Andrew M Moore (retired)

I like to say that I didn't hit puberty; it hit me. With boobs. Giant, heavy, obvious boobs. At age 19, I have shoulder, back, and neck pain from the weight of my breasts. However, the real motivation for my surgery is confidence and overall body image. I hate having giant breasts. I hate how they're the first thing people notice about me. I hate how people feel like they can comment on them because they are so much bigger than the norm. I hate how clothing never fits right. I hate that I have basically three looks in tops: [RS bleep] mode (AKA my boobs burst forth from my chest like the alien creature from Alien), maternity mode (AKA is she trying to hide a pregnancy?), and potato mode (AKA girl you look like a slob). I hate that boys and men have felt free to scream sexual and threatening things at me in public since I was 14. I hate that I look way heavier than I actually am. I hate that one a lot, especially since I quite literally worked my butt off and lost 30 pounds (not one of those coming from my breasts though, of course). All in all, this has been a long time coming. I've considered reduction off and on since I was 15, but I didn't know if I was done growing, and I thought that if I lost weight, they would shrink too. Well, that didn't happen one bit, so here I am today. I had my surgery consultation in March, and it's just a matter of waiting now. April 10, 2013 I just got the call from my surgeon's office yesterday- Insurance approved my surgery! It's going to be totally covered, and I'm scheduled for May 1st. I can't even believe it right now. Updated on 12 Apr 2013: Hey everyone! I just realized that I completely forgot to give any physical info about myself. Oops! As I said previously, I am 19 years old. I am 5'4" and I weigh 144 pounds. I wear a 38DDD, but it is noticeably too small. I was curious the other day about what my actual size would be if my bra for correctly, and I discovered that I should be wearing a 34J. Yikes! That's just too much boobage for me. But, my surgeon told me his plans are to take me down to about a C cup, and I think that's a much better fit. 18 days until I'm proportional! Also, as an aside, I'm going to be posting pictures as soon as I have the chance to be in front of a big mirror. It helped me immensly to see pictures, so I feel it is only right to post my own. Especially since most of the women I saw when I was deciding were older than me. Anyways, thanks for reading! Happy Friday! Updated on 13 Apr 2013: I have one more appointment with my surgeon before my surgery. I have a lot of questions for him! Mostly just about my recovery and things I should/shouldn't do. Like, how long do I wear a sports bra? Or, should I have ice packs on me? Just general stuff like that. If anyone has any thing that they think I should know about or ask, feel free to let me know! I want to be super prepared, and as they say, knowledge is power. I can't believe that it's so close! I'll update more after my appointment. Thanks for reading! Updated on 17 Apr 2013: Two weeks until surgery, and I'm starting to get very nervous. I've never been under anesthesia before, so I'm not sure what to expect. That and I've watched way too many episodes of "Untold Stories of the E.R.". Hospitals and surgery make me very nervous. I'm hoping that talking to my surgeon tomorrow will curb some of the anxiety. I am both ecstatic and terrified of my impending surgery. Thanks for listening, and I'll update more tomorrow after my appointment. Updated on 18 Apr 2013: I got back from my appointment with my surgeon a little while ago, and I'm feeling a little less nervous. He has a very calming presence. He told me that he was looking to take out about 1.5 to 1.75 pounds out during the surgery. It's crazy to me to imagine that I have that much boobage to take out, and still be left at a C cup! He also told me that it's unlikely that I'll need drains after the surgery, which sounds really good, especially after reading about some of your experiences with them! It's basically just a countdown at this point! 13 days! Updated on 24 Apr 2013: One week from today I'll have smaller boobs! I can't believe it's so close. I'm freaking out a little bit, but in a good way. It feels like just yesterday that I decided I wanted to do this, and now it's almost here. Craaaazy stuff. Thanks for reading! I'll update again soon. Updated on 29 Apr 2013: The surgery center called today and told me that my copay was $666. Hopefully that isn't some kind of omen. But on another note, I cannot believe that tomorrow is my last day lugging these breasts around. Tomorrow is the last day that I have to wear my giant, ugly bra. My surgery is in less than two days! I can't believe it. I'm not even nervous because I just can't even believe that it's happening. Agh! I'm so excited! Updated on 30 Apr 2013: Well, I just took my last shower until the bandages come off. I'll be in surgery in 12 hours. Strangely, I'm not that nervous. I just took 2 benadryls to help me sleep. The next time I update, I'll be on the other side. Updated on 1 May 2013: I'm on the other side!! It wasn't bad at all. I'm in some pain, but it's completely manageable, especially with the ice packs and Percocet. I'm so so happy that I made the decision to do this. I keep looking down and seeing my new boobs! I'm all bandaged up, so I haven't gotten to see them for real yet, but I can tell from the bandage that I'm so much smaller. They took 490 grams out of my lest breast, and 380 out of my right one. Apparently my doctor was so happy with the final product, he called another plastic surgeon to come in and look at them! I took a few pictures at the surgery center, so I'll upload them once i get the chance. Thanks for reading, and good luck to all those making the decision to do this! (: Updated on 2 May 2013: I'm doing pretty okay today. They gave me percocet, and I've been taking it just about every 4 hours. I was icing my chest all yesterday and last night, but I've stopped for a little bit so that I have more blood flow to the area. So far, I haven't gotten out of bed at all except to use the bathroom. I feel fine when I don't move, but when I have to get up it isn't a nice feeling. I pretty much slept all day yesterday, and today I've been sleeping or watching stuff on my laptop. My parents are being super awesome, so whenever I need anything they are all over it. They won't let me lift a finger! I've been drinking a lot of water and eating when I'm hungry. I was really worried that I would be nauseated the first day or so, but they gave me zofran, pepsid, and an anti nausea patch at the surgery center. I also saw a suggestion to take a stool softener with every dose of pain medication, so I've been trying to do that. Hopefully I can avoid that pleasant little side effect, haha. All told though, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm definitely happy that I did this. I just can't wait to see them! I go in tomorrow for my post op appointment, and he'll take the dressings off there. I'm so so excited to see them! I haven't had normal sized perky boobs since I was like 13, and even then I don't remember what it was like since they came in all at once. I'll keep y'all updated about my recovery. Thanks for reading! (: Updated on 3 May 2013: I go to my post op appointment in about 2 hours! I can't wait to get a look at what's under these bandages. Recovery wise, I'm feeling pretty good. I only took 1 Percocet for all of the night, and I'm doing fine this morning. Honestly, I'm almost more bothered by some of the side effects than by the pain itself! The Percocet is giving me dry mouth and making me pretty itchy, which sucks. I'm gonna keep taking it today though, and then see how I feel from there. I definitely don't want to rush myself off of any mediation. I'll update after my appointment today and hopefully post pictures. Eeeep! I'm so excited! Updated on 3 May 2013: 2 days post op. Today has been a roller coaster. I woke up extremely excited to go see my surgeon and get my bandages removed. So at around 6:30 in the morning, I took a percocet on an empty stomach, and then went back to sleep. I then woke up at around 7:15 with the most horrendous nausea I've had in the longest time, which culminated with me sobbing my eyes out and eventually throwing up at around 8:30. I was pretty drained after that. After all of the nausea, puking, and other side effects that I've mentioned before, I decided that I was done with the big boy pain killers. Ice, rest, and Tylenol are going to be enough for me. It's been the right call, too. I haven't taken anything since that one percocet that set me off this morning, and I generally feel okay. Luckily though, I felt about 100x better after throwing up. We went to my surgeon's office, and he cut off my dressings and I seriously could not even believe that the boobs underneath were mine. I still can't. I keep ogling myself in the mirror. They're so little and perky and normal sized! I can't wait until they're a little more healed and I can get a better look at them. I'm getting ready to go take my first shower since Tuesday, and let me tell you, I cannot wait. I think I might just feel like a whole new woman. Thanks for reading! Updated on 8 May 2013: It's been an exciting few days! Since my last update, I've pretty much just chilled and watched all of MTV's (very excellent) Teen Wolf. Highly recommend. I think the rest has really made a difference. Today I am one week post op and I feel fabulous! My energy levels are back to normal and my pain is only just there. I only really hurt in my armpit/side region where the incision ends. I've been pretty swollen there, but it's started to go way down. I'm still a little tender all over, but nothing too bad. I didn't even need to really take any kind of medicine today. It was great! I also wore a tank top today as my whole shirt. No cardigan or sweatshirt to hide the giant boobs, no artfully draped scarf. Just a tank top! And I felt like a million bucks, let me tell you! I already have more confidence in my body, and it is wonderful. This is why I got the reduction, and it has been worth it. I love the way I look now. I am so so so sooo happy with the results! I went back to my surgeon today and he removed the surgical tape and gave me the all clear. I can officially lift my arms as high as I want! Yay! I start scar treatment as soon as I get to the pharmacy for some mederma. Dr. Moore said everything is healing up really nicely. I'm just so pleased with everything. I've also rejoined the world of the living. This past week I've been locked up in my hidey-hole with my laptop, but no more! I hung out with some old friends tonight for a good 4 hours, and I only thought about my boobs when I was talking about how happy I was about them. Thanks for reading! Updated on 8 May 2013: Also, I have majorly inverted nipples. They look like they normally did- no worries! Updated on 10 May 2013: 9 days post op and I feel absolutely fabulous. I can lift my arms up almost all of the way today! Woohoo! Also, I am in minimal pain. Like, barely there, you'll miss it if you blink, kind of pain. It's pretty awesome. I'm getting ready to go to the store and buy some mederma and polysporin, because my surgeon said I can start scar treatment. Hopefully it'll help the scar not be too obvious, but I'm not that concerned. Even if my scars are awful, this will have been worth it. Everything from this point on is just icing on the cake. Thanks for reading! Updated on 12 Nov 2014: Has it seriously been a year and a half? Wow, time flies! I've done a whole lot of living, learning, and growing up in that time. I moved out of my parent's house and got a job. I'm a year away from graduation and looking into graduate school. Somehow I've totally left childhood and the teenage years behind. It's almost like my breast reduction was my gift into adulthood. So, what everyone who is contemplating a reduction is wondering: how have I been? AWESOME!!!!!! This breast reduction was legitimately life changing. I know I might sound naive here because I'm pretty young, but I can't say anything else but life changing. Here's just a short list of things I've done with my new breasteses: -I've run 4 5K's (10 minute miles, baby!) -I've confidently lounged around the pool in some hella cute swimsuits (note the weird boob tan lines) -I rocked tank tops all summer -I'm able to easily shop for clothing now -I can now wear long necklaces! -I own 16 bras now -I wore a sexy, boobalicious halloween costume and felt awesome about myself! -I've danced more -I've hugged more -I've worried less Honestly, I just can't even believe how much better I feel about myself. I look at the old pictures of my body, and it's shocking how different I look. I carry myself differently. I've never felt better about myself than I have in the last year and a half. My breast reduction gave me that. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I've had persistent side effects. My skin is numb from the nipples down, and I don't have any sensation in my left nipple at all. Sometimes I still get itchy on the inside of my breasts along where the scars are, which is very annoying. I also sometimes get pangs along my scars. But I would do it all over again, even if I knew going into that I would have these side effects. I'm so happy that I got a breast reduction. I feel like this was how I was supposed to look all along, and it just took the surgery to make it real. I feel sexy and confident and overall just really really happy. It's difficult to put into words just how good I feel. It's like once upon a time there was this thing in my life that caused me such a headache, and then suddenly it was gone, and now I can barely remember ever dealing with it. I haven't had a single negative thought about my breasts since the reduction. I love them so much. I feel whole. I feel free.

I wanted to post some info on my experience with SmartXide DOT laser treatment on this forum as the info I read here was very helpful in making my decision to have the tx. Previous posts were also helpful in preparing me for the actual procedure and recovery. I had the laser tx on July 11, 2011. My primary goal was to even my skin tone, get rid of age spots and sun damage.I was also seeking improvement in fine lines and wrinkles. The tx was performed in the doctor's office. I received a Xanax and a Percocet prior to the tx as well as numbing gel for approximately 45 minutes. They had forgotten to give me the Valtrex for prevention of cold sores but gave me one to take before the tx and a prescription for afterwards. Eye shields were used and these were not nearly as bad as I expected. Only my face was treated (not neck). There was some slight stinging but not what I would call pain. The tx lasted about 40 minutes. They covered my face with Aquafor gel after the tx. Afterwards, my husband drove me home. We stopped to get the prescription filled. There was no pain. I used cold compresses for the rest of the day. My skin was very red and mildly swollen. Continued to apply Aquafor intermittently. Slept okay - gel is messy. Woke up the next morning very swollen - eyes narrowed - skin red. Continued the Aquafor and intermittently used the cold compresses. The second post procedure day I washed gently with the cleanser they gave me - Revale. The third post-procedure day my skin turned brown and I started peeling. I had to go back to the MD for a followup. I was very reluctant about going out in public as I was still quite swollen, brown and peeling - pretty freakish! I tried to cancel the appointment but they insisted I come in. I told them I would definitely scare the people in the waiting room. They laughed and said I could come to the back door and knock. MD said all was going well, no problems noted. Post-procedure day four lots of peeling and face mostly cleared of dead skin. It's not the same kind of peeling as a sunburn. It came off like wiping sand away. It was weird. I did not pick at all - I was afraid I would scar. I washed gently several times but always put the Aquafor back on. Without the Aquafor my skin was just too tight and dry. Skin still very red and moderately swollen. On the fifth day I washed and used the Revale day cream everywhere except around my eyes - where I used the Aquafor. (I came to hate the messiness of this stuff though it was very soothing to my skin)Lots of itching for a couple of days!!! Back to work on Day 7 - yikes. First time to wear makeup. The Clinique covered the redness pretty well - but kind of mask-like. Still minor swelling and moderate redness. I was kind of self-conscious for the first couple of days. I had been quite open with my coworkers so they were very supportive. Progress continued with decreased swelling and redness day by day. Always wore makeup when going out. I am three weeks out and looking normal with the exception of continuing redness around my eyes. Initially of course with the swelling - absolultely no wrinkles. That was interesting. But now the laugh lines are back but there is some improvement in the other fine lines around my mouth and eyes. I can still see some demarcation lines just at the edge of treated area quite close to my hairline especially at the temples. My skin tone is very even. Almost all hyperpigmentation is gone. I am told that maximum benefit comes at about month 5-6. So I will try to post again at that time. At this point I would do it again. In retrospect what I expected to be painful was not (the actual laser tx) and the recovery which I expected to be easy was much more difficult. Using the Aquafor, which sounds simple, was very aggravating. It was messy and somehow transferred to all my clothes and bed linens. The peeling did not start as soon as I expected so I was brown much longer than I wanted to be. The swelling was more severe than I expected and was always a lot worse when I got up in the mornings. When I stopped using the Aquafor, my skin was very tight, dry and itchy. It drove me nuts for a couple of days (days 5 & 6 especially) I was much more self-conscious about going out during recovery than I thought I would be. I only went out twice in the first week. I wore a large hat and sunglasses for sun protection but also to avoid curious glances. For the first week eating was a little difficult as the skin around my mouth was tight. I lost five pounds during that week. A welcome side effect. I continue to avoid sun exposure at all times. I went back to MD again at the two week point. No problems. Scheduled next visit in 6 weeks. I am hoping that my skin tone continues to even out, especially the redness around the eyes and that collagen production will yield a further improvement in lines and wrinkles. I would recommend scheduling minimum 7 days for recovery and 10 would be better. Good luck if you proceed.

I am currently a 36 B, my goal is to be a full C, and get rid of these thick padded bras. I've been thinking about this for a while. My surgery is in two weeks, I'm a little nervous and excited. My doc says he thinks that 300cc will probably put me at a full C. I hope thats correct, because I def don't want any smaller. Not looking forward to the pain. My doc also offered the unit called Sofpulse. Anyone heard of it or used it? Updated on 11 Feb 2013: I am 5 days post op now and I am doing pretty good, except for this terrible chest cold I have taken just two days after surgery. I am still a litle sore but think most of it is from coughing. I go back for my 2nd post op visit tomorrow. Will try to update more then and maybe get some pics uploaded. Updated on 12 Feb 2013: Ok ladies this morning starting to feel a little depressed. I've been reading some of your post and it sounds like I have a long road of recovery and therapy ahead of me. I'm already so tired of being sore and so limited on getting back to my normal routine and it sounds like it's going to be a long while. I just want to cry for putting myself through this and maybe not even being that big of difference. I almost wish I hadn't done this to myself. Updated on 29 Oct 2013: It's been about 8 months since my BA & certain places on my right breast the skin feels like it is numb. Not sure if this is normal & if it will get better or not. I wish I had gone bigger. I think for the money & pain I def should have gone bigger. I don't think I can tell a lot of difference, but my husband says he can. But I think he says that because he was afraid I would go to big to start with.