Breast Reduction: Stories

I've been lurking on this site for months now and decided to start sharing my story. This site has been a big help for me, so i'm hoping that by sharing my story, it will help others as well.

Im in my mid 40's and I've always had big boobs ever since I was a young girl in grade school. I've always been known and teased as the girl with big boobs. I've had back problems and headaches for the past 20 years and they seem to be getting worse as Im getting older. My weight goes up and down by about 25 lbs, but my boobs dont ever seem to get much smaller. Im tired of not being able to wear a strapless dresses or tops and i'm constantly busting out of my bras.

In May 2012, I got serious about this procedure and decided to talk to my primary Dr about it. She said I would probably qualify since I was so big (38 DD). Within 2 months I had an appointment to go to a class on the surgery. I went to the class with several other women that were interested and after that class we were told it would only be a matter of weeks before we would get a call from the PS for an appointment. They were right and by the next month I had my appointment with my PS. I have Kaiser and there are only a handful of Dr.'s to choose from. I chose the one with the longest waiting list, plus I did some of my own checking and asked around. My Dr. was very nice and took his time with all of my questions. He thought that I was a good candidate, and I felt very comfortable with him. That was in August and he said I should be able to get in by November. Well that didn't happen, when I called in September they were all booked up. So, I decided to wait until after the first of the year. I called in early January and they called me back with my date of February 8th! Holy smokes, I was not prepared for that quick of a date. So since then, I've been obsessed with this site and the whole procedure itself. Im sure my husband and my family are already sick of hearing about it.

My pre-op appointment is next week and I have a lot of questions. I wanted to buy some kind of a sports bra for after the surgery, but what size do you buy? Is that what you wear right after the surgery? Im hoping to go from a DD to a C.

Wow, time has been going by so fast, especially since I got the call with my surgery date. So much to think about and pre-plan. Tomorrow is my pre-op, and I have a list of many questions. I wanted to lose weight before my surgery, but it's just not happening. Im hoping I might lose a few after the surgery : O Did anyone lose weight? I ended up getting sick this past weekend, with a bad cold. Im almost over it and I guess its better to have it now then to have it too close to the big day. Its almost surreal, and my mind is all over the place. Am I doing the right thing, what If I am making a big mistake. Am I gonna miss the big girls that have been a part of my life since I was a young girl. Man, us girls are crazy sometimes, its hard to turn off the brain!

I will update more after my appointment tomorrow.

My pre-op was today, I was there at Kaiser for about 3 hours. But, I felt a lot better afterwards, especially after I spoke to the nurse assistant. She was so sweet and made me feel very comfortable. What a big difference it makes to have a nice nurse!
I feel like there is no going back now, its just about 2 weeks away. Yikes!!!
So, Im posting a really gross before picture of the girls, god I hope they look better once this is all done. Today the nurses's assistant showed me where my nipples will actually be, and I was pretty impressed. Cant wait to have the girls smaller and lifted!

I know i've said this before, but time is flying by..................I cant believe my surgery is a week from Friday!!
Im not as prepared as I wanted to be, but oh well, my main goal is to heal and rest before I have to go back to work. Im taking about a week off. Has anyone gone back to work after a week? I have a desk job, so Im thinking I should be ok. When I had my TT surgery 8 years ago, I healed pretty quick and went back to work by the end of a week. I am older now, and Im wondering how this will effect my healing ; O
Most of the women that have had this surgery seem to feel positive about it. I try and not read the negative posts...
I just hope im not going too small for my frame. I am really looking forward to fitting into cuter bra's and normal sized clothes!
Any last minute words of advice from women that have gone through the surgery?

Oh yea, one more question - how long was your surgery??

Yikes! I cleaned the house over the weekend and I have most almost everything else set up. Trying to just prepare myself mentally for the actual day......I will be busy at work for the next 2 days, so that will keep my mind somewhat distracted. LOL. I want to share my experience so that in turn it may help someone else on here. So, If I can write when I get home that day, I will. Im sure I will feel ok to post something the next day. I cant imagine that I will be that out of it. Anyways ladies, I will check in on here the night before.
Peace out ; )

Wow, I really cant believe that tomorrow is almost here. Ready to get this done and move on, thats for sure. Gotta be there really early, tomorrow at 5:45 am, but I am glad to be getting it done early in the morning so that I can come home and rest. Hubby is taking the day off and will be taking me so I will be in good hands ; )
I will be checking in with y'all as soon as I can to give you my update. Good luck to anyone else having surgery tomorrow.

Hello Ladies,

Well, I made it ; ) It was not bad at all. We got there early 5:45 am and got all set up in the pre-op area. The nice thing was my husband got to stay with me the whole time up until they wheeled me in for surgery. I met with my Dr and he marked me up and I felt once again very comfortable with him. I was in that area until around 7:15 am and then they must have put something in my IV cause I was out. The next thing I remember was waking up around 11 am. The nurses were great and they wheeled me into another recovery are where my hubby could come in. We hung out until around 2pm, before we left the hospital. They gave us instructions on how to use the drains. Thank God I have an appointment on Tuesday to get those out, cause I thought I was going to have to wait until Friday. They gave me Norco for the pain and an antibiotic. I took the Norco last night and I dont like how it makes me feel, so i decided that im just gonna try Tylenol today for the pain. Im in pain, but Im not dying. When we got home, I took a 2-3 hour nap. Ate something small, took my meds and then went to bed at 8pm. Sleeping isnt easy because you cant sleep on your sides, and for the next few days you need to stay propped up a little. Plus my back hurts from sitting around so much, Drains arent draining a while lot and pretty easy to manage. They have padding and a bra on me and from what I can see they look good. I think he told my hubby that I'll be a C. They are way higher than before which is frickin' awesome!!
Not allowed to fully shower until Wednesday. Im sore, but its not as bad as I expected. Whew................glad that whole thing is over.
I did manage to take a picture yesterday, so I will post that sometime today.

Good luck to anyone else having surgery, we are all in this together girls!

Still feeling good, I even got out of the house today for a couple hours.
I've only taking tylenol 2 times today, so thats a pretty good indication that the pain isn't too bad.
Just woke up from a nap and I wanted to post a couple pictures....

Good morning!

So today marks my 3rd day post-op and I feel pretty darn good. My 2nd night was rough because my back hurt so much from not being able to move much at night, but last night I slept much better. I have my 1st post-op appointment tomorrow to get the drains out. Yea! These things are a pain in the butt. I still haven't seen the girls, and Im a little nervous. I started taking the Arnica and Bromelain. The Dr. wanted me to wait a few days post op, saying that it could thin the blood a little. I've been out and about a little bit the last couple of days and just really resting. Bored to be honest, its so hard to just sit around and do nothing. The girls are so up there its amazing and the feel really hard. LOL, Im guessing over time that will change.
Good luck to all the ladies that are going in today, you will do great! I will post some more pictures after my appointment tomorrow.

Hello again ladies,

Freaking out just a bit and I need to vent. I was able to go in to get my drains out today, thank god! They were driving me nuts and I feel so much better now. It didnt hurt at all, but I was nervous, Im not gonna lie. I didnt see the Dr. and wont until next week. However, when I asked to see the girls, the nurse, took some of the padding away and I said, 'oh my god, they look so small'. She said, thats what you wanted wasnt it? I told the Dr. Big C, little D, not a B. Im hoping that Im not any smaller than a C because Im tall and OMG, I would just be too small If I were a B. Can anyone out there help a sister out? Its only 3 days since surgery, and i'm scared....
What I really need to do, is take everything off and get a good look and then post the pictures. I'll do that in a few minutes...

Good Morning,

So yesterday I got my drains out!! Yea......I was really worried that it was going to hurt, but it didnt at all. The girls look so small, but like some others on this site are saying, Im not use to seeing them. Its so weird to take off the sports bra and have them not go anywhere, they just stay upright like they are still in the bra....ha ha. I get to take my first real shower today, 24 hours after the drains cam out. Im super excited. Im trying on tops and cant believer how much better things fit. I feel really good. The hardest part is not sleeping, I didn't take a nap yesterday hoping that would help me sleep, but it really didn't. I dont really even need the tylenol anymore, but its close by just in case I do need it. Pretty good experience overall, wishing all of you all the same out there ; ) This site has been amazing, so supportive. Thank you all for posting so much, it really has been helpful.

Hello Ladies,
Today is day 5 and I slept so good last night, finally. I got pretty tired yesterday and ended up taking tylenol before bed. My back was killing me and I was actually able to sleep somewhat on my sides. Oh, that felt so good and I slept like a baby. What a difference a nights sleep makes. Im feeling a bit better today about my cup size, thanks to all of your support. I think I will really be happy with my end results once the girls drop a bit.
I only have a few more days off before I go back to work ; (
I must admit, it has been nice to lounge around the house this week. Hope everyone else out there is doing well.

So.... today marks my 1st week post surgery, and I have to say that Im pretty darn happy! At first I thought I was too small, but now Im perfectly happy with the size that they are. I can wear things now, that I could never wear before. I went from a 38 DD to a 36 C. I've enjoyed being off work this week, just resting..........I never get to do that, so I took full advantage. Im gonna miss writing on here and checking in with you all when I go back to work Monday. Im sure it will be tough at first to go back full time, i'm gonna want that cat nap after lunch. Anyways, I will be checking in and updating with new pictures. Good luck to all of you beautiful ladies out there, and remember to take care of you!

Hello Ladies,

I had my first post op appointment with my PS yesterday. He said all was healing well. He said I could take the tape off, which was great news because it was making me itch. I went home and took that off and it feels weird not to have the tape on. He said I can now start working on the scars. He gave me a few names of lotions, and silicone strips that I can start using. I've been back to work since Monday and it hasn't been too bad. The hardest part is in the afternoon when I get a bit tired and a little sore. It is really nice to be able to ear things I couldnt before, or just fit into some of my tops that were a little small in the bust. Do you have some areas that are just more sore than others? Sometimes I forget that I did have major surgery and it just takes time to heal.
Anyways ladies, I hope all is well and I will try and post some updated pics over the weekend ~

Had to share.... I decided today on my lunch that I wanted to go shopping to see what bra size I could be. I know its a little early, but I was dying to know.
I went to Kohl's and I felt like a kid in a candy shop! So many choices and colors and in the REGULAR department, not the big girls area. Ha! What a great day it was for me. I just grabbed a few to try on and I was so happy to be in the 36 C, that I was hoping for. Picture is posted of the pretty blue bra.

Hope you all have or will have an experience like this, its very uplifting!

Good Morning Ladies,

Just a quick update. Not much has changed this week. Im less sore in the evenings than I was last week, which is good. I bought some (expensive) silicone tape that I just started to wear last night, so we will see how that helps the scars. My right boob still seems bigger than my left, but not much I can do about it now. Im hoping its just swelling, but its been that way from day 1. I am enjoying my new smaller cleavage. Husband seems to miss the bigger girls, but im telling you, my neck, shoulders and back are feeling so much better. Im sleeping great now too. I forgot to mention before that the PS told me he removed somewhere between 450 and 500 g. I think thats about a pound on each side.
I've got to start exercising now to try and drop a few pounds before its starts getting really warm here. Hope you all are doing well ~

Hello Ladies,

Thought I'd write a quick update. Things have been getting better and better as each day goes by. Still obsessed with boobs ; ) I do have a few stitches that are poking through and I think my Dr. will be taking care of those during my next appt. which in is about 2 weeks. I tried messing with it and decided not to, its not worth it. Im hoping by then (ill be 6 weeks PO) that I will be getting the clearance to wear regular bras. I did find one that I love, that isnt an underwire, but it will be nice to wear regular ones. I still have some redness on my skin where I had my bruises and im hoping that will go away soon. I'll be asking the Dr about that too. Im still sore just underneath my boobs, It feels like my ribs. Man, that must take a while to heal up, and it makes you wonder what the heck they do to you in the OR.....
It's been a roller coaster with the emotions, thats for sure. So glad to be able to read all the other posts and to know Im not crazy.
Hope you all are healing well ~

Hope everyone out there is healing well. Not much for me to really update for this week, but wanted to check in. I have my 2nd post op appointment this coming week. I do have a few stitches that will need to be taken out and I have some questions for him, but other that that things have been progressing well. My husband has been enjoying the fact that I love my new boobs so much. I think this surgery is a huge confidence boost. Last night I went out for a couple hours without a bra on, just because I can. Hubby was thrilled ; ) The pain has been less and less each week. Im still a little sore in the rib area and want to ask the Dr about that. I know the scars will take some time to totally heal. Hope all is well out there in booby land ~

So, I just came back from my 2nd post-op appointment and all is well for the most part. He said my scar healing looked really good, better than average, so the silicone tape that I am using must be doing its job. He had to take out about 5 stitches that didnt dissolve on their own. That kinda hurt...it hurt way worse that having my drains out ; ( But it didnt take him too long, thank God. I have some redness on my boobs, and he wasn't sure what that was all about. So, he said to try some benadryl at night to see if that helps. If it gets worse, I need to come back and try some antibiotics. Other than that he said I didnt need to come back unless I had problems. I can resume pretty much anything now at the 6 week mark. Of course its using common sense too....if something hurts, then stop doing it right? Very sweet Dr, and Im very happy with my results. Hope everyone is doing well out there X/O's

Hello ladies!

Its been a little while, and I have to say I miss you all. I got sized the other day at Macy's and I think the lady that sized me was wrong. She came up with a 38 DD......um hello thats what I was BEFORE my reduction. So, that put me in a bit of a mood.....can you imagine? So, I tried on several bras that day, and ended up buying a 38 D. I can go anywhere from a 36 C to a 38 D, depending on the brand of the bra.
I have almost no pain now, and Im sleeping well. The only thing that bothers me, is that my skin is still kind of red in the breast area. More on one side than the other. I guess if It doesn't go away, I will have to go back for antibiotics :( It doesn't feel like an infection, its not warm or bumpy or anything, it's just red. Has anyone else on here had that problem?
Hope everyone out there is heal well ?

Morning all,

Not much to update, things are going well. I just did a before and after shot that I thought I would share. Sometimes we forget what we actually looked like before the surgery. I am so much more happy now with smaller, perky boobs.

Hope everyone is healing well ~

Hello Ladies,

Not much has changed but I thought I'd post a couple updated pictures to show the healing progress. Very happy with how I've been healing. Im enjoying them so much more than they were before. I feel better in my clothes. Im finally starting to lose some weight and that is helping too. Its getting hot here and its time for summer clothes, so im getting motivated. I should have had my Dr. lipo my back fat, because that is my trouble spot.....LOL ; )

Hope you'all are doing well ~