Brent A. Buchele, MD, MBA (retired)

Beyond thrilled. Waited a long time for this and so worth it:) Great results by a very professional dr. I had previous saline breast implants (15 years old ) removed and gel 550cc put in through my areolar ( previous scar from first augmentation ). To say my husband is thrilled with the results is an understatement . I am 5'7, 130 lbsUpdated on 27 May 2015: Things are going well. Thought I would post some picturesUpdated on 27 May 2015: More pre op photos

After many years of wanting a reduction for obvious reasons it finally came to fruition. I work in heavy construction so if you can imagine bouncing around in heavy equipment, semi trucks, walking, climbing, and lifting can make a person pretty sore by the end of the day when you also carry around heavy breasts.

I've wanted a BA 4 ever and ever. I remember being in gade 7, everyone else had boobs, and I kept waiting and waiting... I'm now 29 years old, 5'6, 140lbs. I'm not exactly sure what current breast size I am cause I wear so much padding lol. Probably 36A. I'm now finally at a point in my life I'm happy and comfortable with myself and feel I deserve this. I'm engaged, our wedding is coming up very fast end of November in Mexico!! Can't wait. I know getting a BA before the wedding is a little rushed but I've never been more sure and excited in my life. Has anyone else had a BA before their wedding? Will I be totally pain free in 3 months and be able to swim, do normal activities and such? My consultation is tomorrow, (yay, finally!), so I'll be asking a lot of questions. I'm thinking under the muscle, silicone, somewhere between 325cc to 400cc. I would like a nice full natural C cup. I can't wait to fill up a bikini!! I'll try and post some pics of sizers tomorrow after the consultation :) Updated on 26 Jul 2013: I thought I would share my story with everone thinking of getting a BA as I have found everyone elses stories so very helpful and comforting. So here is my story so far... I got through my consutation yesterday. Arrived at the office yesterday afternoon, filled out some paper work. The reseptionist is so beautiful and helpful (thank you!) Then I went with the RN and got asked a bunch of health questions which was easy cause all my answers seemed to be no, lol. Then Dr. B came in and gave me the whole talk on what to expect, risks, options ect. Very helpful and informative. Then we went to the vectra 3D imaging machine. That was so great and really gave me a good idea what I'll look like with boobs, Wow, I'm in love. The 325cc were nice, but once I saw the 400's that was it for me. I have to say picking the size was actually pretty easy! I was stressing out about size because I thought I would be picking from hundreds of different sizes/profiles/shapes... but Dr. B made it SO easy for me! I have to stop right now and thank him and his staff who are amazing and sweet and so very helpful. Yay! So Dr and I decided on a little bigger 425cc high profile silicone, sub-pectoral. He said almost all women he's had who go a little smaller wish they went bigger in the end, which I could see myself doing the same lol. He wanted to go submuscular as I don't have a lot of breast tissue and this will camouflage the implant a little better, and high prifile to get the projection I want. Anyway, that was it! Consult and size picking done :) Easy. I made the date! So after pacing around my kitchen for what seems like hours I finally got up the courage to call the office and book the date...and it's soon! Aug 19th :) OMG this is the most exciting and nervracking thing I've ever done. I'm usually a very safe, normal person, but every now and then I just have to do something to kick it up a notch. I'm turning 30 Aug 10th so maybe this is my 30yr life crisis? lol. Anyway, I'm happy and can't wait! Oh, I should also say, my finance was with me for the consultation the whole time. He's been so supportive and amazing with this whole process. I loved having him with me, telling me what he liked the most and encouraging me to pick what I feel comfortable with. Love him! Now to break the news to my manager... Ok, so has anyone else stressed out about this?! I think I'm more nervous about this than the actual surgery lol. I'm an RN at a small rural hospital, we are all very close and word gets around. But my manager does not know yet, he's one of the only males that work in my field and this makes me nervous, like he won't understand. Luckly I talked to some people at work and I don't leagally have to say what type of surgery I'm having. I feel a little selfish taking days off just for myself, and worried about them not being able to replace my shift as it's really short notice. Anyone have some advice or been in the same situation? Gosh I'm nervous. Supplies: I've started to get everything I need together and ready before the BIG "B"-DAY. What I have: -arnica tabs -arnica cream -make me heal vitamins (ordered on amazon, $60) -sea bands (found at walmart, supposed to help with nausea) What I need: -frozen peas -bio oil -stool softners -comfy sports bra, any suggestions???? -comfy loose clothes for surgery, any suggestions??? Can anyone think of anything I've missed or still need? Thats it for now! Thanks for the support and good luck to anyone getting boobs done soon :) Updated on 28 Jul 2013: So I booked the time off work. Thinking a week should be enough? Then I'll have to be on light duties for a few more weeks. Worried I'm not taking enough time off? What does eveyone else think? I've leant I really need to stock up on some more pillows, buy a front zip up sports bra, and take it easy the first few days. Other than that I think I'm almost ready for the big day. Oh I'll have to stop taking my regular mutivits soon due to the vit E. I've heard that causes some unwanted bleeding and bruising. I think 2 weeks pre-op is when I'm you're supposed to stop? is this right? I'm posting some pre-op pictures. I don't even like looking at them so this has taken me a lot of courage to post them lol. Anyway, they'll be WAY different soon, woohoo! Counting down the days :) Updated on 30 Jul 2013: I'm in a pickle. I have some people I would like to tell about my surgery as I don't want it to be a total shock when they see me with boobs. It's my soon to be inlaws. They are going to know beause in 3 months we are going to mexico together and I'll definitly be sporting a bikini. They don't live close to me, so I can't just go over and talk to them in person. I think my finance's mom will be ok with it but his dad is somewhat judgmental and will think this is the most rediculous thing ever and will give me the "disappointed" look. I'm terrified. Do I just call and tell them over the phone? skype? Get my finace to tell them? Plus they are supposed to be visiting one week after my surgery date. I am very proud of what I'm doing, but just shy and a little bit of a chicken. Updated on 31 Jul 2013: Surgery is paid for and size has been odered :) My final payment was today. Wow this is becoming more and more real every day, no turning back now! Size is 400cc high profile. My goodness that was one of the biggest decisions of my life lol. The plan I forgot to say that I'm from Canada and having surgery in Montana. It's about a 3hr drive to the hospital from my house. So my finacee and I have decided to drive down the night before on the 18th, surgery is at 10am the 19th, will stay another day and leave for home on the 21st after my post-op checkup. So we booked the hotel for 3 nights. Nerves are kicking in! Updated on 13 Aug 2013: Oh my goodness time is flying by. I can't believe in less than a week I'll have boobs lol. I've just kept myself really busy to try and pass the time. I'm pretty sure I'm ready now, tying up all the loose ends. I've told everyone who needs to know about the surgery, even my inlaws. I just felt I needed to tell them as I think they would feel a little left out or something if I kept it from them. They were actually understanding and not bad about the whole thing. I also talked to my boss, let him know I'll be off for a procedure for a couple weeks. Everything went better than I thought. I have my mom coming over after the procedure to help me for a couple days as my fiance has to go back to work right after my surgery. I now just have to pick up my antibacterial soap, prescriptions, and thats it! I don't really feel nervous anymore, I just want to get it over with!!! Updated on 16 Aug 2013: OMG... 3 more sleeps. Ok I said I wasn't nervous on my last post, well, now I am! I just called the surgery suite to get my arrival time. 9:15am! Everything is very real now. I keep having silly thoughts like "what if". I'm sure everyone feels like this, but I don't like it! I hate the unknown lol. I'm just finishing up laundry, house is pretty much all clean. I just have to go and buy a few button up shirts because I just realized I don't have like any! I've got all my meds sorted out (except the narcotics, PS will give me an RX after surgery). Thanks to my beautiful friends at the hospital I work at I'm all stocked up with stool softners, bendy straws, numbing cream for sore nipples, and some pre op scrub to prevent infection. I hope I'm all set... I like how everyone is really excited for me which makes me feel better. It's so funny how I've gotten so much more support from friends and family than I ever thought I would, it's great. People are so amazing, and I just want to thank everyone on this site, being so supportive and sharing their stories :) Thanks everyone! Updated on 17 Aug 2013: Driving to Kalispell tomorrow. Everything is packed and I'm ready! Not much else to say today. The nerves are still there and I'm sure they'll stay until it's over lol. Updated on 18 Aug 2013: By this time tomorrow I'll be in the OR. Can't wait until this is over and I can see the results. Good luck to any other beautiful ladies getting their BA in the next few days :) I'll talk to you all on the bigger boobie side of things... Updated on 19 Aug 2013: Wow, what an experience. Being an RN it's very different being on the other side. But a good one! The staff was absolutely amazing. I have to say it was way easier than I thought it would be. Here's a play by play: I got to the surgical center early 9am. The lab got me to give a urine sample to make sure no babies were growing in me lol. Then I only waited about 10min and they took me to the pre op area. I changed into a gown. I am just at the end of my period, so they made me wear this big ass pad and granny panties which they called the Victoria secrets, so funny. They went half way up my back. Then the nurse started my IV, got it in one shot! Yay! And my ps came in, talked everything over and drew on my chest. He's so sweet, nice, and professional. Then the anestetist came as well, gave me the run down and made sure I had no questions. I was really worried about nausea and he said he'd take care of it. Then I waited no longer than 10 min and they wheeled my to the OR. In the OR I said I'm always cold, so after I scooted onto the table the RN gave me a warm blanket and put a blanket that bows warm air onto me. So nice! Then the anesthetist said he was putting "O2" on me and the next thing I know I'm asleep! I told him to knock me out soon and quick and he did! Next thing I know I'm having the best dream, then woke up. I thought it was quick but my fiancé said he was waiting about an hour and 45min before I even woke up. Unusually long, but I didn't mind. Feels like once I was awake I was wide awake. The worst of the pain was when I first woke up, but they gave me a low dose of fentanyl and that was just enough to take the edge off. I was shaking I was so cold, do they loaded me up with blankets. Tip: don't go to the OR with wet hair! Then they slowly got me up, gave me cookies, juice and water. And guess what, no nausea! They took their time, didn't rush me out and were SO nice and sweet. I actually thought I was ready to go way before they sent me home. Anyway, about 30min before I left the hospital, my nurse gave me pain meds, made sure my pain was ok. Then walked me out. All the nurses who helped me throughout all came by before I left and thanked me and said it was a pleasure. What an amazing team! So right now, I'm back at the hotel, feeling pretty great, just tight, while my fiancé is out picking up my RX. I'm not due for pain meds until 5 pm anyway, so no rush. Well that's it for now! Easy so far... Just a little more pain when I first start to move, then loosens up. Oh, the weirdest part is the skin at the front of my neck is REALLY tight. Like if I tip my head back, it's hard to close my mouth. Anyone else have this??? My breast are all wrapped up right now, so no pics yet.. Updated on 23 Aug 2013: Well it's been a few days now since I had my sugery. I was saying in my last post that things were pretty easy, well I think I may have jinxed myself lol. That night I was up all night nauseated, and in pain. But the good part is, day 1 and 2 (not counting day of surgery) are the worst, then it got better. I can't believe what a difference from one day to another. By day 3 I was totally off the nacotics. I'm only taking tylenol once or twice a day now. I finally have some post op pictures. I'm not too excited about them yet as they still have the pointy features that I so hated before. I hope they round out and I get some "underboob" if that makes sense. My breast are like cones and always have been, I wanted spheres. Hope they change. PS says they will but will take a long time, up to 3 months. So I'll be patient. I've got some pics of my incisions as well, they don't look the best but it's only been a few days. Updated on 23 Aug 2013: I forgot to ask, when is it ok to drive? I never really discussed this with my PS. I'm not on any narcotics, only tylenol so that's not a factor. Updated on 25 Aug 2013: I'm having a little bit of an off day today. I'm not sure why, just feeling very emotional and frustrated. I felt like I was doing so well, and now the past 2 days have been pretty sore. Today I had to try and clean the house as the "inlaws" are coming. Yes, the ones that aren't overly supportive of my BA. My fiancé won't even be here until tomorrow. Anyway, so cleaning the house by myself I got really upset and frustrated cause I'm so slow and everything hurts, and I feel I get pretty short of breath at times. I don't know. Just a bad day. I feel like it's going to be so awkward too with my fiancé's family here when they don't agree with my decision, plus no fiancé to stand up for me. Ugh... Anyone else have a similar situation? How did you deal with people who simply don't agree with you having a BA? Updated on 2 Sep 2013: I'm now starting to really like the size of my boobs, they finally feel like they are dropping a little and becoming slightly more round. They are still very pointy, but not as bad as they were before. I can see the light! I had my 1 week PO last week, everything went really well. Started massaging at least 2x/day. Seems to really loosen them up. I think I may have over done it this weekend, I drove to my hometown, a 3 hr drive one way, and after driving that long I was very sore the rest of the day. My skin felt like it was on fire. It was better this am, but very firm and stiff. Fine now though. Tonight will be my first day back at work. I'm on nights for the next few weeks so hopfully it's not too crazy busy. I'm a little apprehensive about working especially since I got so sore after driving. I guess we'll see! Here are some pics from today. You can see they are dropping and rounding out a little, still don't like the side view lol Updated on 4 Sep 2013: I'm getting a little worried. How long does it take for feeling in my breasts to come back? I have full feeling in my nipples, but cannot feel anything below them and have some numbness under my arms. Anyone else have this? It's been over 2 weeks and there has been no change in numbness. Updated on 12 Sep 2013: I'm now on week # 4 post op. I'm not seeing or feeling much difference at all this week. I don't think I've dropped at all, they almost look more pointy? I'm also feeling very tender this week. Not my muscles, but my skin and nipples hurts so bad. They feel like they are on fire I can't even touch them. Anything that touches or rubs on them hurts like mad. I thought by week 4 I'd be past this sensitive part. How long does this last?!? I can't stand it! OMG. My incisions are closing up but still look pink/red, all the scabs are pretty much off now, so that's good. I kinda thought they'd look better by now, but that's me being impatient again lol. I'm not going to post any pics this week just cause there really is no change. I'll post next week for sure.

This tummy tuck is something I only dreamed about having done after pregnancy. I work out 6 days a week, intense cardio as well as weight training. Nothing would get the skin tight. I dieted, ate clean. My only hope was the tummy tuck. I knew there was no way to get rid of all the stretch marks, there was not enough "good skin" above them. I just wanted to see my abs, the abs I have worked SO hard on these last 4 years. So happy!

I JUST found out that my insurance company is going to cover a breast reduction. I've been lurking on this site for months (you all are so inspiring!) and based on your experiences with insurance companies, I thought it was going to be much more of a rigmarole than it was. I want to detail the process here, because I know I wanted all the details when I was going through the process. I had my GP write me a letter recommending a BR back in August, and had my first consultation with a different PS in September. The letter basically just said that I weigh 147 lb and I have back problems and that my breast size was a 34F. After my consultation, the people at the desk said they would be writing a letter to my insurance company and that it would take 2 weeks to hear back. About 2 weeks later, the PS office called and said that my surgeon had left the practice and that I needed to have another consultation with the other surgeon. I couldn't get in until January, nearly 3 months away. I researched other surgeons in my area (I live in Montana and "my region" is pretty huge) and found Dr. Buchele in Kalispell, just two hours away. I scheduled a consultation with him at the beginning of November, and it was a really good experience. It took 5 weeks to hear back from the company, but they are covering it! No need to see a PT or anything. So surprised. As far as I know, all that was in my file was the photos my PS took, the PS letter, and the simple letter from the GP. Anyway, I'll be calling on Monday to schedule a surgery. I'd like to do it in February. Hoping for a C cup, which seems like a pretty average hope. My PS managed my expectations about how small I could get, so I'm working with that info. I am, however, more concerned with being too big after rather than two small. My main worries are complications, so I'm definitely going to be really healthy, eat clean, and work out so I'm as strong as I can be before going under the knife. Did anyone else clean up their lifestyle before surgery? Did you feel like it helped? Updated on 14 Dec 2014: Barring any complications of course. I know it will take time, but I'm wondering how long you ladies had to wait before you could work out after surgery? I don't want to push it, I just know that I'm antsy and grumpy when I can't exercise. Updated on 19 Dec 2014: All this week, I've been frustrated with the fact I haven't been able to connect with the surgeon's office. They are supposed to get back to me with my surgery date, and I'm feeling impatient because I need to make arrangements with work, etc. Last time I spoke to the assistant, it sounded like I wouldn't even see my PS until surgery day, and I said that worried me because I want to make sure I clearly communicate my hopes for my results, and they said they could schedule me in for an appt the day before my surgery (sounds like it will be Feb.) I found some pictures on this site and saved them in a document. How did your communications with you PS's go? Updated on 19 Dec 2014: Whoa. I'm saying goodbye to my massive mamas on January 30th. CRAZY. My main concern is what they're going to end up like! Not really worried about the surgery yet. Can't believe it! Updated on 29 Jan 2015: Yikes, here we are. Never thought it was actually going to happen. Head into pre op with a buncha questions, I'll share if I learn some good new stuff. I took a few more before pictures last night, and they really affirmed why I'm doing this. I can't wait to see what it feels like without the weight! Updated on 1 Feb 2015: Well, it is done! I'm about 36 hrs po. No pictures yet, but I'll put some up this afternoon after my first shower. Everything went really smoothly! They took 500g out of my right breast and 400 out of my left. They feel so small! (YESS) Like I can't believe it. My pain hasn't been bad since waking up- the worst pain I felt was probably right when I woke up. I didn't have any nausea or anything, but I told every nurse and the anesthesiologist that I was afraid of vomiting ahead of time, so I've been on a lot of anti-nausea stuff. But yes- no pain, just soreness and feeling loopy from the drugs. I think I'm only going to take the Norco for one more day, then try and step down to ibuprofen. I think i love them already!! they are so franken boobish, but high and tight little things. Weird- My PS's directions have been so different than many of yours. He doesn't have me in a bra, in fact, he says don't wear a bra unless it is more comfortable. It has felt comfortable to go braless with a little bandage taped underneath to catch any leakage, so that's what I've been doing. He's really into the 'listen to your body, do what you can do' school of thinking, and says to push myself a little to do a bit more everyday. This morning I've been up and around pretty good and it feels good to move after 2 days of being very still. I'll post those pictures in a couple of hours! Updated on 1 Feb 2015: Updated on 3 Feb 2015: I'm doing well- still really tired and unable to do much. Last night I had a glass of wine and was up and around for a while and it completely knocked me out. I've been sleeping really well at night, and I'm going to definitely wean myself off the norcos today. I'm down to a half pill every 4 hours and Motrin in between. Pretty much pain free, aside from my back hurting from sleeping upright! Since I'm 2 hours away from my surgeon, he asked me to send him pictures today to keep an eye on things. He just called and said he has no concerns and everything is looking good! I'll be checking in with him again on Friday!