AmyS777

Recent comments

• Posted to 13 things I wish I'd known before my Breast Reduction/Lift surgery on 22 Jul 2012
  
  jlsb98: Yeah, just take the pain meds as you need them. The pain does eventually lessen every day and if you're paying attention, your body will tell you when you can start lowering the dose & waiting longer.
• Posted to Nervous on 19 Jul 2012
  
  Take a deep breath & I think things will go better than you're fearing! Take your pain pills, take a few weeks off work, get lots of rest during the recovery, and get support from friends & family. You're the size I was & am now about a C, and they're great! You'll feel SO much lighter!!
• Posted to ANYONE WITH BCBS GET LESS THAN 500 GRAMS REMOVED? on 19 Jul 2012
  
  I have BCBS and had about 540 removed from my right breast and 375-ish from the left. I had a MUCH larger right breast so they made an exception I guess because it was supposed to be 540 from each side (but then I'd have been lopsided--it was mostly my right one that needed reducing).
• Posted to 13 things I wish I'd known before my Breast Reduction/Lift surgery on 19 Jul 2012
  
  Oh, also!...my neck/shoulder/back pain is completely gone, and I've already EASILY found 4 tops in my first shopping trip that fit nicely! I could never find anything that didn't fit completely skin-tight before my surgery.
• Posted to 13 things I wish I'd known before my Breast Reduction/Lift surgery on 19 Jul 2012
  
  Hi all--what a great site! I just want to share my experience with the pain in recovery since I must have less of a pain tolerance than many seem to. I tried weaning off the pain meds a week after surgery due to HARD pressure from my parents to do so, and it was a mistake. I had too much pain and was miserable, so I went back on/weaned off for another half-week, switched to 1000 mgs Ibuprofen every 6 hours, and it was manageable. Also I have sensitive skin & had an allergic reaction to the bandage tape and got a red, itchy rash. Then I had an allergic reaction to the Tramadol and got hives and I was an itchy mess! But they switched my meds to Percocet & that worked fine. I still think I had more pain, even with the meds, than other women seemed to and I wished someone would have mentioned that beforehand. All sorts of people had said how great it was (and it is!), but I want to forewarn women that they may get more pain than others do, and to stay on the meds as you need to. It's an uncomfortable recovery--hard to get comfortable sleeping, the "zinger" nerve pains can be rough when they're at their height, and things like bouncing cars, walking & seatbelts can be uncomfortable. I took a week off work & then needed to just do half days the next week, then was back to a normal 40 hours the 3rd week (I do administrative/office work). I'd suggest taking 2 weeks off to be safe, and go back half days week 2 if you can. But don't push yourself--rest is important recovery! I slept on the couch for the first 3 weeks because it was more comfortable to be able to lean on something, and was super happy to get back to my bed! Now about a week ago, around week 5, I was able to start sleeping on my side, although my right breast (which was considerably larger than the other so had more work done to it) is much more tender & sensitive than the other one. I can KIND OF sleep on my stomach now at week 6 (I'm a stomach-sleeper). I have some days with nerve twings, but I think of it as my breasts re-growing their nerves & getting feeling back, so it doesn't bother me as much. But for a few days earlier in the recovery the zingers were pretty darn rough. Again, I must have less pain tolerance. I have a great, positive mental attitude, which helps, though. I am very happy with the size after the reduction (I must have been a 38 DDD or F beforehand but I never wore the right size bra so who knows) and now am probably a full C. and PERKY! :-) (I'm 41). Also, the part of the anchor incision where everything comes together under the breast is definitely the last to heal. I have the little white area where it's still healing on the "bigger" side, but the doc says that's totally normal. I have a few dissolvable stitches that are poking through, which is how I found this website when I was Googling what to do about them :-) and I think I just need to have the doc or PA remove them because the skin irritation around it isn't fun. They removed some other stitches that were poking through around my nipples a few weeks ago but that didn't really hurt at all. So I just want to say to take enough time off work in advance, take your pain pills if you need them, expect that a few "weird" things might happen, and don't be afraid to call the doc, nurse line, or go to Urgent Care if you need to. It's worth it, but it might hurt worse than you hear about beforehand. Thanks guys for all the helpful stories & advice!! :-)