said that past patience did it and said it worked amazing. Then the Surgeon came in to say hi and ask if I had any unanswered questions for him.

Then I was sent up to the 6th floor where hurry up and wait started. I had to visit four different stations Patient admin, nurse, anesthesiology, and then down to lab. Between each station I was sent to the waiting room to be called..yupp definitely can tell I'm in a Military hospital haha. But it's totally gonna be worth all the wait.

Tomorrow I'll be reporting back to 6th floor to get ready for the surgery at 0530. I'm starting to get nervous but not too bad.

Moments after Surgery:
I'm alive!! Haha. Actually I'm still in the hospital waiting to he related. I probably came to no more than an hour ago. It's am awesome pressured with slight burning sensation under by breast. Othe than that there is really no pain. They gote hooked up to one of those breat vacs. I can already tell that it will probably be the worse part of recovery. I hate having things attached to me that beep haha. Not too mention hurts my change of going unnoticed in the public eye. Lol oh wells it promotes healing and I only wear it to Monday. Well I'll update more when I get back to the barracks.

An alternative to having drains: V.A.C.VIA ( a negative pressure wound therapy system)

I woke up with this system in place and basically the V.A.C.VIA is a mini vacuum that sucks the blood from the wound. It works by wrapping a saraam wrap like material around your chest with black/yellow sponges under the wound. A tubing from the V.A.C.VIA goes into the sponge and sucks the all the blood and liquids that the sponge had soaked up. So there is no insertion of drains into the breast. The Handheld is about the size of a smaller Gatorade bottle. There you can either hang the VAC off your neck, clip it to your pants or just carry it. It's nice knowing that it will help decreasing the chance of infections and not having to go through the agony of having drains pulled out.

I like to call mine a blood sucking tether lol. Since it has to go everywhere with me until post op.

http://www.kci1.com/KCI1/vacvia

3 Days Post OP:

What's up ladies? Healing is going well. Even if my tether is going crazy again lol. Today there has been really no pain. I have to take any pain relievers since the middle of the night. I n almost have full function of my arms back, I can easily put arms over my head with very little pressure. I only had a little bit limitation to as how I can use my arms. I could always brush my hair, shave, etc; with only a little bit of pain when I extend a little too far.

I can't wait for my post op appointment tomorrow. I finally get to get rid of my tether and the little bit of gauze will be removed. Also I get to go home tomorrow!!Will update again tomorrow..

FYI: Don't think when you wake up in the middle of the night you can take your pain killers with a handful of gummy life savers and not get nauseous when you wake up...lol

2 Weeks Post op:

Well I just got back to Fort Bliss from con leave in Michigan. I'm feeling more sore now. Most likely due to sleeping on my stomach a few days ago; oops. Now my breast are bruised from where I was laying on them. Other than that recovery is going great. No more pain where the incisions are. My mobility is almost back to where it was before. Tomorrow I go back to work, phooey lol. I have a very strict profile that limits me form picking up, carrying, or pulling over 15lbs.

One month Post Op:

Been awhile since my last update. Healing has been going pretty well. Breast are still sensitive to some touch and most definitely do not like impact of any kind. So far it seems that I'm still a DD :( Really hope they go down more...Right now I'm kinda worried because they look uneven is size, I am hoping that it's just the swelling. Or I'm really really not goona be happy :( and some things may go down.

5 weeks Post op:

Well I still seem to be a DD but can still see some swelling. Most definitely got my fingers crossed that they go down more. I am back to working out in the gym. Of course not running, jumping, or anything that causes impact. I'll randomly try running but it still hurts. Also still have to double up in sport bras and still have some bounce. That's kind of depressing since the thing I looked forward to the most was only having to wear one sport bra..

8 weeks post op: Been awhile since my last post. Been crazy busy with work and training for an upcoming fight. I'm now currently a 32D or 32C depending on the brands. My surgeon said I will be a 32C. So far the healing has been going good. I've started running again but tend to get sore during or afterwards. Hopefully it will settle down and no more soreness after impacted activities. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. Even though I wish I could have gone smaller but I was too big to begin with to go any smaller than I am now safely.

So I'm a little over 4 months post op. I am now a 32C, A D is some brands though. I'm pretty happy with the results still. I still get sore after high impact activities but it's gradually getting better. There is still lots of discomfort from the scars on the sides, I have another post op appointment coming up, I'll ask my surgeon about it.